“WE will sing unto the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with US.” Wow. This last year has been quite a marathon of experiences. In June, we celebrated a full year of being back in worship together physically every Sunday. Over the last few weeks, we have slowly...
Earlier this summer, I learned that my high-school journalism teacher, one of the most important mentors in my life, had died late last year. In the days that followed, I reconnected with friends from those days I hadn’t talked to since we graduated, and in our online...
Sometimes when it’s my turn to clean the dishes, I pop in my headphones and turn on a worship station on Pandora. That’s what I was doing a few weeks ago when a Getty song came on, one with lyrics that are all about how my worth is not found in anything but Jesus. I...
The Courtyard Committee knows that everyone is getting anxious for the completion of the Courtyard. No one is more eager to see it completed than the members of the Courtyard Committee. As you are aware, construction of any project during the pandemic has been fraught...
This sabbatical has been a huge blessing on so many levels one of which is the opportunity it has afforded me to think deeply. One of the things I’ve been thinking more deeply about is the proper place for virtual or digital technology in the Church and life of faith...
If there is anything that we have needed this last year or so, it is hope. Hope that things will get better. Hope that we will get back to doing some of the things we enjoyed before with those we loved being around. Hope that we will be able to catch up on hugs and...
Several dozen of our youth and their mentors gathered for D-Now, our annual in-town retreat last weekend. They spent the weekend in worship, discipleship, fellowship and service . The theme for the weekend was the first chapter of 1 Peter, where Peter describes how...
A well-traveled highway connects Jimma and Gore, Ethiopia. Some of the highway is paved. More significantly to many Christian Ethiopians is the even stronger connection between Gore and Jimma that started with the “coming of the Holy Spirit” and subsequent “Great...
Because I love fishing I've been thinking about John 21 recently. This great chapter, which takes place a week or more after Jesus’ resurrection, recounts Jesus’ restoration of Peter. But the whole scene is set in the context of Peter and several disciples having gone...
I’m keenly aware that this is a season of the unexpected. Despite the fact that Jesus repeatedly told His disciples what would happen, they never expected His crucifixion or his resurrection. Are we any different? This last year is proof of God doing the unexpected....