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
Today’s word was “salvation.” In the sense, I think, of who is it that needs salvation? We talked a lot about the role of Sunday morning worship in either serving the believers, or equipping them to go out to the rest of the week. I just found that the way… Continue reading
Today’s word was ‘sacrifice,’ and our conversation over breakfast circulated again around Phil. 2. My reflection is that acts of sacrifice are important…adopting kids, selling everything to move overseas, living on one income to spend more time volunteering, etc. yes…perhaps we should do that more often as Christians. But what… Continue reading
I slept like a rock. The rain meant a cooler evening, and the constant humming of the fan drowned out noises. The house doesn’t have air conditioning or hot water. A water pump has to be turned on to get running water. There’s no internet service. If it was on… Continue reading
It was a good thing I set my alarm…and even better that I packed last night. I was just finishing an email that needed to go out before I left when my ride knocked on my door. Ready or not…time to go.
“When the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple to the Lord God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and the hands of families and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as yo do, and we have been… Continue reading
Pastor’s going on vacation…this means I get to preach for two weeks in a row. And of course I get the last installment of the random “the Kingdom of Heaven is like…” parables told in Matthew. Both an over-used and a misunderstood concept, I think. Meanwhile, we haven’t talked much… Continue reading
“What’s your story?” I was sitting at a pizza restaurant with a group of church leaders who until the day before had been complete strangers to me. But now, after 2 days of conversation and training, we were chatting in a much more familiar tone as we sipped beverages and… Continue reading
What follows is a series of entries about how I got to the point where I am getting ready for a 15 day trip to East Africa. I figured breaking it into installments would be better than expecting someone to read a novel. But be warned…it may still be a… Continue reading