Fifteen kids and two adults whose professional lives revolved around them died in a school shooting on Valentine’s Day last week. In addition to being the seventh school shooting this year, it was the largest mass shooting since the Texas church massacre just over three months ago. I’ve been thinking about these two events a lot because I’m a teacher... READ MORE >
This past Wednesday many Christians observed the beginning of the Lenten season with the imposition of ashes. Usually the ashes are mixed with water and olive oil and applied to the forehead in the shape of the cross. It is a curious thing, this wearing of ashes on one’s forehead. It seems slightly medieval and perhaps frightening. But what does... READ MORE >
Last Sunday the text for my message was from the fourth chapter of the Gospel of John. Jesus travels through the land of Samaria and meets a woman at a well in the town of Sychar. After a conversation about “living water” and Jesus’ revelation to her that he was the Messiah foretold in the Hebrew scriptures, she left her... READ MORE >
I spent New Year’s weekend with my wife’s family at her parent’s home. On Sunday morning at 4 a.m. I awoke to shouts and commotion in the hall. Jumping out of bed I could make out the words: “Fire…Garage.” My father-in-law had a detached garage where he stored not only his vehicles and boat but also his carpentry tools in... READ MORE >
The events of last week left me stunned. Stunned by the resurgence of Naziism. Stunned by the moral ambivalence displayed by our president. Stunned by the reoccurrence of Jihad on the streets of Barcelona. Stunned that violence and hate seem to hold the upper hand. The Nazis marching in Charlottesville called for violence against African Americans and Jewish Americans. Their... READ MORE >
Last week I took my dog, Wesley, for a walk on Shovel Point. I found a great bench surrounded by white pines and cedars looking out across azure water towards Palisades Head. “God is good,” I thought. But then another thought occurred to me. “What if all of this were gone? The lake, the trees, the cool breeze. What if... READ MORE >
My wife, Michelle, and I just returned from a visit to Canada’s Maritime Provinces of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. The weather was awesome and the scenery was stunning. New Brunswick is probably best known for the Bay of Fundy, which separates it from neighboring Nova Scotia. The tides on the Bay of Fundy are something to see. The... READ MORE >
I spent a few hours in the woods on Saturday, surrounded by people I’m still getting to know and love, and some whom I probably won’t meet again. We stood beneath the branches of a towering white pine to remember a man who had touched us in some way during a life well lived. Before the mountainswere bornbefore you brought... READ MORE >
In his letter to the Galatians, which we are studying this month at Zoar, the Apostle Paul makes the case that in Christ we are freed from both sin and the oppression of rule keeping. The work of salvation was completed in Christ’s death on the cross. Unfortunately, we have a tendency to slip into putting ourselves first instead of... READ MORE >
The last chords of John Markwell’s harmonica drifted into the wind and only the sound of the waves lapping against the rocks remained. For a moment there was a sense of the Holy Spirit’s presence floating amongst the pines and cedars. Another summer of worship on the rocks had come to an end. Zoar Church in Tofte has been hosting... READ MORE >
