Light… Like grace, Light is a theme that flows through the pages of the Bible from creation to Revelation. The first word that God speaks in creation is Light. And God saw that the light was good. God begins to bring shape and order into the chaos of the beginning through the creation of light. God then spreads those lights across the universe, providing light for day and night. God uses light to ...  Read More

Grace… Yes, last week’s letter was about grace… and so was last Sunday’s sermon… and the invitation to the Lord’s Table on the Sunday before… grace upon grace upon grace… We never seem to be able to say enough about grace- God’s amazing grace. When C.S. Lewis was asked what made Christianity unique among all the world’s religions, his answer was “grace.” He went on to detail features of other reli...  Read More

Friday, July 21st the 2020 Olympic Games began. After a year of delay due to the pandemic, the XXXII Olympiad opened with the usual fanfare of a grand Opening Ceremony, except that this year there were no cheering spectators in the stands. While in many ways the Olympics will look different this year due to the rising rate of COVID cases in Japan and around the world, the purpose of the games rema...  Read More

I am writing this letter on July 12th… There’s nothing uniquely significant about this date. It is just another Monday in a summer that is moving along faster than I would like. Yet, that number- 12- is very significant. Think of how many times we see the number 12: 12 hours in a day times two 12 in a dozen 12 months in a year 12 inches in a foot 12 pairs of ribs in the human body 12 Face cards in...  Read More

Freedom is an aspiration that began in the heart and mind of our nation before we were even birthed into being. Yet, an aspiration is just an idea, a hope, a yearning, until someone chooses to take action. And that aspiration can only be maintained with constant effort. Thomas Jefferson wrote, “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” I remember celebrating the 4th of July on a Navy base… one b...  Read More

From bells that pealed the declaration of independence from England on July 4, 1776… to Union soldiers that carried the news of emancipation to slaves and slave owners in Galveston, TX on June 19, 1865… to a preacher’s yearning call from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963 to a nation still struggling to establish freedom for all… again and again we have heard the call to let free...  Read More