Blog Posts
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When We Can’t See It
Read more: 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…
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The Place to Start
Read more: The Place to Start“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son.” –John 3:16a During a clergy gathering years ago, I had the opportunity to visit Transitions of Columbia, South Carolina. That group helps move individuals from homelessness to permanent housing. Since its founding in 2011, Transitions has placed more…
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Perfect Love
Read more: Perfect Love“See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.”–I John 3:1a Years ago, I was talking with a woman who owned a furniture store in the small town of my first pastorate. As a couple who lived…
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Just What We Need
Read more: Just What We Need“Jesus said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish.”—John 21:6 I met my wife at a hospital. I wasn’t a…
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Loving like Ellie
Read more: Loving like EllieAnd now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.”–1 Corinthians 13:13 When I was in high school, our church had a pastor named Ellie who worked primarily with teenagers. Ellie was probably in his mid 50s when he began to serve at our…
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The Nudge
Read more: The Nudge“Now the LORD came and stood there, calling as before, ‘Samuel! Samuel! And Samuel said “Speak, for your servant is listening.”–1 Samuel 3:10 Have you ever heard God speak to you? Long ago, a boy named Samuel, came to realize that the voice at bedtime was none other than the…
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Resisting the Role
Read more: Resisting the Role“But Moses said, ‘O my Lord, please send someone else.’–Exodus 4:13 “But Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.”–Acts 9:13 Several years ago, I was eating lunch by myself in a fast-food restaurant when I…
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Doing the Vermont Thing
Read more: Doing the Vermont Thing“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.”–Hebrews 13:2 Last summer, Lori and I took our adult children, their spouses, and our four grandchildren on a vacation to Vermont. We always enjoy visiting new places and this time found…
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The Parts We Play
Read more: The Parts We Play“Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side.”–Exodus 17:12b Ask any minister how she or he came to that vocational path and you will hear of persons who helped them recognize a call from God. One who did that with me…
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Paying Attention to the Clues
Read more: Paying Attention to the Clues“Then the LORD answered me and said: ‘Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it.’”-Habakkuk 2:2 A broken hip set me on the road to retirement. I had just completed a 3-mile run. After getting ready for work I was heading into the garage…