Letter from the Pastor

                 I read an article recently in a religious newspaper.  It told of a famous Japanese artist who had contacted Christian missionaries to inquire about a ticket to heaven.  He was a very old man who knew that death could not be far away.  He had heard that Jesus had tickets to heaven, and he wanted to purchase one.                 Some of us would laugh at the old man for wanting to purchase a ticket to heaven.  But none of us would laugh at him for wanting to go to heaven.  We all […]

Jesus understood things about people that modern psychology has only in recent years begun to figure out.  Consider His perception of the destructive effects of hate on the human soul.  Some have thought of Him as a starry-eyed dreamer because He taught His disciples to hate nobody, to love everybody, even their enemies. If you think that idea is an empty dream, take a closer look at the lives of people.  Find someone who is consumed by hatred and see the results.  It may be bad for the   person who is hated, but it is infinitely worse for the one […]

                Most of us have experienced various kinds of encounters with God.  We have seen Him, for example, in the world of nature.  We have felt His presence under the breathtaking beauty of a starlit night.  We have almost read His signature in the lower right-hand corner of a sunset.  We have heard His voice in the wind as it gently rustles the leaves of a tree.                 We have also met Him inside of our own hearts and minds.  We have felt His comforting presence in times f sorrow and His troubling […]

Every wife, mother or whoever happens to have the responsibility knows that there are two ways to clean house.  One is routine and regular; the other is major and seldom.  In the first, you sweep the floors, vacuum the carpets, wash the dishes, make the beds, secure the bathrooms, and dust the furniture.   The second way includes all of the above but goes a bit further.  You also move the furniture in order to get at the dirt that has accumulated under and behind.  You clean out the refrigerator and throw away all of the moldy food.  You rearrange the […]

Sometimes, I fear that we in Church have become embarrassed by and almost abandoned by the idea of evangelization.  This is not without reason.  Many have seen in recent years a brand of evangelism that is little more than beautifully packaged, slickly marketed religion.  It isn’t surprising that we would disassociate ourselves from religious salesmanship, but we must not make the mistake of throwing out the baby with the bath water.  We need to be reminded that Jesus called people to follow Him and then sent them out to call others to do the same.  On and on it went […]