Are We Undone by Our Expectations? by N. Graham Standish Years ago I worked with a deeply frustrated pastor. We’ll call him Wes. He couldn’t get his church to engage in almost any meaningful ministry or mission. A dinner to support a missionary? Too few signed up. Being more involved in the local food cupboard?… Read more »
February 25, 2019
Hopeful Church
Are We Undone by Our Expectations? by N. Graham Standish Years ago I worked with a deeply frustrated pastor. We’ll call him Wes. He couldn’t get his church to engage in almost any meaningful ministry or mission. A dinner to support a missionary? Too few signed up. Being more involved in the local food cupboard?… Read more » 
Walking the pictures A home gallery tour by Ken Rummer “Sweet Georgia Brown.” That was the tune I hummed as I carried my crib-aged children around the house in the middle of the night. It would be a night when we had tried diaper and milk and pacifier and rocking chair, and still there… 
Does our leadership heal . . . or inflict pain? by N. Graham Standish I recently talked with a frustrated and disappointed pastor who was in tremendous pain over her struggling church. As I listened to her story, I suddenly had an insight: Perhaps everyone who comes to church is in pain. Perhaps everyone who… 
Our God-given superpowers Spiderverse reminds us of Christ’s incarnation by Samuel Son We are approaching end of January so by now, your Christmas lights are rolled up, ornaments neatly boxed, and scattering of pine leaves vacuumed. My 13-year-old, though suffering from teen cynicism, surprised her parents by protesting our removal of the decorations, saying, “Christmas isn’t… 
Red-tailed hawk A close encounter by Ken Rummer A large flapping draws my attention through the window. A red-tailed hawk has just touched down on the cedar railing of the deck and is now scanning the yard and the trail beyond. Brown… 
Christmas Day Do not be afraid; for see — I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people … — Luke 2:10 … according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever. — Luke 1:55 As children, setting up the Nativity scene was…