This happened over a week ago, and I wrote about it last Friday.  It still haunts me.  Especially as this Advent-Christmas season ramps up today. — “Satan wants to steal your faith,” he said. We were at lunch meeting of clergy friends. He continued, “That’s what they used to say. “Then it became ‘Satan wants to…

A Prayer for Thanksgiving Day — by Walter Rauschenbusch O God, we thank you for this earth, our home; For the wide sky and the blessed sun, For the salt sea and the running water, For the everlasting hills And the never-resting winds, For trees and the common grass underfoot. We thank you for our senses…

I’m thankful for you. When I started this blog a couple of years ago, it was simply to be an extension of “Joe’s Notebook.”  That’s a regular spot in our local church newsletter, worship folder and website where I share quotations.  This blog was going to a place to expand on some of that, to…

“God doesn’t want your money, your time, or your talent,” he told her. Celebrated photographer Jasmine Star’s dad concluded, “More than anything, God wants your heart.” Jesus said that “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Luke 12:34) Her dad spun it around, knowing that where our hearts are the rest of…

Her dad told her about God. She’s a highly successful international wedding photographer based in California. But her dad told her, “God doesn’t want your money.” She teaches packed, sold-out seminars,both in person and online, to other aspiring photographers. But her dad told her, “God doesn’t want your time.” She wins awards on a regular…

It’s said that Ghandi read Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount every morning for most of his adult life. The second section of that Sermon is Matthew 5:13-16. Jesus calls you “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” in these verses. How’s your saltiness today?  What flavor are you bringing today, and…

It made me glad     to hear them say, “Let’s go to the house     of the Lord!” — Psalm 122:1 Contemporary English Version Slight nuance here changes a lot. Many older translations of this verse run in the direction of “I was glad when they said unto me.”  This still-very-new version has us instead  simply over hearing…

Too busy…too tired all the time…going in too many directions at once….all symptoms of the same thing. A healthy distinction was expressed well by business and management guru Peter Drucker — Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things. If you’re feeling too busy, tired all the time, going in too many…

“Satan wants to steal your faith,” he said. We were at lunch meeting of clergy friends. He continued, “That’s what they used to say. “Then it became ‘Satan wants to keep you busy.’ “Now I’m convinced the plan is to keep Christians fighting each other. “And to keep us tired.” That was two days ago. That…

That’s not how the song was written. I had just sat down by my mom at her nursing home at yesterday morning’s worship service. Pastor Leanne Noland was in charge and leading the last song.  We were leaving right away to get to a clergy lunch meeting in a nearby town.  Not wanting to be disruptive, I shook my head…