Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
I have been blogging our journey at Centre Grove through the Five Practices and I’ve written a couple posts on the first of the practices that we’re discussing (Radical Hospitality 1.0 and 2.0). In the last post, I wrote that we were making strides on indoor and outdoor signs that would improve our presence in … Read more
In my last post, I described the process of becoming provisional elders in The United Methodist Church. Now I want to say more about how we got to this point. In early 1998, after a lengthy search for our place in the body of Christ, we made contact with then District Superintendent, Rev. Thomas Irwin. … Read more
Recently, I wrote Why We are United Methodists. But one thing we have not blogged is the ordination process we’ve been engaged in ever since we have been United Methodists. The process of becoming ordained pastors in the UMC has been long for us, mainly due to coming from another denomination (I’ll say more about … Read more
I have heard it said that some things are better caught than taught. We teach through what we say, but our words must match our actions. We are certainly learning this principle as parents. We use words to teach Ethan how to behave, but he picks up on our actions, too. Recently, Virgin HealthMiles replaced … Read more
Today, Joleen and I announced to our churches that we are going to adopt a second child. Once again, we are adopting an infant from Korea. We are requesting a girl. We are using the same agencies, Adoption Horizons (our local agency and caseworker) and Americans for International Aid and Adoption. We’re expecting AIAA to … Read more
Awhile back, I read some posts of (young) United Methodist clergy stating why they stay in The United Methodist Church. I finally took some time to put part of our story in writing. Joleen and I became members of (and pastors in) The United Methodist Church 11 years ago. We did not grow up in … Read more
Tonight, I participated in the Clearfield observance of the National Day of Prayer. I was asked to lead in prayer for “personal revival.” I don’t normally write out my comments/prayers, but I wanted to for this event, so here it is. My Prayer for Revival There aren’t many things more dangerous to life–to spiritual life–than … Read more
I have always been interested in web design (well, at least ever since the Internet has become part of our lives). I built my first website in 2001, a website for young leaders (later discontinued). And, in my previous pastoral appointment, I built a website for the church. I didn’t build this blog/site, but I … Read more
One of the things that Joleen and I have noticed as much as anything else in the 14.5 months that Ethan has been with us is that, because he is so observant, we have to pay attention to everything — the sound of the car driving by outside, sirens, the fan that comes on in … Read more
I am currently leading a Bible study based on a book by Adam Hamilton called Enough: Discovering Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity. With the book, Hamilton includes a prayer for contentment on a plastic key tag that can easily be kept in places as a visual reminder of what we are studying, learning, and applying … Read more