Many of us gathered on Wednesday for an Ash Wednesday service that marked the beginning of Lent.  So what exactly is Lent, how do Protestants and Evangelicals mark it – or should we?

The word itself probably comes from the Latin word for spring and it is calculated as being the 40 days, not counting Sundays, before Easter, which you may remember is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. It just is. Continue reading →

Nineteen LPC folks were in the highlands of Guatemala February 2-9 engaged in a “short term mission with a long term commitment” along side our Guatemalan brothers and sisters from Promised Land Ministries. They were the “Away Team” for LPC’s mission work in Guatemala/  These daily reflections were sent to the “Home Team,” those at LPC and elsewhere who guarded and encouraged us with their prayers. Continue reading →

Home Team and Away Team immersed in prayer. Suitcases filled with toothbrushes and toothpaste, shoes and medicine. Water filters and high efficiency stoves in the houses of the towns and villages around the shore of Lake Atitlan. Medical clinics and children’s programs in Santa Catarina across the lake and Tierra Santa down the road in coffee-growing country. Worship with Pastor Genero’s congregation and prayer and devotions at Spring of Hope every morning. The love of God communicated across the barriers of language and culture – from the north American visitors to the gracious Guatemalan hosts and back again in full measure. Continue reading →

I once worked for a pastor who was a significance snob. Tom (I’ll call him) said that conversations about the weather and sports, a find on the clearance rack or great new restaurant in town, were empty and meaningless; a waste of time. So he didn’t waste his time at the coffee hour after worship or the Wednesday night potluck that were staples in the life of that congregation. Tom thought that unless you were talking about significant things – doubts and fears, pain and sorrow, questions of meaning and purpose – you weren’t connecting with the other person. Continue reading →

Google News shows over 5,000 links to stories about Lance Armstrong’s interview with Oprah Winfrey, part one of which was broadcast last night. I’ve read a few of the 5,000 stories and the consensus seems to be that Oprah was on her game and Lance was not. I watched the interview and would agree. Oprah was very good at what she does and Lance Armstrong was all too mechanical, wooden; still in control as he chose exactly what truth to spill and how to spill it. He won my sympathy at a couple of points in the conversation, but for the most part he lived up to his own self-assessment of being a jerk.

Whether it was a planned line or not, I have been thinking about one of the things this dethroned Tour de France champion said. Acknowledging that former friends and supporters have a right to feel betrayed (it would have been nice if he’d just said, “I betrayed my friends”), Armstrong then said, “I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to earn back trust and apologize to people.” Continue reading →