I’m puzzled by the frequency with which I hear the phrase, “It was meant to be.” It implies that some force or god was controlling events and that the meant-to-be experience was orchestrated.
It’s interesting that the phrase is used equally by christians and non-christians. So for christians, the phrase points to God for the meaning. And the non-christians give credit to Fate or some other impersonal force for the occurence. Continue reading “Meant to be”
Adam did the “table talk” Sunday. The table talk is the brief talk that is done just before we have the Lord’s Supper. LifeSpring observes the Lord’s Supper weekly.
Some people call it Eucharist. It is a symbolic meal consisting of a symbolic piece of bread and a small cup of wine or grape juice. It is meant to cause reflection on the death and resurrection of Jesus.
I try to get to Playhouse Merced at 6:45 AM in order to get everything set up for our Sunday worship. This normally includes putting out signage, turning on the lights, unpacking the car, and rehearsing the morning sermon.
There’s not much going on at 6:45 AM on Sunday. Traffic lights are mostly green, and those that aren’t usually only take a few seconds to change from red to green. Starbucks has a regular clientele, but aside from that, not many people are walking around.
I had a conversation recently that is troubling to me. The gist of it was that the local Christian community should find a very public and visible place and schedule a prayerfest there. In-your-face prayer.
I got a jury summons a few weeks ago. I’m amazed at how soon I got the summons after moving to Merced. And I also wonder how it found me and not some of the other people that I know who have been here far longer than I have. What’s fair about that?
Bev was reading to me this morning from Timothy Johnson’s book, Finding God in the Questions. We both thought that it was pretty courageous to write this in light of his public celebrity. I was especially impressed with his comments about freewill. Continue reading Timothy Johnson, M.D.
I got an e-mail from my radio guy recently. “I don’t think your 30 second spots will work,” he wrote. “They’re not direct enough.”
I appreciated his candor. I know he wants to see the spots succeed. I also liked the fact that he pushed me to defend what I am doing. Not in a “defensive” sort of way, but in a reasonable, confident sense. Continue reading Radio
I had forgotten that David and I went to the same college in Arkansas. That was in the late 60’s. At that time I was thinking about job and marriage. How our lives might reconnect over the years never crossed my mind.
Years later Bev and I moved to Lubbock, Texas to work with the same church that David and his wife attended. We didn’t run in the same circles during our college years, but we became good friends in Lubbock. Then our paths separated again. Continue reading Reconnections
Saturday night we went to the Dollar Store. It is one of many such businesses in our community. Everything in this store is priced incredibly inexpensive. Bev wanted to buy some inexpensive serving dishes for our Sunday morning refreshments at church.
I think that everyone should shop in a Dollar Store or similar establishment periodically. Why? Because it is too easy to assume that a particular way of life is average, and that most people live that way. The Dollar Store is a great leveler and assumption remover. Continue reading The Dollar Store
Run, don’t walk, to see Amazing Grace, the story of William Wilberforce who is credited with abolishing slavery in Great Britain. Wilberforce worked for 18 years lobbying, writing bills, and fearlessly attempting to eradicate slavery from British vocabulary. Slavery was abolished in 1807, and Wilberforced died in 1833. Continue reading Amazing Grace
MonoLogue 