My morning devotion today came from John 14, in a part of that chapter, Jesus says “I do not give to you as the world gives.” That brings up the question, “how DOES the world give?” What is Jesus differentiating Himself from? Perhaps it is giving out of self-interest, giving simply to receive something back.…
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The girls brought home their yearbook this week. They’ve spent time going through pictures, showing me where they end up in the yearbook and pictures of their friends and teachers. It makes me think of my collection of yearbooks in the guest room, gathering dust. Pictures there too of people that had been close, pictures…
This is my first week of sabbatical. This is a great gift that the congregation has given me to take some time to rest, retool, and refresh in order to get ready for the next part of my ministry. I am truly grateful for everyone who has stepped up to help make this possible. One…
Good morning from Fort Wayne, Indiana. I am here at the request of our District President who normally takes this trip. Four times a year, he and his fellow District Presidents come to the midwest and meet with the national Synod President and others about the state of the denomination. But our District President couldn’t…
Thursday of last week was Maundy Thursday. The word “Maundy” comes from the Latin word “Mandatum” meaning “command” or “mandate”. The “mandate” of that day is when Jesus told His disciples, “Love one another as I have loved you.” (John 13) Of course, last week Thursday we saw someone who did the opposite of that…
Rev. Dr. Timothy Keller – a Christian speaker, pastor, and author – wrote a short book once called “Hidden Christmas”. In “Hidden Christmas” he argues that the true meaning of Christmas (Jesus’ incarnation and birth into the world for the sake of dying and rising for humanity) gets “hidden” by the commercial and sentimental secular…
There’s a joke that goes: Little 5 year old Samuel couldn’t go to church with the rest of his family one Palm Sunday because he was sick. He stayed home with his mother who took care of him while the rest of the family went to church. When his father and siblings came back, he…
I saw an interesting phrase that caught my attention the other day. The phrase was “sources of darkness”. As I thought about this phrase, I thought, “well, that’s odd – there are actually no ‘sources’ of darkness.” Darkness is an absence, and you don’t really have a “source” to an absence. That isn’t to say…
I started reading a new short book this past week. The title of the book is “Jobs to Be Done,” and the idea behind the book is that people inherently look at things in their lives as “jobs to be done,” and then “hire” different things or people to do those jobs. For instance, the…
There’s a lot of hubbub in the media today about the unsealing of some files from the JFK administration. Questions are obviously being asked about if these files say anything about his assassination, but also some questions that might seem sillier – like if they discuss his supposed relationship with Marilyn Monroe or even answer…