Hello GRC and friends! In my personal worship – personal time in the Bible and in prayer – the Psalms have never been more rich, more meaningful and relevant, more needed, than now! Over the years, I’ve sometimes wondered whether David and the other Psalm-writers were too paranoid about enemies and death/destruction. Or whether their sense that God was distant/absent …
If there were two things I knew about myself before this pandemic it was this: I’m an extrovert and I’m not a techie. These two things have become painfully clear to me since being quarantined over a week ago. Working from home with virtual instead of in-person meetings and learning new forms of technology have taken me way out of …
“Esther made her commitment and was used by God as the instrument to preserve His people.” (Esther 4:13-14) We’ve seen these narratives repeated throughout Scripture. We’ve seen it happen multiple times in history. Now it is our time… The Call Has Come Here is the opportunity for us all to step forth boldly in unity as the Body of Christ …
I can still remember sitting in the backseat of my family’s blue caravan, driving home from Sunday service, declaring that being a pastor must be the world’s easiest job as he only has to work one day a week – a few hours at that. Looking back, I now realize how misguided my ten-year-old self’s logic was! So much of …
I can’t help wondering, “When did new diseases start getting customized names?” It’s like the Weather Channel naming every snowstorm as if it has unique personality. Or when meteorologists seem to make up terms never before heard, like haboobs, bomb cyclones and The Polar Vortex. Now we have COVID-19: a “novel” coronavirus. How do we handle this unseen enemy? This …
The poet W. H. Auden once wrote about the interplay between art, science, and Christianity. Near the beginning of his essay is this statement: “To a Christian, unfortunately, both art and science are secular activities, that is to say, small beer.” He thus trivialized what we do the majority of our week. However, later in the article he did redeem …
A few years back, I re-connected with a high school buddy who confessed that our decade-long estrangement was his decision. On one occasion, I made what I thought was a joke that deeply offended him. In another instance, I failed to speak up on his behalf. Both times I was acting in accordance with temperament – the desire to make …
Hello GRC! Last year we tried something new, unsure of whether it’d “succeed.” We had rotations of GRCers come to the sanctuary hour after hour, to read from a big Bible in the pulpit, continuing until we finished. We livestreamed the vast majority of that effort to share with one another and the world. And… it… was… epic! SOOO many …
Last week Betsy and I had to put down our dog, Scout (named after Jean Louise Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird). Scout was part of the family for 16 years. Scout was part beagle, bred to sniff out and chase rabbits. We didn’t have any rabbits, so she chased tennis balls instead. Chasing balls was Scout’s calling in life. …
I’ve always found great encouragement and direction from God’s pronouncement to Abraham in Genesis 2:2-3, “ I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” It has compelled me to consider how God has blessed me so that I can bless others. I’m sure that most of us have found that we are …
Blessed to be a Blessing & Blessed to Watch that Blessing Read More »