“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” – Ephesians 4:31-32 Clutter, it accumulates easily, and as it does, it becomes a bigger impediment to our lives. Spiritual clutter, restricts our growth and hampers our faith. One person […]
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” – Matthew 11:28 “Don’t be selfish,” we hear, “being a Christian means putting God and others first.” The call to self-sacrifice seems ever-present in such comments, as we are reminded that Jesus poured out his life for us, and we should do the same for him. Clearly, the Christian […]
“And he appointed twelve (whom he also called apostles) so that they might be with him, and he might send them out to preach and have authority…” – Mark 3:14 When we rush into doing things, we get things out of order, and we can miss what really matters. I remember a test one of my high school teachers gave to our class. It was […]
I received a note on Facebook yesterday from a young woman we met on our last trip to Brazil. It was great to reconnect after two years. It is wonderful how technology allows us to keep connected over great distance. What struck me most in her note, was her word of thanks for the bag of marshmallows we left with her family. It brought back […]
When I was preparing for ministry, my wife’s grandmother called me to her bedside in the nursing home and gave me this advice, “Always remember, your job is to study God’s word, preach God’s word, and love the people.” It was wonderful advice, and one of the best summations of pastoral minsitry I’ve heard. The real challenge is keeping that focus. Every day, I try […]
What does God want for Christmas? It may sound like a strange question, but it may be the most important one we answer in this season. As we approach the holiday, many of us are scurrying to make all of the necessary preparations for our family and friends. There is food to buy, decorations to find and hang, and, of course, presents to buy. In […]
In our family, we celebrate special days over a period of time. So birthdays become birthday weeks and anniversaries become week, even month, long celebrations. This anniversary is no different. My wife and I began to celebrate our special day nearly a week before the actual day, and we continue to celebrate even now. As we enjoyed our memories and our time together, I began […]
Today, is the culmination of our congregation’s annual stewardship campaign. On this Consecration Sunday, we ask people to reaffirm their commitment to be stewards of all God gives them. Yes, this involves a financial pledge, but in includes so much more. Stewardship can be an unpopular topic. We like our privacy. We tire of the media voices inundating us with requests for money, and honestly, […]
Yesterday, while I was out with my family, we passed a man reading the sports section of the newspaper while he was waiting for the light to change. We all laughed and I began thinking about our growing passion to attempt to fit more into our busy schedules. We hurry from place to place, working as we go thanks to our Bluetooth headsets, voice recorders, […]
“Hurry up!” “How fast can you get that done.” “Is there an abridged version?” Speed is the order of the day. We travel faster, read faster and work faster. Slow traffic annoys us. We prefer television programs where the plot is introduced, developed and resolved all within 30 minutes (including commercial breaks). An entire business market has developed to help us grasp great works of […]