I love Easter. The week leading up to Easter is an opportunity to reflect on the life and death of Jesus. Easter Sunday provides an opportunity to experience resurrection in life. The old can become new.  I love the week…

Empty. Jesus was relationally empty. The night before his death, Jesus shared his last meal with his twelve buddies. He looked them in the eye as he broke the bread for the last time. He held back the tears as…

Palm Sunday Majesty and humility. They travel the road to Jerusalem together. God riding a donkey. Odd travelling companions for sure. The story is a big deal. It’s one of the few that all four Gospel authors write about. The…

Labels negate people. I’ve had more than a few labels thrown my way. Some good. Some not-so-much. Fast, fat, smart, unorganized, funny, failure, kind, arrogant – to name a few. There is some truth in all those, but labels are…

I have lived through a flood before. I had just graduated from Drake University. It was the summer of 1993. I was still looking for a job. Any job. My job search was delayed by rain. The rains were relentless…

I can’t believe it’s been a year. Our first Sunday in worship was March 18th, 2018. We weren’t quite ready. Lots of staff and volunteers worked around the clock for a solid week to make our grand opening happen. So…

In many cultures there is an ancient custom of giving a tenth of each year’s income to some holy use. For Christians to observe the forty days of Lent is to do the same thing with roughly a tenth of…

When somebody is hurting, don’t give them advice or try to fix them. Just be present. Your presence is what you are most qualified to give and your presence is what they need the most.  It is better to forgive…