As we now do, we gave Wednesday’s nor’easter a name. Winter Storm Quinn it was who blew through leaving a foot or more of snow, downed trees and branches, and power out throughout the region.

In so many ways Quinn was not a welcome guest for most of us. At best his unbounded energy and its consequence was an inconvenience. For some his disregard for order and the well-being of others has brought hurt and a serious disruption to our lives. Continue reading →

I was on my way back to the church driving south on Route 413 from Saint Mary’s Hospital when I first figured something was amiss. The intersection at Bridgetown Pike seemed unusually congested for mid-day, cars barely moving through it towards the two stone arch railroad bridges and up the hill into the borough.  And then I saw them, those orange canvas road signs, rippling slightly in the wind.  “Be Prepared to Stop,” the first read. “Flagger Ahead,” the second announced. “Darn,” I said.

It turned out that PennDOT has already gotten to work on this winter’s potholes. A slow convoy of trucks was making its way down 413, workers filling the potholes in the southbound lane as the convoy crawled along its way.  The flagger was there to stop us, waiting for his northbound buddy to stop his traffic every once in awhile to let a few of us around the fleet on PennDOT trucks. Continue reading →

I heard from a mutual friend that Judy died sometime last year. Judy was the organist at our church in the north country on the shore of Lake Michigan’s Green Bay.  She had known more than her share of sorrow in the first half of her life, but a wonderful second marriage had brought joy to her. She adored her grandchildren. And she hated Lent. “It’s so long and so dreary,” she would say. I always think about Judy during Lent.

On the shore of Green Bay there is not even a hint of spring during most Lenten seasons. There’s almost always more snow to come up north once Easter has come. Daffodils are to be found only in a flower shop. My favorite Easter Sunrise service was overlooking the frozen bay as the sun came up on a five degree morning. Continue reading →

I hadn’t given it a second thought – the massacre of the high school students in Florida. My job is sometimes demanding and I was attending to the demands of the job. I had glanced at my news feed sometime Wednesday afternoon; I remember adding the families and loved ones of the Florida school shooting to the prayer list for Sunday morning.  But things demanded my attention, and my time and energy was focused in their direction. No apologies.

In fact, it was not until 24 hours later that the Florida shootings wrestled my attention away from other demanding things. Continue reading →

We are off to Guatemala!  Some of you may know that Chet Marshall and I left yesterday in order to spend some time with Pat and Yesenia Opperman, an American-Guatemalan couple who work together in a ministry they call A Couple of Christians, aka Misioneros Cristianos Unidos.  LPC’s Mission Budget supports Pat and Yesenia, and Chet and I are looking forward to the opportunity to see the work first hand.  The rest of the team follows early tomorrow morning and will be together in Guatemala City until early Sunday morning when we journey to San Lucas Toliman and the shore of Lake Atitlan.

The Guatemala Mission Trip is not just a great tradition, but also an important part of our life as a church. For those who are able to travel to Guatemala, it is an opportunity for cross-cultural ministry and an experience of the global church that can’t be had at home. For all of us at LPC it is a reminder of our connection with the global church and an opportunity to give and receive in the name of Christ.

It is a great tradition and a valued part of our life together, but that is not why some of us go and all of us are part of work in Guatemala. We go because we are able. We go because we must. We go because Jesus sends us.

As we say often because it should be said often, the plaque on the back is a reminder of an essential part of the Christian life. “You are Now Entering the Mission Field.”  Mission is not something we do one week a year, or only a program of the church. Mission is what we do because “missionary” is who we are – each of us.

So while some of us work hard, sleep well, and enjoy 70-degree weather on the shore of the lake, all of us will be engaged in mission – most of us in the mission fields of work, home, school, family, and neighborhood. All of us will be witnesses to Jesus and his love, in word and in deed, we will share our joy and our hope.

As the “Home Team” has been called to pray for those with bearing the privilege and the responsibility of serving on the “Away Team,” please know that the “Away Team” will be praying for each of you each day we are away.  Bearing witness to Jesus and his love at work, home, school, family, and neighborhood may be a more challenging work than the work we will do on the shores of the lake!

See you next week!