Free Stuff
My sheet music and other free resources are available here. Just follow this link.
These things are under a Creative Commons license that allows you to download them and copy them freely—for any non-commercial use.
Enjoy!
Store
I have books, CDs, and a video series for sale from my store page. (I wish I could just give everything away, but one must eat!)
I’m especially excited about my new book, now available: My Burden Is Light: A Pastor’s Plea for Rationality, Honesty, and Humility.
About
Merry, Mystical Missives
Here you’ll find everything I’ve sent out to the mailing list for The Merry Mystic.
An Evening Wasted with The Merry Mystic
Hello friends,
I’ll be emerging from my cave next month to give a live concert. The dates are Friday, October 18th, 7:00 p.m., and Saturday, October 19th, 2:00 p.m. The location is the Open Prairie United Church of Christ, which is at 25 E. Marion Street in Princeton, Illinois—behind the Apollo Theater. (Long ago, the Apollo had a stage for vaudeville shows. That’s fitting: my songs are vaudeville-adjacent!) Admission is free, with a free-will offering to support the host church, and refreshments will be offered at the intermission.
The Merry Mystic's head is packed with all the songs he'll spout. That's why his hair is growing thin: To flee the madcap mess within, the crew is bailing out!
Hope to see you there!
Bright blessings,
Adam
The Buddha Kicked My Butt
My little church, the Open Prairie United Church of Christ, is probably the only church for a hundred miles where I could sing this song on a Sunday morning. (It followed my sermon.) Be the Light, Merry Mystics!
Love Small
I love my small town: Princeton, Illinois. At least, I love it now. Hated it when I first moved here…
Me and Joe and What’s-His-Name
Here’s a song I wrote, inspired by a story from the Gospel of Luke. I performed this at the close of our Sunday morning soulcare at the Open Prairie United Church of Christ on Palm Sunday, 2024.
These are the (mostly video) messages sent out to The Merry Mystic mailing list.
Sermons and Such
Every week, I preach in the Open Prairie United Church of Christ in Princeton, Illinois. I’m not sending most of these out to The Merry Mystic mailing list; but on the outside chance you’d like to see a sermon, here they are.
The Parable of the Piles
Could you make a quick 500% or 1000% return on an investment? Neither could the people to whom Jesus told this parable.
Sort Not, Lest Ye Be Sorted
Two thousand years later, we’re still sorting people way too often.
My Man Thomas
What I think we can learn, and what I think we shouldn’t learn, from the story of Doubting Thomas.
The New Normal
Having known Jesus, we can’t just go back to counting the fish!
Pope Francis and Earth Day
When I sat down to write my Earth Day sermon this week, the first thing I did was turn up the heat. Oops …
A Tree in the Ever-Loving Now
I asked a tree to help me with my Easter sermon.
Palm Sunday
Here are some moderately interesting things about Palm Sunday, and one that’s really important.
Die Heilige Neugier
Science and religion should be friends; they have similar goals and similar weaknesses.
Lady Day
March 25th is the Feast of the Annunciation, otherwise known as Lady Day.
Congratulations! It’s a Person!
The story of Jesus healing a centurion’s slave hits one of the deepest notes of the Way of Jesus: the equality of all people in the eyes of God. We can take that lesson to heart by addressing the exclusion and oppression that folks with unpopular gender identities are now facing.