Good morning... On January 7th I received a very fun email: "We have a precious senior in high school who, for the past few years, raises money to purchase roses and Godiva chocolates and delivers them to our homebound church members for Valentine’s Day," wrote a friend from the Pastoral Care department at Northside Church. "It is an [...]
Good morning... Last Saturday Steve borrowed a tux, and we thoroughly enjoyed a highly anticipated black tie wedding with longtime friends. The dynamic wedded couple, who had dated diligently for over a decade, will now enjoy many, many more decades growing together in oneness with God and each other. The joyful wedding video from last Saturday is not [...]
Good morning... "I am just so grateful for our church, it makes me cry," she wiped her wet cheeks as she was leaving the prayer vigil held at Northside Church. "I can say I am going to pray for our nation, but at home I get distracted, time slips away, and by the end of the day, I [...]
Good morning... Amid the high winds of mixed emotions, I invite you to join me in prayer, between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm, from the comfort of your home or in the quiet of our open Northside sanctuary. I, personally, will be welcoming people into the church from 12:00 to 1:00 pm, masked and social distanced, for the [...]
Good morning... The morning after the U.S. 2020 election results were confirmed by blending the voices from red and blue states, I woke up to a text. "Good morning!" wrote a forever friend. "This story made me think of you! We all need some violets in our world right now!!!" Then I read aloud to myself the pages [...]
Good morning... As the sun sets on 2020, we see more clearly the single purpose for which we are born. With all of this year's chaos and clashing, death and disconnection, unrest and uncertainty, our single purpose rests firmly in focus. Henri Nouwen said it well in a post from this week. ****** Henri Nouwen DAILY MEDITATION | [...]
Good morning... I happened upon this YouTube retelling of a story I remember from childhood. When Paul Harvey recorded these words in 1965, I was just two years old. Now listening again, I understand more deeply why Jesus was born into our world as a baby, just like you and me. It’s in Christ that we find out [...]
Good morning... "Good morning Sue," she wrote last week. "I want to highly recommend this book by Scott Sauls, The Gentle Answer. He writes: 'Jesus and Christianity do not discriminate between good people and bad people. Instead, Jesus and Christianity discriminate between humble people and proud people. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James [...]
Good morning... Sipping our morning coffee, we taste our half and half. Half sad. Half happy. Half mad. Half relieved. Half scared. Half excited. Only our Three-in-One God can embrace each half and make us whole. Now may the Lord Jesus Christ and our Father God, who loved us and in his wonderful grace gave us eternal comfort [...]
Good morning... I usually think of the word "branch" as a noun. A natural subdivision of a plant stem. A secondary shoot arising from the main axis of a tree. A part of complex body, like a division of a family descending from a particular ancestor. As I marveled [...]
