Next week, we will be celebrating Independence Day, a day that will be filled with fireworks, backyard BBQs, and many other festive activities. You will hear many patriotic songs, one of them may even be God Bless America. For some reason, I have been thinking about this very thing. A few weeks ago, in a casual conversation, someone told me they thought that God has stopped blessing America. I don’t know why, but those words have kind of stuck with me. We throw these words around pretty easy, don’t we? God Bless America. We do so even without really thinking about how God has blessed us, is blessing us or will continue to bless us. We just say God Bless America, … Read More
Theology Matters
Theology Matters My friends, I want to say something very important that I believe God has put on my heart — Theology Matters. Theology by its definition is the study of God. Theos, meaning God, and ology which like many other ologys is the study of the subject to which it is attached. In a longer sense, theology is our beliefs about the nature of God, who God is, and how God interacts and relates with us. My friends, as a pastor, it has been a hard and full week. As a church family (and staff family), we have experienced so much. We have family who has been in the ER. We have family in the hospital. We have family … Read More
The Last Supper
For the past few days, I have spent my time in Scripture focused on the last week, the week we call “Holy Week.” This is the week from Palm Sunday when Jesus enters Jerusalem for the final time and Easter Sunday when Jesus is raised from the dead. In particular, I have been focused on Luke’s version of the Last Supper and what happens in the upper room on the night before Jesus is crucified. If you are curious this is Luke 22:7-38. Most of us know the part of the story where Jesus, as they are sharing the meal together, breaks bread and passes the cup. This is the part of the story we remember every time we share … Read More
Harvesting What You Sow
Harvesting What You Sow So last week, my family took part in the Lent Workshop where we made resurrection gardens. We had a great time as a family, and I was glad that so many others participated as well. A part of the gardens is some seeds that we planted in the dirt. At our house, we have been diligently watering them, and we are beginning to see sprouts grow out of the dirt. Noah, in particular, has been extremely excited when he started to see the sprouts sticking up through the ground. But that got me thinking about something else. Something else happened this week that made me really proud as a father and also a pastor. First, a … Read More
Answering the Call
The life of discipleship is all about answering the call. We first answer this call when we start our journey of faith. The life of any disciple begins when we first answer the call of Jesus, to come and follow him. As we live our life of discipleship, we answer the call time and time again. I was baptized as a baby, but I answered the call to follow Jesus during confirmation. As a pastor, I also answered a different kind of call, a call to ministry. Answering this call meant going to seminary and going through the process of ordination in The United Methodist Church. Time and time again, as a pastor, I have answered many calls. Calls for … Read More
