Just about a year ago, I asked my congregation: Why do you come to church? What difference has this made in your own life? And their answers were beautiful. Here are some of their responses: I come because I feel compelled to bow my heart to worship the God who is bigger than I. I […]
Two summers ago, when we were on the Island of Iona, I remember going in to worship in that ancient abbey. It definitely felt like a thin place. It was originally built somewhere around the year 1200 I could feel within the walls a thousand years of prayers. I thought about the monks, Vikings, and […]
Several months ago, our church celebrated our Scottish roots with a ceremony called “Kirking of the Tartans.” We were reminded that when Scotland lost its freedom to England in the 1700s, they experienced great loss – even a sense of oppression. They were forbidden to speak Gallic, or to play the pipes or even to […]
The much-beloved hymn, Fairest Lord Jesus, was written sometime in the mid-sixteen hundreds by an anonymous author. It first appeared in a Jesuit hymnbook in 1677. Whoever wrote this beautiful hymn obviously had a deep devotional life. A life that focuses on the beauty of Christ, is a life put in perspective. The Apostle Paul […]
Today, I am deeply grateful for those of you who have supported the Dial Hope Foundation with a financial donation. So many people benefit from your giving! Many years ago, I heard a part of Billy Graham’s 1998 TED talk. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, and it refers to conferences that host inspiring […]
Today is Ash Wednesday. For many Christians, it is a day when we go to worship. We receive ashes on the forehead as a sign of our mortality and as a reminder of God’s grace. We remember that God created us from the dust, that God lovingly provides for us here and now, and that […]
Many years ago now, there was an article front page of the Florida Times Union, about a woman Barbara Gilbert. At that time she was a single mom, a part-time college student, and a waitress. She was working two part-time jobs just to pay rent. Somehow, Barbara came to hear about folks in Jamaica who […]
During a Wednesday evening class a while back, someone shared about how his daughter had been in a car crash and spent time in a coma. Of course, the worry and anxiety were all-consuming. I can only imagine. He said they were not sleeping and at the hospital all the time; just praying and praying. […]
In my last year of seminary, I took an administrative class. It covered the basics: how to make a budget, how to run a session meeting, carry out a stewardship campaign. Just the kinds of things a pastor needs to know before they get out of school and go into a church. At the very […]
I don’t know if you’ve seen the images from the James Webb Space Telescope. Awesome is the only word I know to describe them. It just makes me realize how beautiful and vast the universe is – and it makes me realize that we worship a God who is huge – who created all of […]
