Intersections

  Now that we are all about a month into this new year - let’s take a moment and assess: how are you doing? Have you gotten off track? I hope you don't feel like everything's gone off the rails! But this is only the second month of the year, let's get back on track and keep going together.   This year, I decided that I would come up with a word for the year - sort of a focus. Maybe you’d like to do that too, or you already have. The word I’ve chosen for 2023 is BALANCE. With the word, it coordinates with a Bible verse - 2 Peter 3:17 - which says, “My dear friends, you have been warned ahead of time! So don't let the errors of evil people lead you down the wrong path and make you lose your balance.”  We all have influences around us, and that’s what makes our community so great. But as we get out beyond our walls, there are wider ranges of what people believe. So to be true to your faith, make sure you are testing what you are hearing against what the Bible says. Dis...

  “Epiphanies awaken the soul.” ― Adrienne Posey I’ve started writing this article too many times. I keep waiting for MY epiphany.  Feeling the inspiration course through our veins is such a good feeling - especially when I have a deadline. But it can be so disheartening when it’s not there.  That’s the fleeting nature of epiphanies. They come - and hopefully, at least one has come to you - that the grace of God through Jesus Christ has forever changed you into believing that he is the Son of God who came to redeem the world’s hurt and harm with his sacrifice of purity and love. But much like love and sometimes faith - epiphanies escape us when we need them the most. You know what it feels like, but it’s not something that always sticks around, like a soul earthquake, revealing something new. Your soul is lit up and determined to change your life. The wise men had a long way to travel and knew very little about what they would find once they arrived. They were op...

Normally, you think of having words with someone, there is generally a conflict. Those words may not be the most uplifting, but sometimes we need to authentically communicate our feelings. If there’s someone who can handle it, it’s Jesus. Our scripture for this series is out of the Gospel of Luke, bits of chapters 14, 15, & 16.  Sometimes we find the words of Jesus to be more difficult to hear than things that are more common. This can be confusing, discouraging, or even seemingly contradictory. We really need to work hard to see what Jesus is actually saying. We need to take those hard verses and really digest them better. Maybe sit with the verses and meditate on it, letting the Holy Spirit work through you to gain perspective. We want to understand, we want to soak up the wisdom and live as close to Jesus as we can.  So maybe we need to have words with Jesus - through the difficulty, through the uncomfortable. In that tension is where we can find a deeper faith. The wor...

What will be the lasting impact of Bethany UMC? That is an interesting question. Thinking about legacy seems like a very odd thing to do at the beginning of my second year as pastor of this church. But here we are. The summer is winding down. Before long, my kids will be back in school, and the neighborhood will be a little quieter behind my office because school is in session at Shambaugh.  Sometimes it is good to reflect - to wonder, though. I was listening to a podcast recently which said, “Start with the end in mind,” referring to Stephen Covey’s second principle in his book “Seven Habits of Highly Successful People.” In the book, Dr. Covey offers a thought experiment - writing your obituary. Now, some people may find this to be too dark and macabre to consider doing. I know, especially in my 20s and 30s, I would think, “that’s a long time away! I need to make some living first before I figure out what the end is going to look like!” But after living through a pandemic and half...

  What might we learn if we took the risk to listen? If we took the risk to let these holy ones of God become our traveling companions on our summer journey? We might be troubled, and we will be, but we might also be lifted up. We might be challenged, but we might find reasons for hope, or we might find a renewed vision that inspires us for all the journeys we make. So, what do you say? Are you up for a journey this summer, a journey to the edge of our faith? Then you’re ready for “Prophet Margins.” I understand that this is a play on the phrase "profit margins", which are a business assessment tool to determine what percentage of their income is, on average, more than their expenses. The higher a profit margin, the more a company can keep or reinvest in their business. Profitability is a good sign for the health of a company.  But how do we determine whether the church is profitable or not? Do we really have a good or service that we are “selling”? I’d like to think everyone...

School’s out! My kids just finished up their last in their respective classes, and I’m sure they are excited to be out for a couple months. I know especially that the teachers are ready for a break. My favorite memories of summertime were being able to ride my bike through my neighborhood and playing games with my friends - whether it was baseball, basketball, street hockey, or whatever - we’d take advantage of all of the daylight that we could. There’s something about this time about this time of year that everything feels a little looser, like our spirit gets reinvigorated. Not sure if it’s the sunshine, the warm weather, or more things to do, but I’ll take it, especially since the COVID restrictions have been lifted most places. We feel like we can travel if we want, even if it’s to a state park or lake for some camping.  This aliveness reminds me of Pentecost, which we will be celebrating on  June  5th - the day when the Holy Spirit came down to live in the hearts of ...

  April is here, and I am ready for it! I don’t care how many showers there will be, I’m just ready for those May flowers. We are witnesses to the changing of the seasons, and how faithful God is in bringing those to us. It may not happen on our schedule, or even when the calendar tells us it’s going to happen, but regardless, our world will SPRING FORTH and bear all the life that it is given for the lively warm months ahead.  Our sermon series this month beginning after Easter will be called “We Are Witnesses”, and it’s a reminder that we witness all the glory that God provides us in our lives, whether we actually see it or not. Our scripture will come from the book of Acts, starting in chapter five. We skip through the book, according to the lectionary, and end on the last Sunday of May in chapter sixteen. The Book of Acts is an extension of the Gospel of Luke, who we have been studying this Lenten season, and is an important book for the fact that it details where the churc...

  I hope the brightness of the cover has perked up your spirits a bit. We are rolling into March here, and I can only expect spring to happen sooner than later every day. Now, since we are in the third month of the year, it makes me think of two things: Lent & basketball. That doesn’t sound like those have much in common, but I have been a fan of the NCAA tournament for as long as I can remember. One of my two favorite memories was watching the first weekend of basketball because it felt like it was EVERYWHERE, and ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN. My sister went to Valparaiso University, over on the other side of the state, and her first year in 1998, the Crusaders won their conference and were able to play in the tournament. They were a clear underdog, and no one expected them to win. As the game went on, Valpo kept pace with the other team, the University of Mississippi. But in the final seconds, as the clock was winding down, the team’s star Bryce Drew caught the ball and put up a sho...