Minister's Musings

Holy Smokes! I am likely dating myself but my Dad always used to say that when something remarkable happened. “Holy smokes, look at that!” It could be an amazing play on the ice, it could be a lightening strike, it could be a sunset, it could be a big fish, it could be an explosion. Good, bad, but never indifferent. Holy Smokes! read more

There is a wonderful section from the book of Hebrews that unfolds a long list of faithful people who have lives important lives and shown just what happens when we place God’s love at the heart of our life. “By faith” all these people who have gone before us lived, and loved, and God was there. And then it ends with “So then, if we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses…” let us live our own lives with love at the center… read more

If we google “top news” today we will find stories of countries at war, extreme heat, children dying, arrests and targeted shootings, starvation, overdoses, wildfires and more. There is so much happening it might just feel like everything is about to come to an end. read more

This Sunday we are halfway through our sojourn in the book of Revelation. In the first week we were introduced to this wild piece of writing that behaves more like a vivid dream than any waking way of behaving. And last week Julie explored the nature of apocalyptic literature. She kept saying “bing!” and pointing out how images and characters within the wild stories of Revelation would have resonated with either real people in the world of the original readers or key stories within their faith. “Bing!” does this ring a bell? read more

What are we going to talk about on Sunday? The apocalypse: what the book of Revelation says and what the book means. Hah. How presumptuous!! As if we can sort that out in less than a lifetime! read more

So, back in June when we were voting on the books of the Bible you wanted Julie and me to explore together with you this summer, you had a choice of New Testament books: Romans, Mark, or Revelation. YOU CHOSE REVELATION! So starting this Sunday, I will kick off our wild ride through one of the most controversial pieces of literature we have. Revelation! Buckle up! read more