Our last two Sunday sermons have been about The Hole in Your Soul.  In the first, I used Psalm 42 to talk about the fact that all of us seem to have some feeling of emptiness inside that we aren’t able to fill. In the second, Pastor Connie used Psalm 63 to remind us that […]

“I’m everybody’s mother. Women are more reassuring after an event.” This is how Dr. Lucy Jones explains why people in Southern California look for her face on TV after they feel an earthquake. Of course, she’s underselling herself when she says this. We listen to her because she really knows stuff and can explain it […]

Some of the most popular Christian preachers proclaim loudly that the Bible is the Word of God as they use it as a club to attack people who don’t agree with them. For them, the Bible is a weapon in a war against evil. Others treat the Bible as a rule book that contains clear […]

The man is on an elevated platform, behind a pulpit; he’s wearing a suit, and everything about him indicates authority and truth. You can draw a straight line from the light of God’s presence, through the open Bible, through his open mouth, through his pointing finger, through the pulpit of proclamation, to a weary, struggling seeker […]

My good friend Norm Rhinehart has finally come to the end of his earthly journey, after 97 years of living a positive, meaningful life. He died peacefully, surrounded by his loved ones — the way we all hope to go. We will memorialize his life on Saturday, and we will share stories about him to […]

In considering what I might write about for this week’s Messenger, I let my mind float over the ABC congregation, thinking about various families and individuals, asking about each, “What are they experiencing right now that brings them anxiety or concern?” I came up with answers like health issues, financial challenges and big decisions they […]

So we have decided to see the BIG ONE as our friend, sent to us by God, rather than fearing it as a terrible wave that will overwhelm and destroy us. With his help, we intend to ride it, as a surfer would. My boyhood fear of the big wave that had the power to […]

During our first family vacation to the Jersey shore, when I was about seven, I discovered waves. Watching them fascinated me, but after a little while I ventured in. Having those little foamy wavelets gently wash over my feet and ankles was a surprisingly good feeling, so I ventured in a little farther. There I […]

What an accomplishment! It’s been a long, hard journey, but as you flip that tassel from one side of your cap to the other, you realize that you’ve really accomplished something in life and nobody can take it away from you. However, it will soon begin to sink in that graduation is not a starting […]

Maybe I was naive and protected, but it was not until I had been in the ministry for a few years that I first heard the term “love child.” A member of an extended family was trying to explain to me why one of the cousins was treated differently from the others, appearing to be […]