I was awake early on Monday morning, and, yes, I checked my social media feed early.  My friend Rich had just posted.

5:30 Major gas explosion just behind my house at 4:45am. Flames, no exaggeration, hundreds of feet in the air. We’ve been evacuated, together with the whole street. All OK, including kids, cats, bunnies, etc. Prayers appreciated!

Rich is a pastor and a good friend and valued colleague.  What was this about?  I went over to my news feed, and, sure enough, there were early reports of a major incident just across the Ohio River from Beaver, PA, where Becky and I had lived for ten years.  You may read a news report here.  Short story is that too much rain led to a mudslide and the mudslide took out a newly installed 24-inch gas pipeline and gas explodes.  Thirty houses were evacuated, among them Rich’s and his family’s.  No one was injured, though property was lost. Fortunately, not Rich’s.

On Tuesday, Rich posted again.  It was a thanks for all the expressions of support, but more. As he does so well, Rich looked at things from the perspective of a well-lived life. Continue reading →

Final exams this week. What? The school year has just begun!

One of the very last steps in our journey to denominational realignment is the examination of our elders – and of me – by committees of the Presbytery of the East, EPC.  Our elders will be examined by members of the Church Development team at LPC on Wednesday evening, and I am scheduled for a conference call exam by the Ministerial Committee on Monday evening.

It ought to be fun in a way that only final exams can be fun. Continue reading →

It sounded a lot like “we’ve always done it that way” the first time I heard about it.  Ten years ago, I was new at LPC, and then, like now, “we’ve always done it that way” set me against the idea whatever it was.

On Sunday we will celebrate the eleventh Annual Labor Day Weekend Shared Worship Service with First Baptist Church since I’ve been here.  The event with its not memorable name has been around for much longer than ten years. Twenty years?  Thirty years?  I don’t know. We’ve always done it.

Of course, I was going to do what I needed to do to help make the ALDWSWSFBC as good as they said it always had been. That didn’t mean that I had to like the idea.

Then I met Luke. Continue reading →

No one will accuse us of being early adopters. Three years later, the church has joined 600 million users of the Windows 10 Operating System. We’re in the midst of a computer upgrade in the church office which includes new hardware and software.  Good-bye, Windows 7 and welcome Windows 10. Our upgrade also includes the newest edition of the Microsoft Office – Office 2016 first introduced in 2015. Pretty cutting edge of us. And, yes, we know there will be church controversy over our continued refusal to switch to Apple. We ask only for mutual forbearance.

I’ve been thinking about this new OS, operating system, and the software update. Apple aficionados, keep reading (and, yes, Snow Leopard, Mountain Lion, El Capitan, High Sierra, and Mojave are much cooler names than 7 or 10 – and let’s not talk about Vista). Continue reading →

I received the email from “Elder Peter” just yesterday. I haven’t yet responded, but I’ve been thinking about it.  Elder Peter, a recent convert from Islam, wrote to tell me about all that God is doing in his life, and then, amazingly, he told me what God wants to do in my life.  He’s so excited for me that he wrote in all caps:

GOD FURTHER DIRECTED ME TO GO TO THE INTERNET TO SEEK FOR A TRUSTED CHRISTIAN THAT I CAN DONATE THE SUM OF $3.2 MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS FOR HUMANITARIAN WORK OF GOD AFTER MY SEARCH I FOUND YOU AND DECIDED TO CONTACT YOU

SO FORWARD YOUR CONTACT TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBERS TO ME IF YOU KNOW THAT YOU CAN PROPERLY UTILIZE THIS FUND TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND ABOVE ALWAYS FAST AND PRAY ALWAYS.

$3.2 million U.S. for the humanitarian work of God. Elder Peter, I have some good ideas: that new eye clinic in Burundi, a new building for the school in Hunting Park, help in resettling the victims of Volcano Fuego’s eruption in Guatemala.  We could come along side Igreja Presbiteriana as they reach deeper into Favela Ventosa.  Or what about a gym for our growing youth program at LPC? Continue reading →