Dane Lewis

About Dane Lewis

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So far Dane Lewis has created 791 blog entries.

Read This and Be Pierced

Yes, there are things that need to be done when I retire (clean out the shed, sort out things in the basement storage closets, get the yard back into shape), but job one on the to-do list is reading. Now, it will take some relearning to read like a normal person. Imagine reading without a sermon deadline! Imagine reading without looking for a good story to steal! Imagine reading without a pen in hand so that I can zoom in on what was important on that page (and remember where that page was!). Let me be honest—it is going to be an odd feeling at first, all booked up, but no sermon to write. And yet, I am sure I will get used to it. As for other changes that will feel ever so odd, I will never get used to them! But books, well, that is a different story. 

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A Poem of Compassion

This sermon is based on Colossians 3:12-14. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: Anne Lamott wrote: “Poetry is the official palace language of Wow.” If she is right (and I certainly am not going to argue with the brilliant Anne Lamott), then this series is pure poetry because it is pure wow. All I can do is look back at all that God has done in our church and say, “Wow!” And all I can do is look at how God is even now showering down his grace on us. And that also drives me to say, “Wow!” And hope compels me to look excitedly toward our future as a church because I know that he who began a good work in us is just getting started. The best is yet to come! And that makes me break out in pure

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It Is True: I Love Books

There is something magical about a book. After all, it is just paper and cardboard and ink, but those mysterious words on those wonderful pages touch me deeply. They stir my soul. They enlighten my thoughts. They propel me into action. They draw out deep emotions. They convince me of truth and they set me free to ponder, to believe and to hope. I am so madly in love with books, that I even get excited reading quotes about books. If any of these quotes stir something in you, there can be only one explanation. We are reading soul-mates travelling on a sea of thought and imagination together (and let me just say, thanks for joining me!). Here are five great quotes that touched me (all true, all moving, all magical) …  “You are today who you’ll be in five years except for the people you meet and the books

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A Poem of Missions

This sermon is based on Romans 10:14-15. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: Anne Lamott wrote: “Poetry is the official palace language of Wow.” If she is right (and I certainly am not going to argue with the brilliant Anne Lamott), then this series is pure poetry because it is pure wow. All I can do is look back at all that God has done in our church and say, “Wow!” And all I can do is look at how God is even now showering down his grace on us. And that also drives me to say, “Wow!” And hope compels me to look excitedly toward our future as a church because I know that he who began a good work in us is just getting started. The best is yet to come! And that makes me break out in pure

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Favorite Authors Make Favorite Books

I remember two things from first grade. I remember having to write (on a huge sheet of poster-board-sized lined-paper) what we wanted to do when we grew up. We had to give it a title and draw a picture of it. I wanted to join the army, and so I entitled my first essay, “Combat.” The second thing I remember is my teacher informing my parents and I that I would never be a good reader (and definitely not a voracious one). My teacher steered me wrong on both counts. I am not now, nor have I ever been in the army (for God, for country, and for me that was a very good thing), but I did become an insatiable reader. I love books. I love looking at books and buying books and reading books. Now, I have never counted my books, but we have a lot of them.

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How Shall I Live My Life?

This sermon is based on Galatians 5:6. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: You get one shot at it. There are no redo’s, mulligans or second chances. There’s just this one. And your job is not only to make it good, but to make it great. After all, there is nothing more important. This is what life is all about. So, here’s the question: You have roughly 28,835 days in your life. How are you going to shape yours into a life worth living?

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I Have a Plan! I Can Retire!

It is the 1870’s in the Old West and you are in trouble. BAD GUYS are either stealing your horses, your land, or your money (they could also be stealing bases because there was a baseball episode). You need help. You need to do something. You need a plan. Thankfully, you are holding a business card that says, “Have Gun—Will Travel.” And before you know it, you’ve hired a gun. But not just any gun, a good gun wielded by a good guy, a knight without armor in a savage land. For six seasons (1957-1963) he was the best western show on TV.  In five weeks, I will retire. People keep on saying that, before that happens, I need a plan. I need to do something or else bad guys will steal my joy. My first thought was to be a gun for hire, but I said, “no” (I really

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What Is Our Authority?

This sermon is based on Matthew 8:5-13. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: You get one shot at it. There are no redo’s, mulligans or second chances. There’s just this one. And your job is not only to make it good, but to make it great. After all, there is nothing more important. This is what life is all about. So, here’s the question: You have roughly 28,835 days in your life. How are you going to shape yours into a life worth living?

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Aesop in the Face

Every once in a while, Aesop across the face is exactly what we need. Today, it comes from a colony of mice. Apparently, after months of fun and games and pilfering, a new cat had come on the scene. And that was a problem. Every day now, the cat would sneak up on a second cousin and hickory, dickory, dock, another mouse no longer needed a clock. The mice decided they needed to do something or face extermination. And so, they called a colony-wide meeting, and every tail showed up. Several mice explained the problem in colorful detail. but no mouse in the house had a solution. Then, a young rodent stepped forward with a brilliant plan. “Given that any mouse with a bit of a head start can outrun a cat,” he said, “all we need is a warning that the cat is approaching. So, let’s attach a bell

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What Is Worth Hoping For?

This sermon is based on Proverbs 3:1-6. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: You get one shot at it. There are no redo’s, mulligans or second chances. There’s just this one. And your job is not only to make it good, but to make it great. After all, there is nothing more important. This is what life is all about. So, here’s the question: You have roughly 28,835 days in your life. How are you going to shape yours into a life worth living?

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Stop! In the Name of Love

Let’s have a quiz. Fill in the blank with the missing word in the song title and, then, for the bonus, fill in the blank with the missing word to discover our topic for today. Who Will _____ The Rain? – Creedence Clearwater Revival I Can’t _____ Loving You – Jim Reeves Don’t ______ Me Now – Queen Don’t ______ Believin’ – Journey Don’t _____ -- Fleetwood Mac Can’t _____ -- Red Hot Chili Peppers Bonus: How Do We ____ Getting in the Box? Bonus Bonus: ____ right now and give yourself a bonus point if you know all six songs. So far in this series, we’ve been overrun by bad news. We have examined our posturing from the moment we betray ourselves, and it has been ugly. As soon as we refuse to love our neighbor and to put their interests above our own (Phil. 2:3-4), even though we

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What Is the Best Life?

This sermon is based on Galatians 6:13-14. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: You get one shot at it. There are no redo’s, mulligans or second chances. There’s just this one. And your job is not only to make it good, but to make it great. After all, there is nothing more important. This is what life is all about. So, here’s the question: You have roughly 28,835 days in your life. How are you going to shape yours into a life worth living?

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How Far Would You Go to Win?

Hockey superstitions, you’ve got to love them! Every year, the same thing happens. The two teams that won their conferences are presented their championship trophies (basically, this makes them semi-final winners). They will now go on and play in the finals for the Stanley Cup. But no one or either team will come close to touching those trophies. It is a hockey fact that if you touch it (the lesser trophy), you will never get to touch the Stanley Cup. You can get a team picture with it, but you can’t touch it. Now, if you look at that team photo, you will also notice another superstition—playoff beards. Shaving during the playoffs is bad luck. Looking scruffy during the playoffs apparently isn’t. But superstitions are not just for the playoffs. Lots of players have superstitions about their sticks. Wayne Gretzky wouldn’t let anyone touch his stick after he had taped

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What Is Worth Wanting?

This sermon is based on Matthew 13:44-46. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: You get one shot at it. There are no redo’s, mulligans or second chances. There’s just this one. And your job is not only to make it good, but to make it great. After all, there is nothing more important. This is what life is all about. So, here’s the question: You have roughly 28,835 days in your life. How are you going to shape yours into a life worth living?

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From Bad to Worse in Ratland

In the 1950’s, the Dayak people in Borneo had a problem. They were experiencing a terrible outbreak of malaria. The World Health Organization decided to help. After assessing the situation, they came up with a plan. To stop the spread of malaria, they needed to stop the mosquitoes. And the way to do that was to spray the area with DDT. And it worked! Soon, dead mosquitoes littered the ground. Now, this was particularly good news for the resident gecko population who loved to munch on a meal of mosquitoes, especially when they didn’t even have to work for their dinner. Mosquitoes were everywhere. Unfortunately, the geckos didn’t realize these mosquitoes were being served with extra zip. As a result, after eating a few mosquitoes, the geckos began to stagger around like they were drunk (they were actually poisoned, but let’s not kill the mood along with the mosquitoes). Now,

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What Is Worth Everything?

This sermon begins our new series and is based on Matthew 16:24-27. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: You get one shot at it. There are no redo’s, mulligans or second chances. There’s just this one. And your job is not only to make it good, but to make it great. After all, there is nothing more important. This is what life is all about. So, here’s the question: You have roughly 28,835 days in your life. How are you going to shape yours into a life worth living?

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And Then Came the Blame

Blame is a wonderful game (it must be, because we play it all the time!). Now, you just can’t say something like that; you need quotes to back it up. So here are five great quotes about blame (and I wouldn’t blame you if you memorized them because, sooner or later, they will come in handy). “To make a mistake is human, but to blame it on someone else, that’s even more human.” (Anonymous) “The man who smiles when things go wrong has thought of someone to blame it on.” (Robert Bloch)  “I never blame myself when I'm not hitting. I just blame the bat.” (Yogi Berra) “There’s man all over for you, blaming on his boots the fault of his feet.” (Samuel Beckett) “To err is human, to blame someone else is politics.” (Hubert H. Humphrey)  In short, this post is all your fault. And if you want to

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The Nobodies Who Never Gave Up, Part 2

This sermon is based on 2 Kings 4:1-7. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: Perhaps, there are a few notable exceptions, but for the most part, the Bible is filled with little people—nobodies from nowhere who seemed destined for nothing. But then something happened, and these little people went out and did big things. Huge things. World-changing things. What was the secret behind these “Small Wonders”? It’s called, “calling.

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Green with Self-Deception

I loved The Incredible Hulk TV series (the one with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno). “Dr. David Banner, physician, scientist—searching for a way to tap into the hidden strength that all humans have. Then, an accidental overdose of gamma radiation alters his body chemistry. And now, when David Banner grows angry or outraged, a startling metamorphosis occurs.” Let’s be honest here; startling doesn’t come close. Here David Banner is—nice guy, talented, smart, and generally soft-spoken. He is a guy you would want as a next-door neighbor unless your dog loves to get into your neighbors’ trash. If that’s the case, look out. You don’t want to make David Banner green. True, the Hulk may be incredible, but the reality is that he can only do one thing well. He smashes things. And yet, in the morning, he will have forgotten all about it. He will wake up wearing ugly purple

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The Nobodies Who Never Gave Up

This sermon is based on 2 Kings 4:1-7. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: Perhaps, there are a few notable exceptions, but for the most part, the Bible is filled with little people—nobodies from nowhere who seemed destined for nothing. But then something happened, and these little people went out and did big things. Huge things. World-changing things. What was the secret behind these “Small Wonders”? It’s called, “calling.

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