This past Memorial Day week (I know, it’s really about 3 months ago now) was HMC’s annual Vacation Bible School program. Sadly, I had to miss the first day of VBS because I was finishing up delegate meetings in Kansas City and then driving back to Freeman, but the four days that I had the… Read More »

While I was growing up, precious moments with my dad were sometimes hard to come by. Something always seemed to be going on, which severely limited my chances of talking or connecting with him. As I grew up, I figured out that if I actually wanted a good amount of Dad’s attention, I had to… Read More »

Saying “I’m sorry” is the first step; then “how can I help?” My life is filled with Daniel Tiger’s neighborhood, an animated PBS children’s show built and based on the earlier Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. Each episode has a short line with a tune that accompanies it. The main character, Daniel Tiger, learns the tune as… Read More »

We tell stories a lot. When we get home from work for the day, when we sit with friends around the table, and even when we gather for church each week on Sunday mornings. The books of the Bible are each their own story within the unfolding much larger story of God calling human beings… Read More »

In my pastoral care course at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary this past semester, I encountered a profound, yet simple truth about humanity. Humans are all alike in certain ways, some are alike and different from others in some ways, and even so, each person is completely unique in still other ways. You might be thinking,… Read More »

Easter is almost two weeks later in April than it was last year, which means that we will have an even greater chance of seeing the signs of new life and awakening that come with the Spring season as warmer weather, more sunlight, and hopefully more moisture inspiration a radical transformation in the natural world… Read More »

When I memorized Isaiah 55:8-9 as a young child in my childhood bible church’s AWANA program, I pictured God telling the ancient people of Israel as my parents often told me that I would understand their commands better when I was older. With years of living and development come wisdom, discernment, and experience that enable… Read More »

Each Sunday morning since May or June, I have come out to the church to my office to review, revise, and practice my sermon. The common theme across each of these Sunday mornings is the dark and the dawn. Because my church office window faces east, I experience the rising sun as it pierces and… Read More »

On the first Wednesday of January 2022, HMC’s annual winter bible study started on zoom. We will spend 10 weeks together as we walk through the book Invited by Leslie Verner and explore the ways that her writing intersects with scripture. If you do not have a book or are unable to attend all of… Read More »

I wrote the following post for our August church newsletter: Throughout Jesus’s ministry, he was criticized by religious leaders for eating with or offering table fellowship to those who were considered traitors (tax collectors) and sinners (Matthew 9; Mark 2; Luke 5, 6, and 15). In first-century Palestine, who you ate with mattered because of… Read More »