ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 10, 2026 I love it when I see a headline on a sports’ website that says, “Not Too Early Playoff Teams.” We’ve not yet played a single game in the regular season of the NFL, yet someone is willing to write with extraordinary confidence about who will and who will not make the playoffs. Don’t get me wrong, there are some nutty sports people who
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 9, 2026 I have often heard people say, “I belong to a praying church,” and though every church is a praying church, I do believe there are certain churches that might be called to a more intentional ministry of prayer or maybe a historic culture of prayer is rooted in the communal DNA. At Cypress Creek Christian Church, I don’t know if most folks would
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 8, 2026 I felt alone on my walk this morning—not lonely, but alone. There was no sense of forsakenness by God, just a walk with my own thoughts, questions, concerns, fears, hopes, and joys. My faith tells me God was there, but unlike most of my walks, it didn’t include what I can only describe as a friendly conversation with God. A thought frequently crosses
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 7, 2026 Prayer for the Week: Hello there, God! Another day greets me, and through inexhaustible love, I receive it as a gift full of opportunity. If there is something to which I can be attentive for the purpose of bringing health to my life and my faith, I trust you to show me. Where I need to forgive myself to unlock unrecognized potential, I
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 6, 2026 In worship today, we will let the Prophet Jeremiah speak to us on behalf of God. I’m not one to suggest that the prophets were dummies, like in ventriloquism, where the voice we hear is really the voice of God. However, they were, in my opinion, discerning of the Spirit’s message of mercy, kindness, love, and justice. They were not foretelling the future,
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 5, 2026 I am amazed at nature’s capacity to rebound. Despite trying to water my lawn, there were sections that were looking pretty brown. In the past week, we’ve experienced some rainfall. Some of it was intense and didn’t have enough time to absorb into the soil. However, a few other rain showers were steady and prolonged, allowing the water to soak in effectively. Surprisingly,
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 4, 2026 Labor Day, which we will celebrate this coming Monday, became a federal holiday in the late 1800s (many states recognized it much earlier), during a time of unrest. Unions were gaining strength, and there were a growing number of smaller celebrations, but after the deaths of 13 workers during the Pullman Strike in 1894, President Cleveland tried to find ways of calming the
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 3, 2026 It was Mark Twain who wrote, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.” We have many people in the congregation who have traveled the world, and what I find fascinating is how often the comments, upon returning, are less about the attractions and more about the people. It’s not to say
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 2, 2026 For those of you who can actually get four servings out of a pint of ice cream, we applaud you. In fact, we honor and envy your restraint, while at the same time wondering what sort of mastery of willpower has brought you to such an astonishing ability. I’m sure there are some who are reading this who are confused, for they get
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 1, 2026 I absolutely love my plug-in hybrid, especially these days with higher gas prices. I like to track how many miles I put on the car, and in the last two months, I used six gallons of gas and drove almost 1700 miles. It is a bit of a game for me, but I like doing something small for the environment, especially because our