Letter from the Pastor

In every normal person there is a longing to be somebody, to get somewhere, to amount to something.  In our first moments, we would like to be able to live our lives in such a fashion that at the end, those who know us best could look back and say, “He was a truly great man.  She was a truly great woman.”  Jesus Himself talked about a quality of life that can be called true greatness and calls us each day to this greatness.  But we need to look closer at what that truly means and what that kind of […]

The newspapers a few years ago carried the tragic story of a young high school student in Fort Worth, Texas who decided to play a game of Russian Roulette.  He took a .38 caliber revolver out of the glove compartment of a friend’s car, emptied all the bullets out of the chamber, put  only one back in, and gave it a spin.  Then he put the gun up to his temple, pulled the trigger, and fired it.   He died in a hospital a few hours later.  And I’m sure your reaction to that is essentially the same as mine.  For […]

The early church fathers said there were seven deadly sins.  High up on their list they placed the sin of anger.  In fact, it was second only to the sin of pride.  Today we need to ask ourselves, “What makes us angry?”  Think about the things that made you mad this past week.  What were they?  A car on the highway that cut into your lane?  A rude clerk at the department store?  Having to stand in line a little longer than you thought necessary?  A phone call that interrupted your evening meal from someone trying to sell you something […]

The early church fathers compiled a list of what they called “the seven deadly sins.” Number one on that list was the sin of pride.  I doubt that you and I would have done it that way.  We may recognize that pride is indeed a sin, but most of us would not think of it as the first and worst of the seven deadly sins.  Perhaps most of us could think of at least three sins that we  consider to be more serious than the sin of pride – murder, adultery and stealing. And is there not a sense in […]

Years ago, a man named John Edwin Daniels sought to inscribe his name in history by establishing a world record for long-distance walking.  His goal was to hike from the lower tip of Baja, California to the northern end of Maine.  The journey required ten months and he completed it on schedule.  When he arrived at his destination, newsmen and radio microphones were waiting to record his impressions upon completion of his well-publicized trip.  The announcer who conducted the interview asked: “Mr. Daniels, you have walked over 4000 miles.  Tell us, during these past ten months what was your greatest […]