Pastor’s Ponderings

I am so pleased that the Calvary Weekday School is up and running once again! It is wonderful to hear and see the children lining up in the parking lot, running and playing on the playground  and learning and making friends in the classrooms. All last school year, the...

Mention the word “stewardship” to the average person, and the first thing that comes to mind is money. Somehow, most Christians equate “stewardship” with money or with giving to the church. But its more than that.   Certainly, money is an important part of what...

This week, as I am digging deeper into the Book of Job, I am learning more about lament.  That is one way to respond to difficulties and troubles that come our way.   All of us are used to grumbling, to complaining, to protest. We grumble about the traffic, we...

We are hoping to begin to provide one worship service experience that will be available both in the sanctuary in person as well as online through YouTube and Facebook. Since March of 2020, Pastor Shannon and I produced, recorded, and uploaded over 67 worship services...

While clearing out some space in my garage a while back, I came across a box of books that included a title I read back in seminary, Moral Man and Immoral Society, by Reinhold Niebuhr. Although this book was written ninety years ago, it seems to speak of something...

One of the most delightful things to watch on television lately has been Ted Lasso. It’s a show on Apple Plus TV so it does require a subscription to watch (ugh), but it is a delightful, positive and enjoyable show about an American Football coach that ends up...

Diana Butler Bass she writes a daily blog called “The Cottage”. On July 8, she wrote about and about some remarkable findings that came out of a study completed by Public Religion Research Institute called The American Religious Landscape in 2020. The study shows that...

For at least for the last six summers, Calvary Church has had one worship service at 10:00 AM for the summer months and then two services for the remainder of the year. With the challenges of returning to in-person worship services during a pandemic, it made sense for...

SELF- CONTROL In his letter to the Galatians, the apostle Paul writes, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self-control." (5:22)   The last of these qualities is SELF-CONTROL.   Just like...

In his letter to the Galatians, the apostle Paul writes, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self-control." (5:22) What is "gentleness?" The Greek word Paul used here is usually rendered either as...