Encountering the Holy
This past Sunday I preached. People have been encouraging me to preach without a manuscript, but I couldn’t quite do it. Prep time. Confidence in what I was saying. Overall enthusiasm. Yeah…I needed the manuscript.
Category Archives: Church
Reflections on a Christmas Eve sermon
I have found that often when I am preparing a sermon, I end up convicted by the very thoughts I am forming into a sermon. I was not expecting to preach on Christmas Eve, but at the last minute I was given the notes of a sermon the pastor was… Continue reading
Bethlehem in the Midst of Bedlam–an Advent reflection
For my personal Advent devotions this year I’m reading through a resource called Finding Bethlehem in the Midst of Bedlam. Seems like an apt description for the season. Everything’s just a tad more chaotic. Kids in chapel today were a bit more wiggly. Friends at lunch… Continue reading
Thursday in Jamaica: the hugging lady and high school soccer matches
Today’s word was “salvation.” In the sense, I think, of who is it that needs salvation? We talked a lot about the role of Sunday morning worship in either serving the believers, or equipping them to go out to the rest of the week. I just found that the way… Continue reading
Wednesday in Jamaica: Maroons and Blue Mountain coffee
Today’s word was ‘sacrifice,’ and our conversation over breakfast circulated again around Phil. 2. My reflection is that acts of sacrifice are important…adopting kids, selling everything to move overseas, living on one income to spend more time volunteering, etc. yes…perhaps we should do that more often as Christians. But what… Continue reading
Tuesday in Jamaica: goats, cold showers and plantains
I slept like a rock. The rain meant a cooler evening, and the constant humming of the fan drowned out noises. The house doesn’t have air conditioning or hot water. A water pump has to be turned on to get running water. There’s no internet service. If it was on… Continue reading
Monday in Jamaica: airplane windows and group dynamics
It was a good thing I set my alarm…and even better that I packed last night. I was just finishing an email that needed to go out before I left when my ride knocked on my door. Ready or not…time to go.
Sunrise reflections
“When the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple to the Lord God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and the hands of families and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as yo do, and we have been… Continue reading
Birds of the Nations
Pastor’s going on vacation…this means I get to preach for two weeks in a row. And of course I get the last installment of the random “the Kingdom of Heaven is like…” parables told in Matthew. Both an over-used and a misunderstood concept, I think. Meanwhile, we haven’t talked much… Continue reading
Journey to Detroit 2015: What’s Your Story?
“What’s your story?” I was sitting at a pizza restaurant with a group of church leaders who until the day before had been complete strangers to me. But now, after 2 days of conversation and training, we were chatting in a much more familiar tone as we sipped beverages and… Continue reading