Blog

What does the word “Sunday” mean to you? I often hear: Sunday is the only day of the week where I get to sleep in. Sunday, isn’t that the one day of the week where you, the pastor, works? This isn’t meant to be a “guilt trip” if you don’t attend a church regularly. Instead, Read More

The United Methodist Church (UMC) met last week in General Conference. General Conference is made up of delegates from around the world. When they are in session, General Conference is the “head” of UMC. There is no one person in charge of UMC. They were meeting to consider the denomination’s position on same gender marriage Read More

I really think the title today should’ve been longer – “Live out your calling, and stop getting in the way of other people living out theirs.” We get in the way of others living out their calling when we “overfunction.” Recently, the Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast, has helped to explain this idea to me. Pete Read More

What? How can you be a thriving church if you are a dying church? First, we must consider what it means to be a church. Let’s look at Jesus’ conversation with His disciples in Matthew 16: 13 Now when Jesus came to the area of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say Read More

Do you watch the movie A Christmas Story every year? Do you have a favorite part? Maybe it is Ralphie asking for the Red Ryder BB gun. Maybe it is the Christmas dinner adventure. Maybe it involves tongues and a frozen pole. It brings joy to watch it, and that is why many return to Read More

I was reading the story of Lazarus the other day, and the translation I was using pointed out that in this story Jesus got angry. Lazarus is a dear friend of Jesus. Jesus receives news that his friend is terribly sick. The family is asking for Jesus to come and heal Lazarus. Strangely enough, Jesus Read More

Do you ever find yourself emotionally exhausted? Do you ever feel tired, like you aren’t getting anywhere? Do you ever find yourself saying, when I get “_______” then I will be happy? The “fill in the blank” might be a new job. It may be getting a big project done. It may even be cleaning Read More

“What did I do to deserve this?” It isn’t uncommon to hear that question asked when someone is going through a difficult time in their life. “What did I do wrong? Why is God so upset with me? Is He punishing me for something?” When we talk like this, it reveals that the reason we Read More

Are you perfect like Jesus?  I asked this very question this past Sunday.  I said if you are perfect as Jesus is perfect, then raise your hand. Can you guess how many people raised their hands? Correct, nobody did.   You are likely familiar with the phrase, “nobody is perfect.”  There is a scripture verse Read More

When you drive along rural two lane roads, you often find “obstacles.”  These obstacles can come in the shape of farm machinery, cyclists, or in my case this morning, garbage trucks.  As I was driving this morning, I saw the garbage truck ahead. As soon as I saw it, I started to look and see Read More