Friday, December 18Matthew 5:11-12, Acts 13:50-52, Hebrews 12:1-3I can vividly remember the first 5K I ever ran. I was a freshman in college, in relatively good shape, and had never run over 1 mile before. I signed up with some sorority sisters to support a local charity and did absolutely nothing to prepare for it. I figured it would be easy, dare I say it would be fun…The run itself was anything...  Read More

Gathering,Ten years ago, The Gathering had one site, was packed with three services, and was trying to figure out how to continue to welcome new people.  We began exploring the idea of a second site. I was invited by the Clayton United Methodist Church to speak with their leadership team about this idea. It was an intimidating proposal. This church had a long history in downtown Clayton but had re...  Read More

Gathering,Recently, I had the opportunity to Zoom with Ezekiel Nhantumbo, my long-time friend and the coordinator for the Mozambique Initiative. He lives in Mozambique’s capital, Maputo, but has traveled extensively all over the country and knows each village where we have funded wells for clean water. Few know the country like he does, and he gets to see all the celebrations and hardships of the ...  Read More

Thursday, December 17Luke 2:9-11Christmas brings up a lot of memories for me: hot chocolate with marshmallows, going out to the Christmas tree farm to pick out the perfect tree, and going through the Sears Catalog highlighting the things I wanted Santa to bring are among my favorites. But there is probably no Christmas image more holy to me than the sight (or more specifically, the sound) of Linus...  Read More

Wednesday, December 16Isaiah 49:13Do you ever find yourself needing to stretch your muscles? Sometimes it’s accompanied by a yawn. Most of the time it’s completely involuntary. We raise our hands, open our mouths, take a deep breath, and exhale. Comfort. Relief.I could almost be describing what it’s like to find joy in God through praise and comfort and relief through God’s compassion.I love the p...  Read More

Tuesday, December 15Psalm 19:7-11, Genesis 3:1-7Rules. I have a three year old son so my house has a lot of rules. Breakfast before any other activity in the morning. No toys at the dinner table. No climbing or jumping on the couch. No tackling his litter sister. And on they go.The rules are there for his own good, for him to be safe and happy. But he often doesn’t see the rules that way. Instead ...  Read More