Over the past few months, I’ve been exploring together with small groups of clergy, friends, and members of my church the persistence of racism and the underpinnings of white supremacy in our culture. I’m realizing that it is so prevalent we can’t even recognize it most days. It is like the air we breathe. We…
Living Redeemed
personal struggles with Christian living
Recognizing the Messiah
Text: Isaiah 49:1-7, John 1:29-42 It only takes a spark… As I’ve shared with you in the past, my extended family has often been to Hawaii together. My grandpa and grandma were fairly blessed in their life and made the decision long ago to spend their money bringing us together than leave money to be…
A Nap and a Snack
Text: Psalm 42 and 1 Kings 19:1-15a Blessed are the crazy. Blessed are those who experience feelings of anxiety and are consumed by worry. Blessed are those who have suicidal thoughts. Blessed are those who have survived trauma. Blessed are those are trapped in cycles of addiction. Blessed are the crazy. Blessed. That isn’t the…
A Way Forward? 25-cent words
Texts: Philippians 4:8-9, Matthew 22:34-40 This past year as I taught confirmation, one of our lessons focused on how we are all theologians. I wrote that word up on the board and one of our students exclaimed – WOW! That’s a 25-cent word! There was an old idiom that you shouldn’t use a 50-cent word…
Your Greater Purpose
Text: Isaiah 1:10-20 This morning’s scripture… wow. These are the words God speaks to the prophet Isaiah as he is called into service. This is the message that Isaiah is called to shared with the kings and rulers of Israel, the children of God. God, who created them… God, who rescued them from slavery in…
You Are Family
As a child, when I feel down and skinned my knee, there was nothing I wanted more than to be held in the arms of a parent. Their soothing words helped me to know that this moment of crisis was only temporary and that I would be okay. When I was a bit older, I…
Changing A Child’s Story
One book at a time, we can change the narrative, change, the statistics, change some lives… My church heard the call issued by our conference Poverty Taskforce to make an impact on generational poverty through literacy. All year, some of us have volunteered as reading buddies at Hillis Elementary and we have worked since Christmas…
Hi, I’m your small group leader AKA why I’m voting for #rule44 #umcgc
I started my day at 7am with the Committee on Reference and when everyone else was done for the evening, I joined a group of 50+ folks for a three hour training session for a process we might not even choose to implement. I’m exhausted. It was a 14 hour day and I’m spent. So…