At a Deaconess Board Retreat, this question was posed: “Think of one person in your context…what is that person teaching you?” The first person who came to mind for me was a 4 yr. old in my congregation. When she’s there on a Sunday morning, this little girl sits with… Continue reading
Ponder the difference: A ‘to-do’ list is full of the un-achieved goals. The stuff not yet tended to. The myriad of piles still unsorted. A ‘To-do’ list is meant to be motivating…to show you how much further you still have, and how close you are to the finish line. A… Continue reading
I recently began reading the book “When Helping Hurts,” by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. I’ve heard about this book in the context of reflecting on attitudes and methods used in “Christian Outreach” that are…less than helpful. I’m reading it to increase my capacity to engage a conversation about the… Continue reading
This past Sunday I preached. People have been encouraging me to preach without a manuscript, but I couldn’t quite do it. Prep time. Confidence in what I was saying. Overall enthusiasm. Yeah…I needed the manuscript.
I would claim that I’m not one for the more ‘spiritual’ spiritual practices–like yoga, contemplative prayer, holy stretching, etc. I can remember snickering and scoffing at such practices in college and as a younger adult. Inevitably, when I found myself in a context where we were invited to sit straight… Continue reading
I have found that often when I am preparing a sermon, I end up convicted by the very thoughts I am forming into a sermon. I was not expecting to preach on Christmas Eve, but at the last minute I was given the notes of a sermon the pastor was… Continue reading
For my personal Advent devotions this year I’m reading through a resource called Finding Bethlehem in the Midst of Bedlam. Seems like an apt description for the season. Everything’s just a tad more chaotic. Kids in chapel today were a bit more wiggly. Friends at lunch… Continue reading
“This passion empties one of self. One does not “self-empty” by focusing upon oneself. One is emptied of self to the degree one is overcome by the needs, pain, hopes and desires of others. When concern for others takes one utterly beyond self-interest, beyond obsession with achievements and self-obsessing guilt… Continue reading
I’ve discovered a new park from which to watch the sun rise. I stop at the Starbucks across the street and get a refill of the Veranda Blend coffee, and then head over to the parking lot of the park. I like this park because there are actually picnic tables… Continue reading