Author: njumcadmin

Auld Lang Syne is the official song of starting a new year.  If you managed to stay awake until midnight on January 1st, then there is a good chance you heard the song after watching a ball drop over Times Square.  With an archaic sounding phrase as the song title, it is sensible to assume … [Read more…]

Scripture:  Matthew 1:18-25 No doubt all of us have traditions that we have been engaging in all month.  Lots of areas of our lives have traditions and little rituals, but for many Christmas traditions tend to hold a special place.  There are a lot of Christmas traditions, but one that I know a lot of … [Read more…]

Scripture: Isaiah 35:1-10 In 2016 I was fortunate enough to attend a trip sponsored by the Indiana Conference to visit Israel.  I realize that such a journey is a luxury, but being able to make that trip was such a blessing because in a lot of ways it aided reading and understanding the bible.   Just … [Read more…]

Scripture:  Isaiah 11:1-10 After a year delay the Tokyo Olympic Games finally happened in 2021.  Unfortunately, at least state-side, the coverage of the games became dominated by one story.  Which was star gymnast Simone Biles withdrew herself from competition.   She did this because of what is referred to as the “twisties” which is where a … [Read more…]

In one of the years I was doing youth ministry, we ended up attracting a large group of teens from outside the church.  This happened because one youth invited another, who invited another, who invited another, and so on.   That year in December I had planned the last youth group of the year a week … [Read more…]

Scripture:  Isaiah 2:1-5 In 1914 after a series of political alliance and maneuvering set off what would become the First World War, the fighting began in earnest in August of that year.  The Advancement in technology from the last round of European wars was going to change the nature of conflict, but this did not … [Read more…]

Scripture:  Colossians 1:9-20 Over the past couple of months the British monarchy has been in the news with the passing of Queen Elizabeth and succession to King Charles.   With his official coronation not scheduled to next year, there will likely continued to be focus on the monarchy.   No doubt all of this attention on a … [Read more…]

Scripture:  Isaiah 65:17-25 I know none of us were around to experience it, but the turn of the 20th century was an age of hope and optimism.  This was an era of technological breakthroughs.  Innovations in mass communication, electricity, mechanization, and transportation had all happened.   Humanity was on the cusp of figuring out the secrets … [Read more…]

Scripture: Haggai 2:1-9 It has been said that the restaurant business is one of the hardest ones to succeed in. In fact, about 60% of new restaurants fail within the first year.  To succeed eateries often try to find ways to set themselves apart and offer something that cannot be found anywhere else.  The restaurant … [Read more…]

Scripture:  Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4 One of my first jobs was making pizzas for Pizza Hut, and I did that for a few summers in a row.  One of the things I learned while in that position is that one of the jobs that I personally would not enjoy is being the manager of a restaurant.  … [Read more…]