The pine needles have been swept up and the snow globe boxed up until next December. Now we return to some sort of routine and for many of us, fewer tugs on our time to make the holidays happen. In this first week of 2023 I’ve been sorting through what goals to adopt and what seems like too much to promise.

The wrapping is complete, Santa’s sleigh is loaded (only some assembly required and don’t forget batteries). The day is almost here. What is it that we long for on this holy day called Christmas? I suspect that our deepest longing is what I John 4 describes as the whole purpose of God Read More...

“Do you get tired of Christmas?”my friend asked me. It was a fair question. When you work at a church, every day of December is focused on Christmas and the planning begins many months prior to December. Over the years I’ve reduced the personal traditions - baking, gift giving, decorating, and musical events - in Read More...

Every family has its Christmas traditions. One of ours is that something always goes wrong when we go to put the white lights on the tree. I try to remain calm but typically end up snapping. This year I took all the lights off the tree and started over with a set Read More...

Friends, This week we have some exciting news to share about the future of our church! Click on the video below for a long-awaited update! Grace and Peace, Carla

We began waiting for his arrival on Sunday. Our son had been in Japan for a month and was flying home for Thanksgiving. “He’s in the air now” we said to each other as we knew Tokyo's time zone was a day ahead of us. Then the flight was late and he missed Read More...

Christians sometimes talk about the “already and the not yet.”  Meaning we have already experienced the fullness of God’s love but we do not yet live fully in God’s holy presence. On Friday, Nov 11, I’ll offer the prayers at the base of the Liberty Memorial as we honor the veterans among Read More...

We always called him Penny.  But we also revered him as Dr. Albert M. Pennybacker.  He was tall, bald, and had a dimple in his chin.  He was the minister of our church and my parents always thought his sermons were a bit too academic but when it came to funerals, they Read More...

Dana, Paula, Stephanie, Randall, Chandler, Dan along with their families sat on rows six and seven last Sunday in Fort Worth, Texas. As I stepped into the pulpit of the church that gave me spiritual birth I looked out at the faces of those who had been in the youth group with Read More...

People often ask me “What does your church believe about. . . “. You fill in the blank. It might be a topic in the news such as a woman’s right to choose or it might be a spiritual question like heaven/hell. These are hard questions to answer. First of all, we Read More...

You could hear a whisper. Anywhere in the 17,000 seat theater the actor’s voice was clearly audible. The outdoor amphitheater at Epidaurus was built 400 years before the time of Christ but somehow the ancient audio engineers mastered perfect acoustics so that all could hear every word of the drama unfolding on Read More...

Late each summer I usually write a “book column” about my favorite novels of the year. But I’m in a dry spell. Oh I’ve been reading. But most of the fiction I’ve read lately leaves me with a “hmm,” not a “wow.” Maybe you will send me some suggestions! But for now, I have a few non-fiction recommendations and then a few of my all time favorite novels from years past.

[cs_content][cs_element_section _id="1"][cs_element_row _id="2"][cs_element_column _id="3"][cs_text _order="0"]My predecessor, Glen Miles, started the tradition of giving an annual “state of the church” address. The precedent has evolved into me sharing an annual report of the church’s previous year. In some ways, this year’s report could be “it was the best of times and the worst Read More...