Does your church have deacons? And if so, do you know who they are and what they do? If the answer to these questions is “Yes,” you’re in the minority. Few American churches have a thriving diaconal ministry. The average church website lists pastors, staff members, and directors who oversee various aspects of ministry, but rarely will you find deacons listed among the leadership. One popular...
There are coyotes in Pennsylvania. Not just upstate, rural, Potter County coyotes, but also a growing population of urban and suburban coyotes. In counties wiped clean of carnivores a hundred years ago or more, in the land of Walgreens and Wendy’s, coyotes have slunk in after dark and made themselves at home. And apparently (this defies every logic of the suburban mind), Pennsylvania coyotes...
I love map apps. As someone who grew up in an age of multi-fold road maps and had to stop at the gas station to get directions from the guy at the counter, I find it refreshing to have this technology. No more listening and writing down directions on the back of an envelope, remembering and turning at landmarks, and having to slow down not to miss important directional details. Gone are the days...
Where are you? Usually when we answer that question, we refer to our physical circumstances and location. Paul could have said, “I’m in prison. I am in chains.” But although Paul, when he wrote this letter, is physically a prisoner, it is clear he is not spiritually chained. His location is “in Christ.” And he is writing to assure the believers in Colossae that their spiritual location is also...
All of us who follow Christ are to take his message of good news—the gospel—to every people in every land. That is both an exciting adventure that Christ calls us to, and a daunting task. How do we give people—our neighbors, our friends, even our family—a message that God took 66 books and about 1,500 years to write? How do we make it understandable? Thankfully, God has given us clear passages in...
