Pastor’s Blog
From the Pastor
When do you stop singing songs at the top of your lungs? Pastor Laura and I are at Lutheridge this week with 17 confirmation campers. It’s been a great week, no doubt, and a wonderful time to experience these students on a different playing field. On the way to lunch, I heard counselors leading their…
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High school graduation is right around the corner, and we sure do have a great group of students to unleash! In youth ministry, we often ask the question: What does a student need in his/her backpack as they walk across the graduation stage? Lots of things, of course. Confidence, academic acumen, a sense of purpose/drive,…
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Krista, Anna, Leo, and I ventured up north for Spring Break, stopping at some of the most historic cities in the country: Washington, DC, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Since Anna and Leo are both high school juniors, we also toured some colleges along the way, but the main item on the agenda was to reconnect with…
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I enjoyed growing up in the 1980s. This funky little decade gave rise to some of the best (and cheesiest) music, the most iconic movie themes and images (think “ET, phone home”), styles that made you laugh (leg warmers? Parachute pants?), and moments in history that made you stand and shout (“Mr. Gorbachev, bring down…
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Dear friends, We read Psalm 44 this morning in our staff Bible study, a psalm loaded with anger, fear, and frustration towards God. We considered the different places in society that are loaded down with the same kind of raw emotions. The United Methodist Church came to mind, especially after its jarring vote yesterday regarding…
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Sisters and Brothers, My sweet girl has reached the age that she is afraid of things. In the last couple of months, every dark corner and loud noise is a bear. At first, I thought she wanted some attention or a reason to cuddle up until I looked at her face. Just as she was…
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Dear friends, Sometimes the truth is uncomfortable, but it sure is necessary when addressing some of the world’s critical issues. One such issue comes to mind: Palestine. The Israeli-Palestinian situation is a nightmare. Michelle Alexander wrote an alarming column in the NY Times earlier this week comparing the treatment of Palestinians to apartheid in South…
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Dear Friends, First and foremost, we wish for you and your family a blessed a happy Christmas season. Each of us approaches the season in different ways, no doubt. However you approach it, our prayer is that you will be filled with the song of the angels and the wonder of the shepherds. What a…
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Dear friends, Early voting opened this week in North Carolina, so I thought it’d be appropriate to tell you how to vote. Yeah, right. No doubt, voting in the US is a remarkable privilege. According to Quora, only 44 percent of the world’s countries are liberal democracies, which means that less than 50 percent conduct…
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Dear friends, I’m not sure what gives some people more courage than others, but it’s a character trait I’ve often envied. From the wide receiver who leaps for the perfect catch to the first responders rescuing folks stranded by Hurricane Florence, there’s something about risking it for the sake of the play — or for…
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