ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMay 25, 2022Guest Writer: Rev. Mariah NewellIn 2018, I was counseling high school camp at Camp Gonzo when Rev. Dr. Andy Mangum asked the campers, “What do you want the Regional Minister to know? What do you want the Christian Church of the Southwest to be talking more about?” One of the topics the youth raised: School Shootings. I heard the youth speak about their fears around
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMay 24, 2022The Apostle Paul writes in his Second Letter to the Corinthians, “As for Titus, he is my partner and co-worker in your service; as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ” (8:23). It was intriguing how Paul speaks of those who are the messengers of the churches and how they are the ‘glory of Christ’. The word glory (Greek:
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMay 23, 2022Prayer for the WeekHoly God, create within me a content heart when I am overly anxious about the world around me, and create within me some sacred discontent when the world around me is causing too much anxiousness for those who are powerless to respond. Bring me your peace; provide me your vision; unveil to me your call upon my life. Amen.
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMay 22, 2022Yesterday was another crazy day at Cypress Creek Christian Church and Community Center. We are in the middle of recital season, so we’ve got them coming and going. There were two piano recitals on Friday evening, two on Saturday, and another one coming this afternoon. There was also a very large dance recital yesterday, along with the Corvette Club and an Art Group. And somewhere
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMay 21, 2022You wonder how people can forget the past so quickly. A few weeks back, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos was elected president of the Philippines. He is the son of the former dictator, Ferdinand Marcos. Some may remember his wife, Imelda, and all of her shoes. They went into exile, though not before gouging the country of millions of dollars. Now I’m a firm believer that people
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMay 20, 2022We are past the midway point of this month, and I need to apologize for not using at least one of my Etchings to promote Mental Health Month. It is estimated that nearly 50% of all Americans will experience some sort of mental health condition in their lifetime. Those numbers are rather staggering, and so it doesn’t take a statistician to recognize how every single
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMay 19, 2022Where is your next step in faith? This is a question I started asking myself a few days ago as I was asking someone else, “Where is your growing edge in your spiritual life?” That’s a line I have used for nearly 20 years, but as the words slipped out of my mouth, I found them coming back on me. There are areas of interest,
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMay 18, 2022His name was Wally, and years ago he ruminated during an Elders’ meeting with the question, “I wonder how many people are more generous with their money than they are with their forgiveness and kindness?” Have people ever used the generosity of their dollars as a means of balancing the scales? Or maybe it is in hopes of distracting from the areas of life where
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMay 17, 2022From his well known book, “The Prophet,” Khalil Gibran wrote: “You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” Those words have been playing in my mind for a month or so. Somewhere in my reflecting and grappling, I was reminded of Jesus saying to his disciples, “…none of you can become my
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMay 16, 2022Prayer for the Week: How often have we entered into prayer with a broken heart and a spirit feeling incapacitated? Too often, Merciful God; too often… Yet here we are, reading the names of those gunned down in another mass shooting, and though ten deaths seem especially sorrowful, there is never a day without gun violence; without racial and ethnic hatred; without the weak and