sunday night, 23 february 2014. hotel nueva guinea, nueva guinea nicaragua. (please forgive me in advance: — typos, capitalization and bad spelling are par for the course.) (oh…and check out the twitter feed.) the first 14 of us arrived in nueva guinea late this afternoon. the rest of the group, all but one from north Read More...
82 degrees at 8pm in managua. And, the entire 14 member team arrived safely. Only two members were "almost" arrested by customs, but they managed to talk their way out of it...those in the legal profession often do. as we speak, we are headed to a remote village in nicaragua to help Read More...
sunday, 16 feb 14. 1715 (military time because carla and stephanie are the mission trip equivalent of drill instructors). less than 1 week until departure. stephanie is washing the “sleep pockets” that we take with us on mission trips. think king sized bed sheet, folded over, sewn together across the bottom and Read More...
Poor Goliath. When he challenged the Israelite army to send a warrior to do battle with him the great giant never had a chance. As soon as they saw the young shepherd boy armed with his sling and five smooth stones they should have fled immediately into the hills to regroup. David Read More...
Listen to Dr. Glen Miles' 2014 State of the Church Address. January 23 – State of the Church 2014: Strength for the Journey; Grace for the Soul.images/stories/sermons/state 2014 gloria - jared - glen.mp3Download MP3
Simon Senek’s latest book, Leaders Eat Last, noted that the desire to belong to a group is one of the most powerful forces at work in the human community. He quotes a leader who shouts to his group of new recruits: “From this day on words like ‘I,’ ‘me,’ ‘my’ will no Read More...
The desire for spiritual growth comes from a deep yearning within to go to a place we call home. The main character in Pat Conroy’s novel, Beach Music, says, “I could not quiet that pearly ache in my heart that I diagnosed as the cry of home.” That pearly ache is the Read More...
According to the lectionary, a three-year cycle of readings for preaching and worship, the scripture for New Year’s Day is Luke 2: 15-21. If you were in worship on Christmas Eve, you know doubt heard this text read. It is the shepherds’ response to the angelic message that the messiah is born Read More...
Holy, holy, child of Bethlehem, you came to us tenderly in human flesh. And so we again bow in wonder to ponder how such a gift transforms us even now. Sometimes we are like the shepherds, busy keeping our own flocks by night, too busy even to notice an angel singing, too Read More...
An angel appears before a young woman named Mary and declares, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” The angel goes on to tell her that she will bear a son, that she will partner with God to change the world. She asks, “How can this be?” Read More...
Christmas is the season when I dare to dream that everything will be made right, when glory to God in the highest and peace on earth for all will finally come true. On Christmas day I may be hoping for a sweater and some books but I’ll trade everything on my wish Read More...
One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” There was much going on in their lives and his, too. For all we know, Jesus may have been saying those words to them just so he could hear them out loud himself. They were living in troubling Read More...
Many years ago a friend asked me, “Where is God? Everything in my life is falling apart; my marriage, my family, my career, everything. I’ve done all that I should, too. I’ve worshipped every week, tithed every year, served whenever I could and more. Now, in my time of need it feels Read More...
The Gospel in 7 WordsPathways to Learning, Sun., Nov. 3 Dr. Molly Marshallimages/stories/CCC/pathways - molly marshall 11-3-13 gospel in 7 words.mp3Download MP3
Someone asked me the other day, “Do you believe in miracles?” I said, “I remember when the USA Olympic Hockey team beat the Soviets at Lake Placid and the ABC announcer, Al Michaels, asked and answered his own question: ‘Do you believe in miracles? YES!’ ”“Is that the kind of miracle you Read More...
