The Christmas Spirit Good Morning Friends, Over the years, Christmas has inspired many authors and movie makers to create stories about its spirit and significance. In them is typically a spirit that embodies charity, forgiveness, friendship, unselfish love and generosity. At the heart of them is what we explore today....in stories of Spirit of Giving … Continue reading The Christmas Spirit →

The Narrow or Wide Gates Good Morning Friends, One of the great challenges in life is figuring out who to follow. Evidence would suggest that followers of the Way have strayed off course. Too many of our leaders are nothing more than the blind leading the blind. They see with earthly eyes but fail to … Continue reading The Narrow or Wide Gates →

Birthdays in the Bible Good Morning Friends, The arrival of only one royal children being born into this world has been celebrated annually for thousands of years. Other heirs to the throne have been honored but only typically during their lifetime. This type of royal celebration is most evident in civilizations, where the development of … Continue reading Birthdays in the Bible →

Turning to God in Prayer I couldn't help but think as I meditated on today's scripture of the Moslem practice of directional prayer. People, wherever they are and whatever they are doing, coming to a time of prayer. Now certainly our prayer is different. It is not a five time a day fixed ritual. We … Continue reading Turning to God in Prayer →

Woe #*.?! Good Morning Friends, Last night we celebrated my mother's 92 birthday! She was in some physical pain. Part of it was sad, part of it joyous. I am searching for the right word that matches with the convergence of emotional extremes. I am searching for scripture that has the right emphasis and meaning … Continue reading Woe#*.?! →

Seeing People through the Eyes of Love Good Morning Friends, Today we have a board meeting of our local Leadership Foundation that focuses on Immokalee, Florida and particularly the future of its youth...helping them belong, engage and be empowered. And as we contemplate during this season of giving and the many blessing we have received … Continue reading Seeing People through the Eyes of Love →

Rejoicing Through Spirit-filled Singing Good Morning Friends, Growing up in Southern Illinois we always went to church and sat on the front row pew left. When the time came I sang in a boys' choir. It was not a large church and there were only four of us boys. We were called Little Angels. We … Continue reading Rejoicing Through Spirit-filled Singing →

The Way of Love and Judgment Good Morning Friends, We have been studying Romans in a men's group at church and today I am leading the conversation on the inevitable difference of opinions people will have on issues of religion and beliefs. It is of course one of the greatest challenges to choose a life … Continue reading The Way of Love and Judgment →

Bells and Pomegranates Good Morning Friends, Yesterday I portrayed John the Baptist during the children's chat at church and I looked the part in brown. I brought a big brown box as a present. It was not fancy wrapped for Christmas but something of the everyday. It was not the focus of the message, still … Continue reading Bells and Pomegranates →

John the Baptist Good Morning Friends, Today, the second Sunday in Advent, will have several sermons on preparing the way for Christmas. For our Children's Chat I have been drafted to portray a character that undoubtedly had some opinions about Jesus. The theme is repentance. Today I put on a T-Tunic and a camel hair … Continue reading John the Baptist →