Blog: July 2021

In Job 34:32 Elihu commends to Job the prayer, “Teach me what I do not see.”  Kelly Kapic picks up on this theme with an essay, “COVID:  An Opportunity to Face Our Finitude” (pp. 14-17 in the latest issue of Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care). Kapic looks closely at American culture.  “Narratives of growth, accumulation, and success have deeply shaped our imaginations and appetites, encouraging us to ‘have it all.’”  Common also is the assumption that we’re all autonomous individuals, and that connections to others are optional ...

The Letter of Jude is the second-to-last book in the New Testa­ment, coming just before Revelation.  Jude is only one chapter long, just 25 verses.  But it’s jam packed with timeless promises and urgent warnings.  When I and meditate on this concise NT letter, I’m stunned at the Holy Spirit’s way of speaking the right word for the right moment in 2021 through a message written two millennia ago.  It’s uncanny—but that’s how God works. Take the key truth balance that has to do with keeping and being kept:  Jude addresses churches that are ...

Paul was in Roman custody because of unfounded accusations brought against him by the Jews. Paul had stood before rulers in Caesarea and invoked his right as a Roman citizen to appeal to Caesar. So Festus the governor arranged for Paul to go to Rome. Paul got onto a ship going toward Rome. As if Paul’s journey to Rome had not already been delayed and complicated enough, the ship was caught up in a terrible storm. Paul had warned the crew not to sail from Crete because they would lose everything and die. But they didn’t listen. Paul pointed ...

On Sunday, September 12, we’re planning to transition out of the Family Life Center and return to our Sanctuary upstairs!  We'll have TWO worship services that day--at 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. (note:  the following week, Sept. 19, we’ll re-launch Sunday School for all ages, and our ongoing schedule will then be:  8:30 a.m. worship, 10:00 Sunday School, 11:00 a.m. worship). A highlight of our September 12 worship services will be the Celebration of Baptism.  And so, we’re spreading the word to see who is being prompted by the Lord to take this ...

Paul was in custody in Caesarea, the capital of the Roman province of Judea. The Jewish leaders had brought serious charges against him, so Paul now stood before Felix, the governor. Felix listened to Paul’s defense but delayed a ruling. He met with Paul off and on for two years. When his time as governor ended, Felix left Paul in prison because he did not want to upset the Jews. Festus succeeded Felix as governor. The Jews presented their accusations against Paul and asked Festus to bring him to Jerusalem. They hoped to ambush Paul as he ...

You’ve heard the tragic news:  on June 24 the Champlain Towers South condo high-rise in Miami collapsed.  Eighteen people are confirmed dead, and 145 are unaccounted for. The suddenness of this calamity is jarring.  One minute normal life is going on at the high-rise home front, and the next moment (it was 1:25 a.m.) everything is extinguished.  We imagine life will go on the way we’ve known it.  Or even if we reckon with the reality of death, we expect at least to see the foe approaching.  But who anticipates this no-warning, instantaneous ...