Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
I’m catching up with the weekly prayer guides that we’re using with our weekly sermon series and small group studies at West Side during Lent. In the last two days, I’ve posted the first and second Lenten Prayer Guides (from now on, each new guide will be posted on Sundays for the remainder of Lent). … Read more
Yesterday, I posted the first Lenten Prayer Guide (I will post this week’s guide tomorrow, then each week’s guide on Sundays beginning with this coming Sunday). Lenten Prayer Guide Almighty God, your blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan. Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations. … Read more
During Lent at West Side, the sermon series and small group studies are focusing on prayer. We’re looking at some of the prayers that Jesus prayed, especially during his final week. I’m providing a prayer guide each week during Lent and encouraging everyone to set apart time daily or weekly to reflect and pray. Here’s … Read more
After submitting our work for ordination in mid-January, I wrote 150 Days of Preparation for Ordination in which I listed some things I’d like to do in the months leading up to ordination in June. I put the list together because I want to make the most of this time in our lives. The list … Read more
I wrote a post on baby sign language in December 2008, ten months after we brought Ethan home from Korea. Teaching some basic signs to Ethan, and now Sarah, has been one of the best things we’ve done with the kids! Within our first few months with Ethan, we taught him some basic words. But … Read more
We’ve been doing a lot of reflection as we near the end of our ordination journey. One of the areas I’ve been thinking about is calling—God’s call to ministry. My understanding of God’s call have evolved over the years. When I was in Kindergarten, I knew that God called people to “preach” (my grandfather was … Read more
One of the books we read in the Doctor of Ministry program at Asbury a few years ago was Shaped By the Word by M. Robert Mulholland. Mulholland challenges readers to move from an informational approach to reading Scripture to a formational approach. An informational reading of Scripture tends to focus more on “doing” more … Read more
It has been a long, cold winter here in central Pennsylvania. But yesterday was a really nice day — mid-60s, mostly sunny. So, after lunch, I took the kids outside to pay in the backyard, and to clean it up before nap time on our day off. The kids enjoyed their time outside. Sarah was … Read more
Early Methodist editions of the Discipline included instructions on how preachers should use their time profitably. The 1784 Discipline offers the following instructions (written in question and answer format, common practice in early Methodism) in a section titled, “Of employing our Time profitably, when we are not travelling [sic], or not engaged in Public Exercises.” … Read more
Today, we learned that we both have been approved by the Board of Ordained Ministry for ordination in The United Methodist Church. This marks the end of one (long) chapter in our lives—and begins a new chapter! The Board’s action will need the approval of the clergy session at annual conference in June. After final … Read more