A Jonah Experience
On Sundays, our bulletin has a consistent note encouraging attendees to submit follow up questions about the weekly message via the connection cards found in the pews. This week, I received one such question (the first follow-up in several months). It caught me off guard, I almost read it as a prayer request during prayer time (connection cards also are prayer request cards). So the question that we are tackling this week is: “How does the Jonah story relate to me today?” A
Double Down
I have been reading through my sermons and reflections written during the past few years in ministry, and I am consistently finding references to the latest bad, horrifying, or tragic news. Sometimes as I read, I don’t even fully remember the tragedy that I’m referencing and trying to encourage my congregants through. As a pastor, I’ve created and attended vigils, led special prayer services, and have signed a number of official UMC and Cranford Clergy Council statements de
5 Ways to Avoid Being a Weed (or a Tare).
Reading: Matthew 13:24-30 There is a plant in our backyard that doesn’t look like really look like a flower until it blooms. Now I’m the kind of gardener that doesn’t pull weeds until the whole place looks like a jungle. So before I weed, I have to have my wife, Kelsie, tell me what is a weed and what is supposed to be in the garden area. Some weeds are easy to pick out, but others, like the butterfly bush, I need multiple reminders about...and even then...sometimes a shoot
