Ten years ago, most of us didn’t have a smart phone, the iPad still hadn’t been introduced, the majority of visual entertainment was consumed through live TV (unless you had a TiVo—anyone remember those?), cash was a necessity, watches couldn’t tell us how many steps we had taken, Facebook was mainly for young people, and […]
How was my sabbatical?
There’s no way being given two months away from the responsibilities and pressures of ministry for two months isn’t an incredible gift. It’s an amazing privilege that I’m aware few people ever receive the benefit of in a lifetime, even amongst ministers. Megan has already said it, but it’s bears some repeating: we are so […]
Christmas Eve and the best neighbor ever
For the last few months, we’ve been unpacking what Jesus called the “Greatest Commandment” of all: love God with all you have and love your neighbor as much as you love yourself. That second part—love your neighbor as much as you love yourself—has been our particular focus. What if we took Jesus seriously…literally…and REALLY loved, […]
Preparing your heart for Christmas
You all have been graciously asking, “How was Sabbatical?” And we keep responding, “Sabbatical is going well! Six more days—four more days—” And now—we’re back, and we are working on our new response. Larry and I will be excited to share with you the gift that the last two months has been for us and […]
Introduce someone to the GLOW of Jesus
These last few weekends in worship, we’ve been in a series called “I ≠ Him.” Simply put, we are not equal to Jesus. We have learned that we are not the light; Jesus is the light! We are not the first; Jesus is first! We aren’t meant to take on all the pressures and all […]
It’s all about the waiting
It’s always nice when the rhythms of the day-to-day align with the rhythms of the church calendar. Such is the case with Advent. Eight years ago, I was due to have a baby around Christmas. I felt for Mary riding that donkey to Bethlehem more than ever that year! This year, my daily rhythm once […]