Intersections

  "Remember Jesus Christ!" are the first words of our passage today, as Paul continues to talk to his protege, Timothy, about what he wants to pass on to him. If nothing else, remember Jesus Christ. Last week, I spoke about how Paul was in his last days, in a Roman jail. Things are bleak for him, and through the passage this week, we find out a little more about that. Paul has suffered, and is sharing with Timothy his experience. Know that I suffered for my faith, Timothy, and yet I was faithful! Know that God sees our suffering for him and is faithful! Know that you will also suffer, and you need to learn to be faithful!  Passing down wisdom is a hard thing. It's more than, as the days are getting colder, reminding my children to grab a coat because the summer days are behind and far in front of us. It's more than just telling stories, because it's not guaranteed that the wisdom will be passed alongside the story.  I was listening to a speaker this week who w...

  What a wonderful September it was, and here we are in October! How fast was that - those festivals really make the month fly by.  October is kind of this weird space in the church calendar, we could focus on stewardship, but typically that’s saved for November, it’s not Advent yet, and our time within summer is slowly fading away. I’d like to fill this space then with a series I’m calling “Not Ashamed”, based on the Second Letter to Timothy. The New Testament letter, written by Paul, is a short one yet very powerful. Let’s walk further into our faith and our discipleship by proclaiming that we are not afraid of the power the Gospel has over us, and how that makes us unique.  This act of boldness and enthusiasm can be mistaken for arrogance and false teaching, though, so we may need to be careful of how we share the power of the Gospel. It is about looking inward and outward at the same time, that we may grow upward to be closer to the divine, and also outward to be clos...

  Have you ever been in an organization where leaders were burned out? I have. Trying to get any new ideas through to changemakers is so difficult it affects everyone around them. Motivation is minimal, and anger is a low level mood, all the time. It’s difficult to be in that environment. Who wants to work for someone like that? Why would volunteers join that kind of organization?   To make matters worse, when you go home, the apathy and irritation follow you. So many modern symptoms of burnout can be found everywhere. We are all burned out to one degree or another, having lived through a global pandemic and economic volatility that is only supposed to be around once in a generation.  Are our leaders ok? Are the people serving the church ok… really? We are meant to be authentic here, and if there’s anyone to be straightforward with, it’s those who see you regularly. Our overindulgent culture is maybe a sign we’ve gotten too off-track too with what matters - overeat...

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 ...

Welcome to the Tuesday devotional. My name is Daniel Douglas, and I am a clergy candidate for the position of local pastor. I asked Pastor Karen for some experience in the pulpit. We decided it was best to start small with this devotional.  How are you feeling these days? Or, as John Wesley liked to ask, how goes it with your soul? Is it charged up and ready to go? Or I’m suspecting that, like many of us, you could use some encouragement.  That brings us to today’s devotional verse - 1 Thessalonians 5:11, where Paul writes, “This is why you must encourage and help each other, just as you are already doing.” Some other translations say, “Bring hope” or “Build each other up.”  Having been through the most recent months, the never-ending election, the pandemic, good and bad times can happen - and change - very quickly. Even the next phone call or text message could be the difference between a great day and a lousy one. This week, I got the dreaded phone call stating that the...