Mar 6, 2024
Recently, when Dawn and I attended the Antiracism training provided by our annual conference, I had the opportunity to meet some new ministry colleagues. One was a person serving in children’s ministry in a mid-sized congregation, much the size of West. We were...
Mar 5, 2024
Can you think of a time when you judged someone’s actions based on a long-standing moral code rather than what might be actually “right” for that person? Sometimes, we give the Pharisees and religious leaders of Jesus’ time a bad wrap. They weren’t “all bad.”...
Mar 4, 2024
Happy Monday. Jesus uses parables to teach lessons and push people to think. They were not used for doctrine and dogma, but instead to guide them into ways to live life full of meaning and salvation (transformation). In yesterday’s message, we discussed three...
Feb 28, 2024
How self-reliant are you? One of the parental “gut-wrenching moments” is when you take your child to kindergarten—leaving them in the “big world” to fend for themselves, without their guardian there to save the day. I think...
Feb 27, 2024
The beatitudes of Jesus are not pious hopes of what shall be. They are not glowing, vague prophecies of some future utopia/bliss. They are congratulations on what is. If we embrace them, if we live into them, it is then that we can fully experience the Kingdom of...
Feb 26, 2024
Do you have “words to live by?” Recently, when Layne called to share the heartbreaking news from the doctor, my unspoken mental response was, “What can I go to?” Meaning, what is it within my realm of knowledge and understanding that I can hold...