Dear Church Family, Just like every bottle of medicine or container of a dangerous chemical, they come with a warning, I feel obligated to put a warning label on "CHURCH". Here it is: Warning: Reading God’s Word and praying will reveal your greatest weaknesses, unveil hidden sins, and transform you into the person God intends [...]
Dear Church Family, I have found it so helpful to read the Bible with the lens of "How did they pray?" We often are very rigid and imagine that there's only one way...the Presbyterian way. So, if you ever go to a Catholic, Lutheran or Pentecostal church, you are tempted to wrinkle your nose and [...]
Dear Church Family, The old hymn "Take it to the Lord in Prayer" has a line that goes like this: Are we weak and heavy-laden, Cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge— Take it to the Lord in prayer; It reminds me that we often [...]
Dear Church Family, C.S. Lewis said “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he [...]
Dear Church Family, On Sunday we'll have a a great day of celebration. My ordination is a confirmation of the call God placed on my life when I was 21. When I sensed God calling me during my senior year in college I laughed. I had spent a great deal of time with Inter-Varsity Christian [...]
Dear Church Family, This letter will be what you will also see in May's Newsletter. I thought it was worth repeating: Ordained/Installed/Certified/Transitional In every institution there are words that are unique to that group of people, and understanding them often requires a lexicon or an advanced degree. But we dare not oversimplify certain terms because [...]
Dear Church Family, When my boys began to be daring they used to ask me to make them swords, a skate board ramp and a tree house. I complied because I also enjoy taking risks and pushing the limits. But I drew the line when they wanted to ski off the roof into a pile of [...]
Dear Church Family, What is your natural response to an emergency? Some are energized and are ready to fight. Others, say, "The heck with that, I'm outa here". And then there are those of us who can't do anything and become immobilized. In the passage for this week Isaiah 2, the prophet addresses his people in [...]
Dear Church Family, How do you balance grace and truth? Whether it's with your children, your spouse, your best friend or the driver who can't seem to stay in between the lines? Most of us err on one side or the other. Our passage this week is Isaiah 1, the beginning of a series in [...]
Dear Church Family, I watched on Youtube Robin William"s rendition of "The History of the Bible". Yes, it was a bit profane but he asked a good question: "What do the Easter bunny and chocolate eggs have to do with anything?" Christians have done their best to explain how the secular counterpart to the great holiday(holy [...]