This week is the one year anniversary of our collective lives changing due to COVID-19. Even if your congregation is meeting in-person, likely it does not look the same as it did in February of 2020… not to mention the other ways our lives have changed. What follows is a Service of Lament I’ll be […]

Those moments of hugs and happy tears and celebration are not the end of the story. Yes, reunions are almost always joyful, but the day-to-day and week-to-week reintegration… is often rather different, and just-as-often kept quiet.
Tomorrow marks my third anniversary as the Senior Minister of Rolling Oaks Christian Church… which makes it devastatingly fitting to share this news today… Dear ROCC Community & Friends, It is with heavy hearts yet hopeful spirits that we share the news that April 4, 2021 – Easter Sunday – will be the final service […]

Many things are out of our control, which makes getting a handle on the things we can control that much more important. Parenting isn’t just about making sure our kids show up to school every day; parenting is about helping them learn to navigate change, guiding them through whatever life throws at them. The older they get, the more hands-off we are, though we’re always available to talk things through. As a family, we approach every transition as an opportunity for growth… that doesn’t mean we like it, but if we can’t change it, we’ll absolutely make the best of it.
Planning even with a cloud is an act of hope, an act of resurrection, an act of resistance. Sure, things might need to change, but we look ahead anyway. How can we not?
I once heard a sermon on the text, Acts 15:28: “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us…”.
The main idea was that if our relationship with the Lord is on as good terms as possible walking in the light as God gives us the light, then we should make our decisions as it seems good to us and trust that God will continue to give us grace in the future as in the past.
Trust. Faith. Grace. God’s Providence. The bottom line of life is a line traced along these points.