ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 21, 2025A few weeks ago, I mentioned the World Happiness Report in one of my Etchings, highlighting the United States’ consistently poor performance in the nearly 15 years of the study’s existence. The most recent findings were just released, and after a couple of years with slight improvements, the United States fell to its lowest level in the study’s history. Now, happiness has nothing to do
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 20, 2025The Wednesday Men’s Prayer Group watched a video yesterday of Josh Scott entitled, “Re-wilding the Church.” It was centered around the image of the mustard seed in the Gospels, and in his presentation, he made a reference to White Christian Nationalism. After the video, we had a discussion that ranged all over the place, though it was all good. But someone asked why exactly do
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 19, 2025We are less than two weeks away from Youth Sunday. I recall my older siblings participating in a Youth Sunday. As I grew older and joined the Youth Group, I had the opportunity to contribute to the planning of that special Sunday. Guess what? The planning of worship was harder than I thought, and though I had sat through more than 500 worship services by
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 18, 2025So what do you do with a rock? In the ancient world, a pile of rocks held significance. Over the years, I’ve amassed a diverse collection of rocks, ranging from small to somewhat large. These rocks have come to me through various means, including Bible studies, worship gatherings, church camps, retreats, and even from a kind-hearted child who simply offered, “Here! I thought you might
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 17, 2025Prayer for the Week:Where children are hungryWhere an elderly man is left aloneWhere hopelessness is unrelentingWhere grief lingers on and onWhere hatred spills out on the vulnerableWhere the unexpected hurts the soulWe offer ourselvesWe offer the churchWe offer the Gospel enfleshed in usAnd pray it makes a differenceWe offer this unto youHoly GodAmen
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 16, 2025As you might have heard, someone was able to get hold of a church directory, including emails and cell numbers. Sadly, a lot of our membership has been hit with a request to help with some gift cards. First, let me remind all of you that we sell gift cards at the church as a way of making some additional money for mission and outreach.
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 15, 2025I don’t know how old I was when I realized it wasn’t the Eyes of March. Actually, it was last Tuesday. Just kidding, but I went many years confused by the whole thing. Even funnier was my attempt at trying to figure out why the date of Julius Caesar’s assassination was called the Eyes of March. Who was watching? Sometimes, we unexpectedly discover the truth,
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 14, 2025It was Voltaire who wrote, “Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.” Though I am not encouraging us to judge one another in a haughty kind of way, in life, I have often found the questions to be more interesting than the answers. There have been times when I strongly disagreed with someone, only to realize that we were asking slightly different
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 13, 2025Have you ever come across a passage in the Bible and thought, “Well, that seems strange?” I suppose it happens quite frequently; at least, that’s my experience. Sometimes, the strangeness arises from a translation issue or the need to understand a not-so-obvious backstory. Whatever the case, my hope is for people to be curious and ask questions, even if the answer is not easy to
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 12, 2025Occasionally, I will read the translation of the Bible called the Message. Definitely not one of the more accurate translations, but it has some really interesting ways of looking at a passage. A few days ago, I read Psalm 9:9-10 in the Message, and it says: God’s a safe-house for the battered, a sanctuary during bad times. The moment you arrive, you relax; you’re never sorry you knocked. I