One of my favorite musicals (and movies) is "The Music Man." In the opening number, one of the traveling salesmen boldly declares, "You gotta know the territory!" It's definitely true for the traveling salesman: if you don't know where you are -- if you don't know who those people are and what they want -- you're not going to manage to sell a lot of goods. Churches don't exactly sell stuff, but we could learn something from the salesman. We gotta know the territory. Who are t

On Saturday, church history was made, and most people don't even know it. For the first time since 1333, a "formal filial correction" was issued to the pope. (You can read the details here and the full text of the correction here.) A filial ("brotherly") correction is written and given to the pope when it becomes clear to Roman Catholic scholars and experts in church law that the pope, as earthly head of the church, has violated church law and made statements which run count

Every so often, someone will ask me or another minister friend, "So what do you actually do during the week?" (The less-acceptable variant is, "Don't you only work one day a week?") So as just a little glimpse, here's a list of some of the things I'll do in a typical week (or month): Prepare (and preach) two sermons Prepare (and teach) a Bible study lesson Meet around twenty people per week in the office for conversations, counseling, or other needs Visit homes and hospitals

We celebrated our homecoming yesterday, and it was a fantastic day. My thanks to Gary and all those who worked so hard to make it happen. Homecomings are good days, times to forget the miles and years that separate us from each other and just enjoy being together again. That's why we have family reunions, homecomings, and all other manner of "coming together and catching up" events. In some sense, I feel we have homecomings because we also expect to have homegoings. Those who

In the past several weeks, we've had more than our fair share of disasters on Planet Earth: hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, you name it. And the devastation isn't limited to our part of the northern/western hemisphere, either. Nations around the globe are being rocked by fire, flood, and famine. Things are getting so bad, in fact, many of you have asked me if we're coming up on the end of the world. Short answer: yes. Long answer: the answer to that question is always yes

Instead of our regular Bible study tonight and next Wednesday, we're providing times for our ministry teams to meet. Many of you filled out surveys for us listing your gifts and interests, so we want to give you a chance to make the connections you need to use those gifts here at RSCC. And believe me, everyone has a gift of some kind, a special spiritual blessing given by God for the advance of His kingdom on earth. And at the risk of sounding needy or desperate, you church n

It's hard to believe the September 11 attacks happened sixteen years ago. I still remember sitting first in art history and then in sophomore social studies watching the news and waiting to see what would happen next. At the age of fifteen, I couldn't truly grasp what was going on, but it was a day that forever changed the world. Since 9/11, we've endured TSA body scanners, inherent distrust of Muslims, and seemingly endless wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq. I have mul

"Tempus fugit" is the Latin phrase we commonly translate into English as "Time flies." And fly it does. We're already a week into September; what happened to August? We did have an August this year, didn't we? And the rest of the summer? I'm sure we did, but it went by so quickly most of us seem to have missed it entirely this year. But I guess that's what they mean when they say, "Time flies when you're having fun." To be fair, I'm pretty confident time flies even when you'r

Some call it "autumn," from the Latin name for the season. Others call it "fall," because, well, leaf fall down go boom. (I, who am nothing if not poetic, am in the latter camp.) Fall is my favorite season for many reasons, and I know many of you feel the same way. For my part, I love the colors, the cooler air, the smell of the dust burning as you fire up the heat for the first time, and pulling out the jackets and sweaters once more. I also see fall as the season of new beg