Jonah - what were you thinking?

Last Sunday I preached on Jonah. I love that book of the Bible.

I get Jonah. He wanted to be a prophet of God in his own nation, to his own people and from the comfort of home. I get it!

But when God told him to pack his bags for a 500 mile trip to a people that were enemies of Israel, and to go ALONE, well, I think Jonah wanted to retire. He boarded a boat in the opposite direction and things got interesting fast!

You can listen to the events and lessons on this site under t

FORGIVENESS 2.0

This is not going to be my regular blog.

For the 3rd time in 4 weeks, we had to cancel church on account of the weather.

We cancelled the end of January, then had church and then cancelled the last 2 weeks. It is so frustrating.

I cannot control the weather, the temperature, precipitation from the heavens or anything else.

Maybe a few hardcore members would have attempted to drive, but the majority had already called me and let me know that they wouldn't be coming.

The bulletin

Are you happy now?

Well, the Philly Boys did it again... and those of us who love our Eagles are happy. People from my church family even asked on Monday if I was done celebrating yet!

The President of the USA is working to safeguard our national borders and deter violence, restore balance and a degree of social order. Make America Great is in its 3rd week and many people are happy. 

Make America Healthy Again is working and already changing food standards to safeguard the people.... and many

Breathe.....

So much is going on in the world today.

The weather is cold and often so dark and gray.

Seems like Influenza A & B, RSV, colds and bronchitis are running rampant throughout the community.

We all want some warm sunshine. Time outside under blue skies. To take a break from the news and headlines and angry talking heads. 

We just need to B-R-E-A-T-H-E. Take time for a little peaceful music (I play the spa or nature channel for music). Stop scrolling!!!!! Pick up God's word and pi

WISE INVESTING FOR THE FUTURE

How do you invest your money, your resources and yourself?

In this climate of fiscal worries, the national debt and taxes, people are worried about their finances, retirement income, investments, 401K's, IRA's, etc. 

But I have a bigger question: What does your eternal retirement account look like?

I mean, if you are a Believer and Follower of Jesus Christ, then you have a responsibility to invest what God gives to you. You are not to squander your gifts from God: money, heal

God is Good.

God is good... ALL the time!This is what we say to one another to encourage each other when things are tough, uncomfortable, difficult or just plain hard.

Luke 18:19 says that only GOD is GOOD. That is true.

When life is painful... God is Good.

When the bills pile up... God is Good.

When people are mean... God is Good.

When evil seems to win... God is Good.

When we feel lost... God is Good.

When chaos is all around us... God is Good.

When we don't know what to do... God is Good.

Go

Look up!

Last week was like a hangover from 2024.

This week feels like we have gotten into the new year, 2025, in earnest.

Our church is growing, and new people require attention, while longer members still need attention, too. That causes a degree of stress.

So we need to keep in mind that we must be patient with leadership (like the pastor/chaplain) and each other. We all live with some degree of stress.

The world is in turmoil with wars, rumor of coming wars, environmental issues, c

What's coming??

We have begun the new year. Our church family is full of anticipation, expectation and jubilation!

We have anticipation that God is going to do something wonderful. Because He has brought quite a few new people into our community of faith, we are watching for how He wants us to mature in faith, help our community and be His hands and heart this year. We are helping newbies to find their place in the family. There are children, parents, young adults, widows, single parents,

2025 is coming!

It's the last day of the year. 2024 is about to go into the history books.

It was a crazy year. 

It was a leap year. 

It was an insanely contentious election year. The incumbent was unceremoniously dumped from the ticket and the VP was forced on the electorate without a primary. The winner became the 45th and 47th President. In the process there was a deadly shooting at a rally that wounded him and other attempts were made later, too. 

Wars: All year Russia vs Ukraine (who we

JOY to the WORLD, the LORD has COME!

Joy to the world! The LORD is come.

Let Earth receive her King!

Let every heart prepare Him room

And Heaven and nature sing!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This well-known Christmas anthem is a mini Bible lesson.

In a world where Biblical morality wrestles against cultural anarchy and people have bought into the idea that we deserve "it" or wanting something without the need to work for it, Jesus comes into the darkened minds of humanity and lights the way to Truth.

The LORD has c

Peace in a chaotic world.

Christmas is a time of parties, music, food, friends and family.

We shop 'til we drop looking for the perfect gifts.

We pull out books & boxes for grandma's best cookie recipes.

We buy sparkling dresses & new clothes for the parties.

Our schedules fill up and we sleep less.

SO much to do and so little time!

Why? What are we really celebrating? What are we doing?

In the chaos and busyness, we are tired, overworked, frazzled and worried about so many little things... that seem impo

And it begins.... HOPE is the theme.

We are done with the turkey....soup, stew. gravy, stuffing, pot pies.... ugh.

We are moving on. 

What's next??

CHRISTMAS IS COMING!!!

We started last Sunday with the Advent season. 4 weeks of preparing ourselves to greet a special person,,, to be ready for a special event. That is a definition of Advent.

Yeshua/Jesus is the special person.

His return is the special event.

We are no longer looking for a baby to be born. That has already happened! The wisemen have moved on. Mary

Turkey Talk

It's time to talk turkey.... ok, at least to tell the truth:

Are you using "common courtesy?"

You know: Please. Thank you. Excuse me.

It is the little common courtesies that grease the wheels of polite society. It is in the polite requests: Would you please pass the potatoes?  That we communicate respect and gentle kindnesses.

It is in the responses that recognize with appreciation that we are receiving something: Thank you! that makes us feel part of an exchange of words and

Blessings for stressing

We're in the run up for the season of Thanksgiving into Christmas.

So many people are stressing out about so many things.

We just came through a long and arduous political season. There were daily rallies, so much rhetoric, so much protesting, so many angry talking heads, so many threats and fears and anxieties, and then the election itself. Every election somebody wins and somebody loses. That is stressful for half the country. This election was no exception.

So now comes a

What are you thinking right now?

Have you made a habit of thinking about what you are thinking?

I mean, thoughts continuously run through our minds: what to eat, where to go, things to do, work to get done, people to contact, what to wear, making lists, etc. Unless you are the average man and then I am told that it can be a little like an echo chamber.... my husband told me that. 

Have you noticed that what you think influences how you feel?

Think about it... it's a rainy day and you think: "Ugh it's so nast