When Will It All End? This is a question that pops into my head on a regular basis. This long year has been stressful in so many ways, but the biggest one for me has been trying to figure out the path we need to follow to get back to normal. As I have told [...]
What Do I Want to Be at TPC? In the January Parish Press, I wrote about what we wanted Tustin Presbyterian Church to be like when we re-gather. Over this last month, in our worship service, I have been explaining the three ways that God calls to us, to be Reconciled to God, to be [...]
What Do We Want to Be in 2021? When 2020 started for me in Istanbul on my way to Uganda, little did I know that it would end with stay at home orders and an inability to celebrate Christmas in person with the people I love at TPC. When the shutdown happened, I kept thinking [...]
What to Do About Christmas??? A few years back I ran across this sermon by Rev. Paul Larsen, an ELCA minister. It was written for a Blue Christmas Service at his church to help people who had suffered a loss get through the Advent and Christmas season. As I re-read it, it struck me that [...]
Thanksgiving ???? What a year this has been. When we started, things were looking good for us. We were trying out new ways to reach out to our community. Our Spanish service had launched, and we were preparing to invite our neighbors to join us as we celebrated our Lord’s resurrection. Then our world was [...]
Now More Than Ever Over these last few months, as the world limped by, I have found myself struggling with despair. I watched as a microscopic virus ground the world to a halt. People lost their jobs, business collapsed, people died, and I was prohibited from being with people that I love and deeply care [...]
WHAT’S UP WITH STEVE’S HAIR? You may have noticed, as you watch the weekly services, that my hair is getting rather long. In fact, it is longer than it has ever been in my life, and it is now longer than my wife’s hair. You may have wondered why. When the hair salons and barbershops [...]
How Long, O Lord? How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? Psalm 13:1-2 (NRSV) I don’t know about you, but I find that David’s [...]
George Floyd Many of you know that I had the privilege of growing up in the inner-city of Chicago. I have invited many of you to try and find me in my third grade class picture that I have hanging on my wall (Hint: Mine is the only white face in the picture). Those thirteen [...]
The Brave New World? Five years ago I shared with you my experience driving a tractor-trailer during my seminary years. Over the six months and 25,000 miles I drove, I was sent to dozens and dozens of cities and towns to deliver products for the company I served. Each new town required me to [...]