Last month at our county ministerial alliance gathering, we got to chatting about the books we were reading. One pastor mentioned a book – and of course the title escapes me – but it had something to do with how we invite people into deeper discipleship. I actually think that it was “Simple Church: Returning…
Living Among the Dead
Why are you looking for the living among the dead? Why are you looking for life among places where there is only death? Why are you looking for light in total darkness? Why are you looking in all the wrong places? Those questions all barraged me when I sat down and reflected on our gospel…
Because they didn’t let me give up…
While I was on vacation with my family these past few weeks, we had quite a few trials and tribulations to undertake. First of all, there was the struggles with health that might have prevented some of us from even going. But with a lot of prayer and new ideas from doctors and a perseverence…
“this beautiful mess” part 1
I have been trying to read more. There are far too many books on my shelf – delicious books – just waiting to be picked up and devoured. So I decided to start with Rick McKinley’s “This Beautiful Mess.” The writing style just draws me in… it’s conversational and pulls me in. But even more…
where two or more are gathered
Even though our congregation is small, I try to have two different services for Ash Wednesday. We have an older congregation and it is still wintery outside, so if we only had an evening service – many of our faithful wouldn’t venture out in the dark. But we also have a number of people who…
Four Loves
** Note: This is a sermon done in pieces throughout the worship service, interspersed with scripture and songs. Also – many thanks to UCC Worship Ways for help with the liturgy that ties all these pieces together (parts are found in the Eros II section) ** A few years ago, I was in Nashville and most of…
the potential demise of “the beast” and whether or not God cares.
Those of you who know me on facebook or twitter will be aware by now that I was in a car accident on Monday. “The Beast,” as many affectionately call my dad’s car is in a ditch somewhere. While I’ve had my share of bumps and taps in a car while driving (I have both bumped…
do I want to be a blogger?
Maybe you’ve noticed I haven’t had a lot of posts recently. Maybe you never really paid attention in the first place so you don’t really care. Either way, I’ve been kind of taking a break from it all for a bit to think about what this whole blogging thing is about, for me, anyways. I…