joelkime

Church is a business?

I ordered a book today. One of my pastoral friends has highly recommended it, and it can’t come soon enough. Why? I get so freaking frustrated because I am running a business, the success of which is measured by numbers. Those numbers are decreasing. That gets me upset, even though I know that Jesus isContinue reading “Church is a business?”

Nehemiah, Brother Lawrence & Conversing with God all day long

Yesterday we studied the OT Hero, Nehemiah. We saw that he was a man of prayer. In fact, it seems like most of the book of Nehemiah is a prayer journal. As we read the story of his passion to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem, little prayers are sprinkled throughout, personal prayers from Nehemiah’s heartContinue reading “Nehemiah, Brother Lawrence & Conversing with God all day long”

Does prayer matter?

I received a piece of communication this week that told the story of a friend’s urgent prayer request to God. Interestingly the very thing that my friend asked God to stop from happening…ended up happening. As a result the last thing my friend said to me was, “What is the point?” Good question. I appreciateContinue reading “Does prayer matter?”

How to deal with bitterness in our families

This is a story that starts with tragedy. Lots of tragedy. A lady named Naomi lost her husband. Then her two sons also died, leaving three women as widows. A lady and her two daughters-in-law. You can read the story in the biblical book titled Ruth. In our world we have seen many different reactionsContinue reading “How to deal with bitterness in our families”

We are all witnesses…of Lebron James?

Remember this commercial? As the NBA season heads toward playoffs, Lebron James, now in his third season with the Miami Heat, has just lead his team on an amazing regular season run including a recent stretch during which the Heat won 27 straight games. Though my vote for greatest basketball player of all time willContinue reading “We are all witnesses…of Lebron James?”

I am preaching the same sermon four times in a row…thank you Lectionary very much.

I don’t know a whole lot about the history of the Lectionary. I guess I could at least do a basic search on Wikipedia, but not right now. Clearly, someone put a lot of time and thought into the selection of passages because they fit well with the Christian calendar. For example, it’s Lent rightContinue reading “I am preaching the same sermon four times in a row…thank you Lectionary very much.”

Returning Prodigals…Discussion

A few days ago we had our second Silent Sunday, and the passage we studied at Faith Church was Luke 15:11-32, traditionally called The Parable of the Prodigal Son. Because it wouldn’t work to well to have a sermon on Silent Sunday, we had a time of guided reflection, punctuated with 5-minute periods of silenceContinue reading “Returning Prodigals…Discussion”

Returning from prodigal fundamentalism

In the fall 2001, with the disaster of 9/11 still very much turning our national future into a huge question mark, my wife, Michelle, and I felt our personal lives were in a fog as well. We had just moved back to Pennsylvania after a year of missionary service in Kingston, Jamaica. Expecting it toContinue reading “Returning from prodigal fundamentalism”

Current events and dead fruit trees

On Sunday we looked at Luke 13:1-9 where Jesus talks with a crowd about some current events, and then he tells them a parable. Perhaps you might read the verses again to remind yourself of the story. Basically the two parts go like this: Part 1 – In current events, people died, but not becauseContinue reading “Current events and dead fruit trees”

The hope of the world….fertilizer!

I once listened to a very thought-provoking audio book called An Edible History of the World by Tom Standage. I learned a lot about seeds, food development, and especially fertilizer. Standage does an excellent job digging through the history and progress of fertilizer. Many of you have gardens and you know what a wonderful differenceContinue reading “The hope of the world….fertilizer!”