Author: John Willingham
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The Central Thing
“But Abram said, ‘O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless?” –Genesis 15:2a One day a few years ago, Lori and I were riding the PATH train from Manhattan to New Jersey. One stop before our exit a young woman seated on the opposite side of the car stood up and… Read more
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More Important Than Getting Wet
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” –Psalm 119:105 I have a friend from my college days named Elliott who served for a time as a mission co-worker in Port Edward, South Africa. He was an economics major as was I and his work after college was in… Read more
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The Blessing of Community
“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there among them.”–Matthew 18:20 One of the blessings of this blog for me has been its reach over the four months since launching. Counted among subscribers and others who see a post through social media are family members and individuals from each… Read more
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The Power of Hymns
“When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”–Mark 14:26 One Sunday morning, early in my pastoral career, while leading worship I became aware of a commotion in the sanctuary. Looking to my left, I saw that an older woman in the congregation named Frances Wright had slumped over. I… Read more
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A Fearless Faith
“So with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.” –Luke 3:18 One day during my North Carolina pastorate, our Clerk of Session invited me to accompany him to a golf tournament called the Masters. It’s held each April in Augusta, Georgia. I had ridden by the course many times as a… Read more
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Signs and Wonders
“Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus …talking with each other about all these things that had happened.” –Luke 24:13-14 A year or so ago, I stopped by a gas station on my way to the church. While I had been to that station many times before,… Read more
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Talking About Death
“Thanks be to God, who give us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ.” –1 Corinthians 15:57 On October 30th of last year my phone signaled an incoming FaceTime call. The name on the screen identified it as coming from my daughter-in-law, but when I answered it turned out to be our 7-year-old granddaughter. She… Read more
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Words of Healing
“Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.”–James 5:16 Late in my junior year of college, a group of friends and I were planning our strategy for dorm assignments. Seniors in those days had first dibs in the room lottery. It wasn’t unusual for juniors… Read more
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The Second Time
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.”–Ephesians 4:32 In this blog, I am using the term “grace” in a broad sense. That is intentional and reflects my understanding of the variety of times when we receive a gift in those everyday encounters of life. Yet in… Read more
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When We Can’t See It
“The LORD God helps me… therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.”–Isaiah 50:7 “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem.”–Luke 9:51 Ten years ago, a man named Don Wright died. He… Read more