Truth or Consequences (Luke 12: 49-56) Raising kids is challenging, especially if they are smart. Of course, we all think our kids or grandchildren are smart but there are those occasions when they do something that leaves you scratching your head wondering what was going through their minds. Teresa and I have always considered [...]
Road Trip Jesus (Luke 5: 27-31) Teresa and I love a good road trip, and we have taken many over our fifty plus years together. We know our planned destination and much of the driving is on the interstate highways that crisscross the country. But we get bored traveling on the freeway and at [...]
Many thanks to the Rev. Dale Kelley for filling the pulpit for me this morning so I could take last week off. Great message and worth the watch if you either weren't in church or watching live. To view service, click link below; Here's the Facebook Live link: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/16edNpXvtz/
Debt Free (Colossians 2: 6-15) One of my favorite movies is the Coen Brothers’ film O Brother Where Art Thou? If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth watching just for the great Depression Era music. The underlying premise is that Ulysses “Everett” McGill escapes from a prison farm in Mississippi with two other convicts [...]
Keep the Faith (Colossians 1: 15-28) It was over ten years ago when Daniel Foster, our District Superintendent, approached me at my last Certified Lay Minister training session and told me he believed I was ready. Ready for what I asked him. “Your own church.” he replied. I was stunned. I figured I would [...]
That Church (Colossians 1: 1-14) I’ve told this story before, but it’s worth repeating to serve as a reminder of whose we are. I don’t remember the circumstances, but I was having a conversation with someone I had just met and eventually I was asked by this person what I did for a living. [...]
Blessed and Broken (Galatians 6: 1-10, 15b-16) Recently Don Olsen and I attended the Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church of the Pacific Northwest Conference over in Bothell. The theme for this year was “Blessed and Broken” which can be taken many ways depending upon the person and where they are at in [...]
Service by Diane Johnson Assistant Certified Lay Leader Thanks to Diane Johnson for filling in for me yesterday. Don Olsen and I went to the Annual Conference last week and it was a great help to me to have Diane lead the service so I could concentrate on getting ready for the conference and a [...]
The Real Higher Power (Luke 8: 26-39) When I got to the Olympic Peninsula in June of 2008 to begin work as Jefferson County’s newest deputy prosecuting attorney, I was excited to learn that we had a Drug Court. Previously as a district attorney in East Texas I had researched the feasibility of starting [...]
I Will Do My Best (Acts 2: 1-21 and Romans 8: 14-17) I imagine that growing up in the Tri-Area in the 1950s and 60s was much like my childhood growing up in Warners, New York. Other than black and white television shows and party-line telephone service there wasn’t much to do to keep [...]