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Pastor’s Note
Ironic isn’t it…the words that lead to hesitatingly cautious chuckles and all-too-often weak smiles. We don’t know what we have until it’s gone. We don’t appreciate the sound of one’s voice until we can no longer hear it. We hurt those whom we love. Regardless of how much we hear about those and other ironies,…
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From the Pastor
First off, let me thank everyone who participated in the recent Discipleship Survey done this past month (September). The preliminary reports are in. While we scored ourselves high in areas such as community involvement and having close friends who are part of the church, we did not give ourselves very high marks in areas such…
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From the Pastor
Coming on the heels of the Big Rocks sermon series is the series entitled Identity. It is a look at the seven churches John addressed in Revelation. While I don’t believe any one of the churches mentioned by John is the perfect example of who we are, I do believe we may see ourselves in…
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Full Circle
A few years ago, I purchased a piece of exercise equipment off craigslist. It served me well until old sports knees reminded me how past excesses can lead to present aches. I posted my equipment for sale on craigslist. It sold in one day…to the person from whom I bought the equipment! It seems he…
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Pastor’s Note
The word has just been announced: St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church will cease to exist. Who would notice? What difference would it make? Better yet perhaps, why should an article from the Pastor begin with that statement? (Which, by the way, isn’t true.) I think it was Mark Twain who answered rumors of his being…
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From the Pastor
The other day I was talking with someone about the 5 Cups of Coffee class. Admittedly, the title doesn’t give much of a hint as to the content of the class. I would suspect that may be the point made by the creators of the class. All too often church-type classes seem to be about gathering…
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From the Pastor
I was recently reading a magazine from an institution of higher learning (OK, I may have heard some of you thinking, “David…higher learning…really?), and I was struck by the “testimonials” of present and former students. I wasn’t struck so much with the power of their testimonies, as I was by just how familiar those testimonials…
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Pastor Notes
I was reading the 7th Psalm this morning and came across a very straightforward and disturbing verse. It said, “He who is pregnant with evil and conceives trouble gives birth to disillusionment.” Those are some strong words. True, but strong. How sad it is when one person’s taste for creating trouble, or havoc, can drive…
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Pastor Notes
I was reading from the book Jesus Is… by Judah Smith the other day about a most-anticipated, yet unfulfilling Easter tradition – the hollow chocolate Easter bunny. Just when you think this will be THE year for the fully loaded version, you take a bite and there it is again…a hollow ear. It caused me to…