“Stay in love with God” was our theme at Vacation Bible School last evening.  It’s the third of our Three Family Rules. An eager volunteer had strapped on her Holy Spirit Jet Pack (shiny silver with flames flying out of it) and had read Psalm 100 out loud from a pew Bible’s New International Version.…

Last evening our VBS snack was fruit, a Rice Krispie Treat, and one of those Capri Sun drinks. In case you don’t know, those fruity drinks come in silver bag-like-things with a straw stuck to the side. My 4 year old friend to my left had some trouble with his, so he asked me to…

“This is the best day of my entire life,” he said with calm certainty. We were sharing popcorn and fruit at the conclusion of Vacation Bible School last evening. I asked what all had happened to make it such an outstanding day. “First, I was at my grandma’s.  Second, I got to come to Bible…

They didn’t recognize him. Luke 24:13 starts a great scene with two people traveling together.  They were walking and talking. Someone joined them, falling into both step and conversation with them. Only afterwards did they realize it was The Resurrected Christ. He walks with me, and He talks with me — today, let’s be aware…

United Methodist Youth in New York State taught me this song  — Walk with me I will walk with you and we’ll build the land  that God has planned  where dreams come true With whom are you walking?  Look around in worship today.  

An old joke, used in many cartoons and movies: a guy’s on a pay phone (remember those?) asking for directions.  Told to give his current location, he looks up at a traffic light and says, “I’m at the corner of Walk and Don’t Walk.” “Walk with me,” says Jesus in Matthew 11:29. Walk with Jesus, or…

Need a reminder of how important it is to live your faith? This is from an unknown ancient writer, in a piece called Letter to Diognetus —  What the soul is in the body, the Christians are in the world. What a job description you and I have just been handed!

 How likely are you to recommend us to your friends? That’s the only customer satisfaction survey question that seems to matter, according to a Wharton School of Business interview with founders and CEOs of leading companies. Ask yourself that question relative to your own church: With 1 being like  “I won’t” and 10 being “Most…

Sharon came at me with a big stick! Okay, so it was maybe like 18 inches long and not quite a 2×2…but she was coming at me and shaking it at me! Okay, so she was smiling and waving it at me…but she was still coming at me with it! “I saw this, read it, and…

If you’re a regular here, you might recall that last week I mentioned one of our Centenary UMC absolutely stellar Sunday School Teachers named Linda Brissenden. Yesterday, in teaching about “Science and Religion,”  she urged us to check out youtube for a classic I’d forgotten about. James Weldon Johnson wrote “God’s Trombones” years ago, and…