A Daughter’s Journey
As a parent of teens, I have had some difficult conversations with my kids. Especially my daughter when it comes to her spiritual beliefs. She is on the fence right now about what she believes, if anything, and I have learned to be comfortable with where she currently stands. You can imagine it is a difficult place to be based on my current calling, but it is where we are as a father and daughter. I love her no less. I understand where she is coming from, as I took a similar path when I was a late teen. [...]
Difficult Words of Jesus
The Gospels are some of the most encouraging and enlightening books ever written. However, they also have some of the most challenging and difficult words ever put to pen and parchment, and those are the words of Jesus. Jesus speaks in parables, and he also speaks directly to his disciples, the priestly class, Roman officials, and the people who would follow him from town to town. Many times then, and even now, his words were confusing, there were many times people walked away after Jesus spoke, but there were also many instances where people began to and continued to [...]
At Least We Have Hope
Besides reading and hearing about how many have become hopeless or feel hopeless, I have also had more and more conversations about how people feel hopeless. I hear how Society is going in the wrong direction, and our morals and values are trampled upon, and our way of life is being destroyed or hindered somehow. Unfortunately, what is surprising about these conversations and the articles of hopelessness is that Christians are saying they are hopeless and that the world is hopeless. The people who are called to be the people full of hope and love are the same ones [...]
A United Church
I have been thinking and praying a lot about unity* during the past several months as I have witnessed, along with everyone else the fractures and schisms that have become very apparent as we have all gone through a much more stressful year than anyone had anticipated. I have seen families, including my own at the dinner table, with our two emerging young adults holding two very different political viewpoints. Divided in their views. This at times can make for tense encounters (over some of the best grilled chicken you have ever had), yet we allow for disagreement [...]
Monitor and Adjust
We are in unprecedented times, and through this year our church has been faithful in its giving. For this we are grateful, and so are our ministry partners, as well as our community. We are able to do the work we are called to do through the spiritual discipline and act of worship, we call giving or tithing. As we wrap up this year, we ask that you continue to consider giving to the ministries of Woodridge, so that we can continue to minister well to our community. Because of your giving, we are able to develop an annual [...]
The Prayer of a Righteous Person
I have recently just completed teaching an online study of the book of James, and as you can imagine we came across several areas of discussion that are just as valid today as they were when James wrote the letter almost two thousand years ago. Though he was writing to a mainly Jewish audience that had been dispersed through the region of Palestine and beyond, we can take what he wrote and apply it to our lives today. I could do an entire blog series on what I learned from James as I taught it, and I may, but [...]
Thoughts in Solitude
I have recently added American Theologian and Trappist Monk Thomas Merton’s, Thoughts in Solitude, to my morning readings. Thomas Merton, has been influential in my spiritual growth and his works continue to guide and lead people all over the world. It has been over 50 years since his death and his words are just as relevant today as they were when he wrote them. Earlier this week, I was reading through Thoughts in Solitude and came across a passage that reflected on the insecurities of this world and the risks we face when we decide to have the courage [...]