I recently came across a hymn that I had never heard before. “My Goal is God Himself, Not Joy or Peace” was in devotional book and not identified as a hymn, so it took a little digging on my part to find it. I know so many hymns that it is rare for me to …
From Worship Experiences
Advent: Preparing for His Coming
Today is the first day of December, but it is also the first Sunday of Advent. If you are not familiar with advent, it is the time of preparation before Christmas. There are four Sundays in Advent, and it has always been one of my favorite times of the year. It is the nesting time …
Impact of Antioch Church in Acts 11
Last week at Lewis Center United Methodist Church, Pastor Tom continued talking about the “real life, real impact” of the church. To do so, he read Acts 11:19-30, which talks about the early church in Antioch. The church in Antioch was established by apostles fleeing the persecution in Jerusalem. Some of those who fled preached …
Mission Minded Lewis Center United Methodist Church
One of the things Tom and I really enjoy about attending Lewis Center UMC, the church we attend when we are in Ohio, is how mission minded they are. Lewis Center is filled with people who are really trying to make a difference in their community. The church’s motto is “Real Life, Real Impact” and …
60th Birthday Wisdom (I Wish)
Today is my 60th birthday. It feels like a bigger birthday than the other birthdays with a 0 on the end. I guess it is, since it is my biggest number yet for a birthday! Somehow 60 just feels older. Perhaps it is because 60 is the start of old age. I can no longer …
Irrelevant Jesus in Modern Life
Cannot Drink Grapes
Continuing with my Oswald Chambers devotions, I ran across this quote on the devotions for September 30. “You cannot drink grapes. Grapes become wine only when they are crushed.” The devotion went on to say that when we suffer a defeat in our Christian life, we cannot stay defeated. We use that defeat to be …
Crosspoint United Methodist Church in Harrisburg
Tom and I moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for a few weeks. We have some stuff to see in eastern PA and Harrisburg is close to all the stuff we wanted to see. Consequently, we attended a new church last Sunday, the Crosspoint United Methodist Church, Colonial Park. The Colonial Park part is important because Crosspoint …
Better Week When You Take God With You
This last Sunday was our final Sunday worshiping with the Asbury United Methodist Church in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. We enjoyed the church and the service very much. Music director Bert Sesler led most of the services and we will always remember his distinctive organ playing. Even though the congregation was small, it was faithful. Today I …
Oswald Chambers: Abandoned to God
I mentioned before that I have been reading “My Utmost for His Highest” for my morning devotions. At one point I got curious about the author, Oswald Chambers, and looked him up on Wikipedia. From that I found that he died from appendicitis when he was only 43 years old. In fact, he didn’t write …