Living God’s Future Now
As the calendar turns to January, there is a natural sense of gazing ahead that arises. What will the New Year bring? For some it may be a hopeful question, and for others it may be an anxious one. I was struck recently by an entry in the devotional I used this Advent...
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Preparing for Sixtieth Sabbath
A little over a year ago I started preparing myself for the idea of turning 60 this month. As I am sure many of you can understand, it just did not seem possible. But I began to think of this occasion as an opportunity to reflect on the story of my life. Then the idea...
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Vibrant Beauty in Small Packages
Last Friday I attended part of the ELCA Congregational Development Training Conference, which was held in Seattle. I was part of the track that was designed for people from “small membership” churches. It was very interesting (and just a bit surprising) to learn that...
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The Witness of Peace
August 2018 Just recently, I received a little book called Forming the Missional Church which talks about some of the deep shifts that are happening in the way we understand the emphasis in congregational life. For centuries now, there has been a...
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God Sightings: Keeping Watch for God
July 2018 This week at VBS we are sharing a learning with the kids that is actually a core spiritual discipline for all of us. The practice is one of developing the skill of perceiving God at work in the world and in our everyday life. Here is the teaching from the...
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