I had a friend whose losing battle was to convince us to say, “I’m going to worship” or “We went to Bible Study” rather than saying, “I’m going to church” or “We went to church.” His point had to do with the church being a people, not a steeple; our destination being worship or mission or study, not a building. 
 
But this past Sunday Becky and I went to church – that’s the best way to describe it, and it was really good to be at church. The last time we’d been at church was March 8. Five months and a day later we were back at church. 
 
For five months and a day we had joined millions of Christians around the world watching preachers preach and singers sing on Zoom or You Tube or Facebook Live. We’d even gathered in a park one Sunday to hear a sermon and sing some songs. But we hadn’t been to church. It was really good to be at church this past Sunday.
 
Five months and a day later, many things had changed for us as we went to church. We live in a different state. Church is in a different building, and the sanctuary is not at all familiar. Everyone was wearing a mask and keeping a safe social distance, but even if they were not, we would not have recognized many faces or heard many familiar voices. I was in the pew and not in the pulpit.  Lots of changes, but we were at church, and it felt really good. Continue reading →

Welcome or welcome back.  While there’s something new about all this, there’s also something old as I continue a 20+-year tradition of weekly comments, reflections, and thoughts on life and faith – life lived faithfully and faith made real in life. After a six-week break, it’s good to be back!

Most of you know that Becky and I have just moved 630 miles west and are settling into a new house and a new community.  All’s well so far.

As we divide the labor for this move, one of the things I’ve taken on is address changes, closing old accounts and opening new ones, and figuring our drivers licenses and car registrations and things of that sort. Becky’s share of the labor is much greater.

When I told the Post Office about our new address, they asked if we would like to open an “Informed Delivery Account.” We said, “Sure, whatever Informed Delivery might be.” Continue reading →

Welcome! OBSERVATIONS continues a long series of posts reflecting on the life of faith lived in our real world.  Each new Observation will be posted here, linked from my FaceBook page, or you may subscribe to an email version by clicking the “Subscribe” button on the sidebar.

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. Jeremiah 29:4–7

It is cliche to say that 2020 is unlike any year we able to remember. Cliche, but true.  We have yet to see what might even be the beginning of the end of the global pandemic. Injustice shouts at us; we want desperately, but do not quite know how, to live more fully into our American dream and ideals. To borrow a phrase from Cornelius Plantinga – and with all the meaning he gave it, things are not the way they are supposed to be. Continue reading →