Latest News
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The Stones Themselves Will Shout – Our Faith, Our Call, Our Neighbors
It’s funny, I normally write my blog posts more than a week in advance, but because of Bishop’s Convocation last week I am a bit behind, which meant that I would be writing my post for today, actually on the day. And in some ways I’m grateful for that. Because had I written this last…
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Pastor on Retreat – Keeping the Sabbath
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. ~Exodus 20:8-9 You would think as a pastor I would be really good at keeping the Sabbath, I mean, the main goal in keeping the…
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Epiphany – Opening our Eyes to God
When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. ~Matthew 2:10 The liturgical (church) season has changed once again. We are out of Advent, out of Christmas, and into the season of Epiphany. This is one of those few times during the year when my hair doesn’t match the stoles and paraments.…
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Pastor Explains – Why I Wear the Collar
I’ve been thinking a lot about the clerical collar I wear these last few months while at Bethany Lutheran. Before I was called to be the pastor here, I rarely wore my clerical collar, mostly because of the contexts I was in. At my internship site I was there to learn from my supervisor and…
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A Revelation New Year
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more,…
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Pastor Explains – Why are the Christmas Decorations Still Up?
So as I write this post, I am preparing for Christmas. I have let our maintenance crew, as well as the congregation, know that we will not be taking down Christmas decorations until January 12th. So my hope is, that when this post goes live a few days after Christmas, the decorations are in fact…
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Sing for Joy and for Sadness
O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. ~Psalm 96:1 One of my favorite things about this season is the music. During the month before Christmas we sing songs that point to the coming of our Lord at Christmas, we hear Christmas and holiday songs on the radio, it…
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Advent 3 – Looking for Joy
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. ~Isaiah 35:5-6 When I was younger I never thought much about the wreath filled with candles we light each week during Advent.…
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Advent! What’s with all the blue?
This last Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent – the season leading up to the celebration of Christmas. And it’s always funny to me, because as my hair changes with the banners and the stoles, inevitably someone asks me – “Wait, shouldn’t it be purple for Advent?”