Dear friends, Happy New Year! Welcome to 2020! I went to the gym today and it was packed with people who I would imagine want to get in shape or stay in shape? Perhaps they are hoping that 2020 will be a great and happy year? They are off to a good start from a…
Church Blog (Page 27)
Quilotoa is one of many volcanic wonders in Ecuador. It is a 2-mile-wide lake filling a dormant volcano that collapsed many years ago. In 2018 Valorie and I were able to visit our daughter Elena during her semester in Quito. We chose Quilotoa as a scenic and “easy” hike because the next day we planned…
Merry Christmas, Testify? You will because you don’t have any options! You will not have to “testify” before the House of Representatives or the US Senate! For sure you will never have to stand before a Roman Tribunal. But you will “testify” before the Judge of all the earth! If you have a defense do…
Dear loved ones, With online shopping getting more and more popular, it’s very common these days to see mail carriers coming to the door with multiple packages. As the doorbell rings, we are filled with two questions. First, “Is it for ME?” and, if so, second, “What IS it?” Unless you have zero impulse control and simply rip the package…
Happy Thanksgiving, Our news headlines have been dominated it seems with “impeachment.” Most of us are familiar with the normal definition, “The presentation of formal charges against a public official by the lower house, trial to be before the upper house.” Did you notice the last two words in the last sentence? We will all…
Dear friends, How do you know God is real? Maybe He is just a figment of your imagination? Centuries ago a man by the name of Job asked, “Who by searching can find out God?” How would you answer that question? Have you found Him or did He find you? Can you find Him through…
Dear Sisters and Brothers in the United Peoples of Jesus the Messiah (UPJM), I’m sorry that I failed to send you a pre-Sunday message. So, to make it up to you, I’m hitting “send” on a post-Sunday greeting on this spectacular Tuesday morning. First, I’m soaring today because strong chains of injustice were shattered yesterday…
“You are not our daughter anymore.” They were the last words 11 year old Saree* heard her father say to her as she stood in the street, holding the clothes her family shoved at her while slamming the door in her face. How would you respond if you were Saree? This Sunday we will join…
This Sunday we start a new series, called “Acting Out,” through the book of Acts. For the next ten weeks we’ll be studying the amazing work of God as the Holy Spirit transformed the early church from being a disorganized band of discouraged and defeated disciples into an unstoppable force that continues to turn the…
Dear friends, How do you answer this question, “What do you believe is the purpose of your Christian life and the purpose of any Christian church?”. When Jesus was asked which is the greatest commandment in the law, he replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and…