Category Archives: Ministry

April 9, 2020 · 2:13 pm

The Juxtapositions of Spring, COVID-19 and Holy Week

We are having a beautiful Spring in south-central Indiana. Vibrant green grass, trees in full bloom, flowers replacing one another in a sequence of staging: crocus to daffodils to tulips. Add brilliant sunshine and warming temperatures and it has been a prescription for lawn work, walks, bike rides, and sitting on the patio or porch.

Yet as creation shows off its multicolored palate, there is the reality of an invisible virus stalking humankind. In it’s wake the coronavirus is leaving behind dis-ease and death. I continue to marvel at this juxtaposition of the two – Spring and COVID-19.

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Filed under Christian Faith, COVID-19, Holy Days, Hope, Ministry, Pastors

April 2, 2020 · 12:15 pm

Where Behavior Change Might Lead

Of all the psychology therapies the one that has most often made sense to me is “behavioral therapy”. What appeals to me about behavior therapy or counseling is the belief that “we often live, or act, our way into new ways of thinking”. So, if I am turned inward in my thoughts to the point of overwhelming anxiety or depression; taking the action of doing something for someone else (a different behavior) has potential to change my mindset. I begin thinking more about others than my own situation.

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Filed under #change, Christian Faith, COVID-19, Leadership, Ministry, Pastors

March 26, 2020 · 3:04 pm

Minding Your Mind

I took some time over my lunch hour today to mind my mind. That is, I engaged in some mental health behavior. For me that equated to going for a bicycle ride. I didn’t go far, but it was good to be outdoors, take part in one of my favorite forms of physical exercise, and improve my mental outlook as well. There’s nothing quite like the solitude of a wind in your face bike ride to provide time for prayer and unwinding of the mental pretzels you’ve created in your thinking. Perhaps you have a different means of minding your mind. Whatever it is, now is an important time to practice it.

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Filed under Christian Faith, COVID-19, Cycling, Leadership, Ministry, Pastors, Spiritual Formation

March 19, 2020 · 10:18 am

Staying Connected While Social Distancing

As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to cause major disruptions to normal life, I have been thinking about the importance of community. Community and connection are vital aspects to our Christ following faith. I cannot recall how often in my ministry career a person who has missed public worship due to illness or recovery for a few weeks, upon return has said, “I really missed being with the church family” or “my week was just ‘off’ because I wasn’t able to be there on Sunday”.

Well, none of us are able to “be there” on Sunday in the ways we have been used to now. So, how do we stay connected to Christ and to the body of Christ (the church) during this time of social distancing? Here are some thoughts that have come to me:

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Filed under #change, Christian Faith, Family, Ministry, Pastors, Uncategorized

February 26, 2020 · 11:27 am

It’s all about Dust!

“. . . you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:19

As a Protestant, and Baptist at that, I have only participated in an Ash Wednesday service where I received the imposition of ashes one time. It was a sobering event. The minister shared the words of Genesis 3:19 as she put the ashes on my flesh, “you are dust, and to dust you shall return”.

Could any verse more fully capture the morbidity of our condition? And that’s the point, isn’t it? To be reminded, as we begin the Lenten journey, of our humanity and it’s limited length of days. We are to be reminded of our complete and total dependence upon a Savior who provides us with both a newness and wholeness of life, even as he prepared to lay down his life for we dusty disciples.

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Filed under Christian Faith, Holy Days, Ministry, Pastors, Spiritual Formation, Uncategorized