Reflections (Page 4)

Saying “Thank You and Good Bye”

“In the essentials unity. In the non-essentials liberty. In all things love.” John Wesley “Good and bad, I defined these terms quite clear, no doubt, somehow Ah, but I was so much older then I’m younger than that now” Bob Dylan         Marie Kondo is an organizing consultant from Japan who has written several books […]

How Many?

“How Many?”    On this, Bob Dylan’s 78th birthday coinciding with Memorial Day weekend, I thought it apropos once again to reference a song that is representative of the anti-war, folk genre and peace movement of the 60’s.  As long as there is war, as long as soldiers and civilians die as the result of war, […]

Rain or Shine

     I remember when I was young we had tickets to a Yankee game and it was rained out.  I was so looking forward to it,  I was so excited to go to a major league baseball game.  I can’t tell you how disappointed I was.  I heard today that we have had 13 consecutive Fridays […]

Rachel Held Evans

  Last Saturday author/speaker Rachel Held Evans went home to be with the Lord.  She was hospitalized two weeks before with flu like symptoms and an urinary tract infection.  She was given antibiotics that she had an allergic reaction to and went into seizures. The doctors induced a coma but she was never able to regain […]

Eastertide

  Eastertide is the period of 50 days, spanning from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday.  It is celebrated as a single joyful feast, called the “great Lord’s Day”.  Each Sunday of the season is treated as a Sunday of Easter, and, after the Sunday of the Resurrection they are named Second Sunday of Easter, Third Sunday […]

Shalom

    Rome was one of the great world empires in world history.  They established their power by a theory known as Pax Romana…”Roman Peace.”  it started about the time of Caesar Augustus becoming the Roman emperor in 27 B.C. and ending around the demise of Marcus Aurelius in 180 AD.  During this time the empire greatly […]

AA and Prayer Meetings

 I referred to this on Sunday in my sermon that I preached.   I think it bears repeating, so for those who were there it is a bit of “been there, heard that.”  Not that it is bad to repeat because I find that people don’t get most of what is said in any one sermon. […]

Reflections

My mother, Margaret Creange, died on Friday, March 22nd.  On Monday, March 25, we held a Memorial Service for her at Cornerstone Church in Wyckoff.  They were kind to open their church to us as our church, High Mountain, was just a bit too small to comfortably fit all who attended.  We are grateful for […]

Lament

This past week, along with ten other members of our Leadership Team and Church Board  I attended a two and a half day Transforming Church Retreat outside of Chicago. The retreat was led by well known author Ruth Haley Brown and was a powerful time for each one of us who attended.  It was impactful […]

Embracing Our Mortality

We had a wonderful Ash Wednesday service.  We sensed the Lord ‘s presence throughout the night as people encountered God in very real and authentic ways.  Through the practice of prayer, reflection, meditation, interaction and the receiving of ashes, people testified, with tears and great emotion, how God spoke to them through these symbolic prayer […]