Author: normalfumc

Does Easter matter? It is easy to be complacent about Easter, to see Easter as just another chance to get together with friends and family, have a good meal and celebrate a holiday. Where Easter really matters is when you

This weekend, we’ll be celebrating Palm Sunday, the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Though not recorded in the Scriptures, the work of historians shows that there was more than one parade going on at that time. Across town, the Roman governor

Mark Twain once said this about the Bible: “I have no problem with those parts of the Bible I don’t understand. It’s those parts of the Bible I do understand that give me fits.” We’ll be looking at a couple

Our Church takes pride in being a welcoming church What does it mean, though, to be a church where people of all races feel welcome? What can we do to make sure we are as welcoming as we can be? This Sunday

When I told my younger son that our scripture for this weekend focuses on the Lost Parables (Luke 15:1-10), he laughed and said I should have a lot of material to choose from because I seem to lose things occasionally

Have you ever been to a carnival fun house and looked in those funny mirrors that make you look really thin and tall? Or really short and wide? I remember going to Silver Dollar City and walking into a house where

Our focus during these 40 days of Lent will be on the Upside Down Kingdom. We’ve been called to live in a way that may not always fit in with the culture around us. Amongst many things, living this way

I returned home from a long and challenging trip. As I pulled my bag out of the car, my loving wife came out to greet me with a hug and a kiss. Inside my kids came out of their rooms to say

Our United Methodist denomination will begin this Saturday to discern how to handle the last prohibitions regarding ordination of LGBTQ+ persons and same-gendered weddings. Why is there so much confusion among our delegates on how to handle these issues? People do

I hear the word, “tribalism,” a lot these days. Many people are concerned that as a nation we are becoming more divided. We are more likely to segregate ourselves into like-minded groups. We reinforce our own beliefs and prejudices with social media. We are