Just before Christmas we said goodbye to our beloved Siberian Husky named Trinity. She was our three legged dog whose personality (read: sassy) dominated any room she occupied. She also occupied a large part of our hearts. Trinity received her name from my morning Bible Study group when I served Trinity Lutheran Church. When they…
When did the Christian Church officially begin? Some would say with the 12 disciples and the others who followed Jesus during his ministry. Others would say on the day of Pentecost when Holy Spirit was given to all who believe. And still others would say in about 300AD when the first actual church building was…
As you know, we have been worshipping online since March. It hasn’t always been easy, but we have been doing the best that we can. Recently (with the cooler temperatures), we started parking lot worship at 8am on Sunday and it has been wonderful to see so many people come! A few weeks ago, I…
Jesus said, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also…
We are almost there. Election day is around the corner. Are you ready for this season to be over? Really? I hear the rumblings of a few that they are willing to move on after November 3rd provided their candidate of choice wins. And if they don’t it is either it is a case of voter…
Have you ever heard of the term “The Butterfly Effect?” The term was coined by Edward Lorenz a research meteorologist who designed a computer program to model the weather. He was able to reduce weather into several formulas that were able to be predicted. In 1961 Lorenz was busy and wanted to shortcut his weather…
Today I ran across a wonderful article by Dr. Aisha Ahmad. Aisha Ahmad is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto. She is currently a Senior Fellow at Massey College and a Fellow at Trinity College, and was formerly an International Security Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy…
2020 has been the year of unwelcome change. (That may be an understatement!) Change can often produce anxiety, sadness, anger, apathy, listlessness and sleepless nights. I am sure we all have experienced at least one of those symptoms this year. I know I have. This may be the most difficult year of my ministry because…
Who are you listening to? What are the voices in your life that are influencing you? Family? Friends? 24 hour “news” channels? Politicians? Does Jesus even make the list? My guess is yes. But, to what extent? There are voices all around telling us: what to believe, what to hate and what to fear. Often…
We are great at separating people. At a glance we can discern if someone is on our team or should be shunned and ridiculed. Humans are particularly good at drawing lines in the sand and then determining who belongs on which side. We are really talented at breaking down community. We eagerly identify our foes…
