By Joel A. Hess – I still remember visiting Mary. She was in the memory ward at Samaritas […]
Christianity
By Joel A. Hess – I have certainly enjoyed a good laugh or two watching so many preachers […]
By Paul Koch – There is a growing trend in our great nation that ought to worry us. […]
By Joel A. Hess –
Lions don’t make good pets. Every year we read a story about some poor fool who wanted to have a wild animal as a pet. A couple of years ago, a woman’s monkey mauled her friend. I remember trying to have a raccoon as a pet. It didn’t work out for either of us. Then, of course, there are pythons sneaking in the neighbor’s bushes, alligators in New York sewers, and from time to time a Lion leaping over his owner’s fence and rambling down Highway 131. Wild animals don’t make good pets. Yet we can’t help trying to domesticate them.
By Paul Koch –
My arrival at her home was announced long before I rang the doorbell. Two little dogs proclaimed the approach a visitor by the time I started down the driveway. I was going to visit a dear old member of my congregation. I had been to her home many times before, and each time began the same way: with the hushing of yapping dogs and clearing off a place to sit.
By Joel A. Hess –
I often forget a little detail in our Lord’s command to His church in Matthew 28. He says, “Go and make disciples…” Every time I read and reread this almost cliché passage, I am reminded that Jesus tells us He is going to “make” disciples. It will be something done to people. No one will be waiting at the church door knocking to come in.
By Joel A. Hess –
Bath night. I still remember my mom announcing it after dinner. “Before anyone watches Happy Days, you have to get cleaned up.” I was fortunate. If I remember right, I got to take a bath first. Nice clear, warm water was waiting for me. But when I was done, the next kid got in. Why waste water? Each kid would take their turn. By the time the last one got in, that water wasn’t so clean looking. But it did the trick. My parents probably realized that the older the kid the more she would hesitate about getting in gray water. Who knows what was in that water by the time my youngest sister hopped in? Or more importantly, who knows what the youngest might leave in that water? Gross! This didn’t work as we got older. We knew better. No way am I going to get in the bath after my brother.
By Cindy Koch –
She smiled as great grandpa offered his hands to hold the squirming little baby boy. Not just because he had become antsy after 45 minutes of a traditional church service where she did everything to keep her 8-month old quiet through reading and sermons and prayers. No, now she smiled because her son was clenched in the strong arms of the faithful who sat steadfast beside her.
By Hillary Asbury –
Around Thanksgiving I had to had surgery and I was wildly anxious.
I had known for about a month that surgery was probably going to be my only treatment option, but when I went in for my surgical consult on a Wednesday and they told me to come back for surgery on Monday, I panicked.
I’m a worrier.
By Joel A. Hess –
January is a dark month. Christmas is over. Family has gone home. Decorations are down. The days are short. The nights are long. And in the northern Midwest it is downright freezing! The Winter blues even has a name: seasonal affective disorder, or winter depression. Apparently the lack of light can affect our outlook on life. No duh!
By Paul Koch –
Today we arrive at the twelfth day of Christmas. On the first day of Christmas, we celebrated the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ, a partridge in a pear tree, born of Mary in the little town of Bethlehem. He came with the herald of God’s angels, appearing to shepherds tending their flocks by night. God had come to his people, and his people worshiped him. This was the long-awaited Messiah, and as we learn from the story of Simeon in the temple, the arrival of Jesus was the arrival of the consolation of Israel. Here was hope and assurance, comfort and promise. However, on the twelfth day of Christmas, we recall another group that came to worship our Lord, a band of unlikely guests that search him out and bring their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
By Paul Koch –
When I was a child, I disliked clothes shopping. You remember the days when mom would hold up outfit after outfit and have you try them on one after another to try to get the perfect size (which was usually just a little too big so that you had room to grow). Getting new clothes back then was necessary, but it wasn’t all that memorable. However, these days, getting new clothes is a lot of fun. While it’s been a while since I’ve bought a new suit, there is an awesome feeling when you wear a new outfit. The clothes can actually make you feel better. Perhaps they make you feel more accomplished or more respectable. You can buy clothes that make you feel more free or spontaneous. Clothes go far beyond being practical and protective. They can make a statement or even help you achieve your goals. There is truth in that old saying that you should dress for the job you want, not the job you have. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that clothes are the driving force in your life, but they aren’t impartial to who you are or what you want to be, or at least they can be.
By Hillary Asbury –
I love nativity scenes. I love the art of them, that they are all so unique. Whether made from a mold or hand carved, these small sculptures become interactive artwork when we set them out, recreating the scene as we like. This is liturgical art at its best: artwork which tells a story loud and clear. We always have Mary, Joseph, and the Christ child. Often we have a donkey, there to tell us what sort of conditions Jesus was born under. Almost always we have wise men, bowing and offering their gifts. Sometimes there is a shepherd, a sheep, and an angel to tell the story of the shepherds in the fields who were visited by angels heralding the birth of our Lord. Together, these pieces come together to tell a familiar Christmas story, and when most of us look at them, we know exactly what they mean.
By Cindy Koch –
There is a light that changes everything. When it is dark and cold, just a little spark ignites hope. Instead of a black and formidable reality, there is comfort seen on the horizon, because this little glow of light is the beginning of a warm, bright fire.
By Joel A. Hess –
You better watch out, you better not cry. Better not pout, I’m telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to town! He sees you when you’re sleeping…. Wow, Santa sounds scary! Why would kids be excited about this guy? Of course, speaking as a parent, this song is brilliant. What better way to get a kid to behave better than tell her she will get rocks in her stocking if she doesn’t shape up?
By Graham Glover –
It was a sight to behold – an unparalleled display of the majesty of the church and the state. From the time the hearse pulled up to steps of the National Cathedral, until it departed for Joint Base Andrews, the funeral service for George H.W. Bush was truly magnificent.
By Cindy Koch –
Wandering around in the darkness, I wish I knew the way to go. Every once in a while, I see a glimmer of light and I run towards it. I know what the light looks like, but I don’t always see where to follow. The tiny spark is sometimes so very far away. In the cold dark night, the light may seem to go out, and I can’t see it at all. Where do I look to find this light?
By Paul Koch –
I’m not going to lie, I have always wanted to get a response to my preaching like John the Baptist had. I’m serious. Just once I wanted to preach the Word of God and have someone cry out in distress and longing, “What shall I do?” Not all the time, mind you. I would settle for just once. Just once I would love to have someone respond in a very real way seeking to change something about the way he conducted himself because of the preaching that I was called to do. Some visible reminder that the Word proclaimed actually sunk that deep into her, that she is then moved to do something in response. Sometimes I see people shed a tear or two, sometimes there are the smiles and the nodding of heads. I had a guy back in Georgia who would occasionally give me an audible, “Amen!” when I was preaching. But imagine how cool it would be if there was a person or two, or a whole congregation, that said, “We want to do things differently! We want to live differently! What shall we do?”
By Hillary Asbury –
The first creative act in history was a perfect one.
Everything was done with order, purpose. It was intentional, loving. Great care was taken for every little detail, every little life. God created the world. And with each new piece of his creation he called it good. Good. Until he created humanity. God created humanity and do you know what he called it? Very good. God created us in his image and it was very good. But then sin entered the world.
By Joel A. Hess –
The house was decorated for Christmas. Santa Claus figurines, branches of evergreen, and ceramic angels were sitting on every table, shelf, and mantel. The mighty Christmas tree stood in the corner with bright greens, yellows, reds, blues, and purples lighting up the warm house while the snow fell outside.