Just before Moses died, he brought one last word from the Lord to the people of Israel: See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his […]
“I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.” Bill Cosby received a lot of flak when he said this to his son Theo during his family TV show.* Of course, he didn’t make the saying up; a lot of parents bully their kids this way. They don’t literally mean that they […]
I stumbled on a simple German bedtime prayer that has been passed on from parents to their children for generations: Ich bin klein Mein Herz ist rein Darf niemand drin wohnen als Jesus allein. I’m showing you the German so that you can see why the poem is so easily remembered; klein, rein and allein […]
Ty Garrison was Lay Leader for last Sunday’s service, and he opened by praying: This week we’ve seen some magnificent displays of the universe, the very forces that give us life, by experiencing the dramatic solar eclipse. We’ve been reminded of the awesome working of the cosmos through the orbits and rotations of the earth, […]
A hundred-dollar bill. Well, that’s what I first thought last Saturday when Martina Westmoreland brought me the green piece of paper she had found in ABC’s women’s restroom. A second look told me that the number 100 was all I could make out, because all the writing was in a foreign language which I didn’t […]
This will be the theme of the new sermon series Pastor Connie and I will be preaching, starting this Sunday. At Christmas time, we celebrate the beginning of Jesus’ life, and we are reminded each year of the facts about that great event, his virgin birth, the star, the angels, the journey to Bethlehem, the […]
When I began my ministry at ABC in 1972, the family and I arrived in Altadena one afternoon in July, after our 3,000-mile trip west. We were welcomed by Church Secretary Nita Stankey, and she informed us that Youth Pastor Mike Guerrero was in a poolside VBS planning meeting with some of the college-age young […]
I’ve known many pastors in a variety of churches over my half-century in the ministry. Some are very gifted speakers, some are dedicated Bible expositors, some are very competent administrators, some are especially sensitive to the sick and hurting and others have a charismatic leadership style that brings about impressive church growth. A small minority […]
Recently I met the Pastor of a new church in our community, which is renting meeting space from an older, established congregation. There are so many of these popping up around town, and the mortality rate is so high, that I was curious about how this one would be different. I checked out the website […]
On the occasion of poet Walt Whitman’s 70th birthday, Mark Twain wrote this letter to give perspective to the great poet’s lifetime: You have lived just the seventy years which are the greatest in the world’s history and richest in benefit and advancement to its peoples. These seventy years have done much more to widen […]