Some invitations seem too good to be true. Healthy skepticism helps to protect us from scammers trying to fool us into falling prey to their schemes. The extensive usage of cell phones, email, and a simple mailbox puts us on the guestlist for a wide range of best...
The Reverend Alonzo Vincent is scheduled to offer our message on Sunday, August 23. Reverend Vincent is a friend and colleague with over 50 years in ministry. Retired from the United Methodist Church, he continues in active ministry with his wife, the Reverend Elmira...
Union Square Cafe opened on East 16th Street in New York City in 1985. The cafe was the vision of an up and coming chef, Danny Meyer. Fast forward to the present day, and Union Square Cafe is known for teaching future chefs and restaurant owners how to show great...
A couple of weeks ago, Cyndi and I tackled a problematic limb extending from a huge black walnut tree. Most of the branch was void of life. Calling what fell on the ground even before finishing my cut, a branch doesn't fully capture its size and weight. It was more...
The hot and dry days of July are behind us for another year. Our farm team is getting help from the rain a little more often. Plants, like people, require moisture to sustain life. We all know this. So the prophet Isaiah used this common understanding as a way to...
One day, a teacher, a person who studied the bible for a living, asked Jesus a question that is on the mind of anyone who wonders what happens when we die. Jesus answered with another question. And His question is critical to anyone hoping to answer the question posed...
Have you ever found yourself unable to get through a crowd? People packed into the same space so tightly that you had to push your way through to get to where you need to be? It's one thing if you know that the crowd will disperse before you need to move or if...
With new cases of COVID rising across the country and enough people refusing to wear masks to draw media attention, it's hard to focus on other subjects. One coping mechanism that comes highly recommended by experts is to limit our consumption of news. And I do this...
We are accustomed to hearing divisive language coming out of the mouths of politicians. Arguments that pit one group against another. Controlling a narrative that divides us into democrats and republicans, poor and well-off, working and jobless, and people of color...
According to the writer of John’s Gospel, the first miracle Jesus did was to turn ordinary water into wine. I’ve read this story many times. Often while preparing to officiate a wedding when I’ll reference it as an illustration of God’s interest in weddings. In this...