A few months ago I attended the filming of Adam Hamilton’s study of John. I sat in the audience, smiling and holding a coffee mug, while a camera crew filmed a series of six devotional presentations. After each devotional, Adam opened the floor for questions from the audience members. Toward the end of the day I raised my hand …
Continue reading ““It Is Finished…” But What About The Resurrection?”
As a chaplain and a pastor I get a lot of questions about the afterlife. People want to know what happens in the moments after we die. I have heard a variety of answers from other pastors about this weighty and pertinent topic. Some of them use what I call Chutes & Ladders imagery, claiming …
It struck me yesterday how busy Holy Week is. Especially for pastors and lay members in the church — we have so many services that hold such importance, all squished into a very small window of time. With so many events taking place, it seems easy to lose sight of each movement of Holy Week. …
I recently came across a post that Rachel Held Evans published in March 2013 called “Holy Week for Doubters.” In it, Rachel describes the questions that many of us fear asking on Holy Week; the deep questions of faith and doubt. Those questions can often catch more of our attention on Holy Week, as we attend …
Confession: I was a back-pew sitter for three years of my life. I was young and enthusiastic about the ministry I witnessed at the new, hip church I began attending, but I sat in the back row. I remember feeling welcome in the services, but not in the community. The church was happy to have …
We have a funny little saying in our household: “Gratitude and Attitude.” I came up with it one day while my husband and I were shopping. Early in our relationship I learned that my husband reviles shopping, especially in malls. One day we had to go to a department store to get him new jeans. While he …
My wedding day was the best day of my life thus far. I have heard so many wedding horror stories, and have even witnessed weddings in which the bride and groom are stressed out, strung out, and ready for the whole celebration to be over, so they can get back to their normal routines. Our …
Luke 13:34-35 became one of my favorite texts twelve years ago when I heard a specific interpretation of it at a Bible study. So going into today I assumed I’d write about that beautiful interpretation my sweet and naive brain once absorbed way back when. The issue, though, is that I did some research on …
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” This statement is widely attributed to Albert Einstein. Can’t we all relate to it? That feeling of futility, when you continue to work, and yet the results don’t seem to pay off? In Luke 5 Jesus comes across a group …
As a child I loved reading the poems of Shel Silverstein, and I carried that with me into adulthood. One of my favorite of his poems is called “The Whatif’s”– you can read it here. In the poem, some Whatifs crawl into the author’s ear, and begin incessantly asking the question, “Whatif?” “Whatif I flunk …
Pastor Melissa 