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After faithfully leading the United Methodist Church in Indiana through some truly unprecedented times over these past few years, Bishop Julius Trimble has announced that he is retiring this year.  Over the years, I have had the opportunity to interact with him a handful of times, and I have learned he has a few favorite … [Read more…]

Scripture:  John 15:1-8 It is not something that naturally comes up in conversations a lot, but I love nature documentaries.  I especially like the BBC ones that are narrated by David Attenborough.  I think I have watched all of the ones available on streaming services multiple times.  Across various nature documentaries there are some common … [Read more…]

Scripture: 2 Kings 2:1-12 One of the most enduring tropes in cinema, both on the big screen and in television, is the buddy film.  This is a constantly reoccurring dynamic.   It appears in cinematic classics like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, it fueled a whole genre of buddy cop movies like Lethal Weapon in … [Read more…]

Scripture:  Isaiah 40:21-31 I really like history.  In fact, before being called into ministry my plan and my undergraduate degree was to be a history teacher.  My favorite parts of studying history have always been the who, what, and especially why questions.  My least favorite part of studying history are the when questions.  I have … [Read more…]

Scripture: Deuteronomy 18:15-20 Michel was born in France in 1503, and while he did not come for poverty or have any physical ailments stacked against him, he had hard time finding his footing once he was old enough to leave home.  He wanted a career in academia, but his first year of university was cut … [Read more…]

The calendar is weird this month.   Every year we culturally celebrate Valentine’s Day on February 14th.    This year, that date happens to fall on a Wednesday.  Also every year the date for Easter is calculated using an unusual formula.  It is the Sunday that comes after the first full moon that is on or after … [Read more…]

Scripture:  Jonah:3:1-5; 3:1-4:2 A long time ago when someone wanted to be current on the news, everyone would read the same local paper and watch Walter Cronkite on the evening news.  Today though there are multiple 24-7 cable news channels that all bring different spins and there are endless way to customize our news sources … [Read more…]

Scripture: 1 Samuel 3:1-10 It is a common complaint that Hollywood is all out of new ideas.  The fact that so many of the movies that have been released over recent years are either reboots of older movies or endless sequels to other movies seems to confirm this. The repeat of the same idea might … [Read more…]

Scripture:  Acts 19:1-7 We tend to think of traditions as practices that are set in stone and have been around forever.  Many of these traditions are so ingrained in us, we don’t even question when they began or why we do them.   We just assume it has always been done that way.  A good example … [Read more…]

Scripture:  Luke 2:22-40 Radio host and author Garrison Keillor was once referred to as “one of the most perceptive and witty commentators and bout Midwestern life.”   For years he would share these observations and witty remarks on his radio show a Prairie Home Companion.  The last episode of the show aired years ago at this … [Read more…]