During Advent, on a Sunday we attended the Lexington Church of the Cross with my parents, Pastor Hamilton preached a sermon on comfort. He talked about the four comforts in Isaiah 40: peace, presence, promise, and power. Although I’m not sure which verses correspond to which comfort, I’ve continued thinking about the sermon. Isaiah 40 …
From Worship Experiences
Oasis Contemporary Service at Wesley UMC
Tom and I work on Sundays here at Fort Frederica this year. We lead the Living History Program at the park and the program has expanded to Saturdays and Sundays. When we were at Fort Frederica last year, we had Sundays off and went to Sunday School as well as the very traditional service at …
Wherever We Go, God Is There
Tom and I traveled a lot last year. If you include the miles to and from Hawaii, we traveled close to 25,000 miles in 2017. I just finished reading the story of Abraham in the book of Genesis. Abraham traveled a lot of miles for a person in his day. I found this neat chart …
New Year, New You or Not in 2018
Lots of people make resolutions for a new year. They want to lose weight or start exercising or be healthier. I no longer make New Year’s resolutions. There are plenty of things I would like to improve about myself and I probably should lose weight or exercise more. But my goal in 2018 is the …
Almost Perfect Christmas with the Family
What is a perfect Christmas? When God is born in your heart again? Is it perfect when you cry because you know the great joy of God with us as the candles are lit during “Silent Night”? When you have every single member of your family gathered around a Christmas tree? How often have you …
All Is Well and All Shall Be Well
Music moves my emotions in a way that nothing else can so Christmas music is especially important to me. Last Sunday we attended Bethel International UMC to listen to their cantata, “Morning Star.” The choir was a blend of the choirs from all the services and there was a 20 piece band accompanying. The cantata …
Bethel International UMC, Columbus
After trying Rock City Church, we decided to aim for something a little more traditional and mainline. So we visited Bethel International United Methodist Church in Columbus. Bethel International UMC is an interesting church because it has worship services in more than one language. Every Sunday there are two worship services in English: a traditional …
Rock City Church in Columbus Ohio
Recently Tom and I attended worship with John and Jackie at Rock City Church, the Upper Arlington location. Jackie had seen a news piece about the church and was interested in checking it out. The first thing we noticed when we arrived at the church was all the young people. Lots of people in their …
Preaching as a Visiting Pastor
Although most of my posts are still about being out west, Tom and I have actually been in Ohio since November 6. We have been busy doing the usual things: seeing friends, spending time with family, and getting in doctor appointments. I also spent two Sundays preaching as a visiting pastor at Lexington Church of …
Thanking God in All Circumstances
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with many things for which to give God thanks. First Thessalonians 3:18 tells us “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” I find this to be an especially powerful verse, because how can we thank God in all circumstances? I’ve …