e-Soundings

How do we educate our hearts and spirits?

While most parents welcomed the start of school , the early start dates for our Antelope Valley area caught me somewhat unawares.

I'm used to a little more leisurely August in order to "ramp up" the fall season. This year, I've had no such luxury. 

What we must not lose in our "Back to School" activities is the need for all of us as adults to turn toward learning and new classes as well.

Our current sermon series is focused on a "back to school" approach to the Bible, but I hope and pray that it only whets your appetite for more spiritual study and growth.

Our inner spirit responds to the same kind of training that our minds and bodies need.  The regular, ever challenging thoughts and actions of love and reflection on God put our "faith muscles" into a "training cycle" that we need to truly live an abundant life.

The Christian movement has a long history of such activities and we as United Methodists are especially focused on education, mission and outreach in a combined and coordinated way.

It is my hope that we can develop a stronger

Summer Plans Pt. 2 - Re-Creation

Have you re-thought about your summer "re-creation" yet? Will there be some renewing for your soul as well as renewing your physical and emotional life?

Summer always offers us a special time of the year that's filled with a little less hectic schedule, time for family, reading and BBQ's.

It also offers us a space in our lives that we can fill with God. Time and time again, Jesus separated himself from all the demands and activities that he was involved in. (Luke 5: 15, Mark 3:7)

Do you think Jesus would call them vacations?

So too do we need to take the time to sit quietly, think about God, engage some devotional materials and renew our relationship with God.

With the internet and a strong Christian publishing industry,

Summer Plans Pt. 1 - Re-Creation

How are your Summer Vacation plans shaping up? ( I know, many of you already have them all mapped out… but some of us are just getting around to it!)

Summer is the time that we look forward to time off from school, or work, or just the daily routine. “Time off” can be as simple as changing our routine or an elaborate trip that’s been planned for years.

I remember that some of the best summer time of my childhood was spent lying on some soft green grass somewhere and daydreaming about the clouds and stars overhead. Yet having such a quiet, yet active time seems more and more rare.

I’m sure that many of us hope that our “time off” can recapture some of that wonder and amazement of our childhood. Unfortunately, we often end up with

“Every Sunday is Easter Sunday from now on…..”

This refrain from an Avery & Marsh song sums up the message that Easter is more than “once a year.” It’s every week, and every day!

Our church fellowship is full of the signs of new life, of resurrection happening all around us. 

A new women’s group: “Stitchers in the Spirit” has been organized.  New ministries are being planned to phone shut-ins, care for our Seniors and to “Share & Care” for the caregivers and others in hospice.

Leaders are learning new skills and insights into how our Mission / Vision / Core Values can guide us all.

Our new 11 am Worship Experience has brought our young adult band together to

How's your Lenten Journey been going?

Have you become more sensitive to the movement of God around you?  Are you able to put aside some of the distractions that have clouded your path?

A friend of mine recently remarked that we often make God too small.  We see the holy in the sunset, or a flower….  all good and beautiful things….  but then we leave it at that.

What are some of the BIG stories that Christ is doing in our lives?  Stories that reflect the power of God to create a Universe?

Stories like lives saved from a career of alcoholism or of marriages making it through the rough times to become rock solid?

Stories like bringing someone back from the brink of death and giving them a whole new personality, one of love and gratitude replacing the old one of complaint and bitterness?

Stories like the dedicated sacrificial efforts of a few people ending up influencing the lives of hundreds and thousands…  A group like those that ventured out of 1st Methodist Church Fullerton over 52 years ago to begin a new congregation that started in a sweet potato ranch barn and

Covenant and Covenant Making

A “Covenant” in the Bible is a unique and powerful thing. In today’s world, a covenant may be applied to a homeowners association or other legal agreements. But in the Bible, a Covenant is an agreement raised to the highest, most solemn and spiritual kind.

At a wedding in the church, the couple enters into a “Marriage Covenant.” This is one of the most enduring and powerful promises we can make. And it’s only possible because it’s grounded on the love of Christ.

This is a direct reflection of the Covenants we find all through the Bible.

Over four and a half years ago, we entered into such a covenant with the good people of Grace River UMC.

In that covenant we described a vision of working together in order to “develop shared programming and facility usage under the Lordship of Jesus the Christ.”

It hasn’t been easy. Different churches have different traditions. Different cultures see the same event and activity in very different ways.

Yet the hope and dream to find common ministries, programs and changed lives in the people who follow Jesus has kept us together.

Soon, in our Feb. 10 worship services, both congregations will

How's your New Year's Intentions?

    The New Year is full of resolutions and great intentions.   

   Unfortunately, the experts tell us that most of them crumble in the first two weeks of the year! (And some don’t make it past Jan. 2!)
Every year we learn the same lesson that it’s hard to change. Our habits feel imbedded in concrete, the attitudes of our heart seem unmoved.
   And the longer we go on doing all the same old things we’ve always done, the harder it becomes to ever change them.

   Fortunately for us, there’s Christmas and Easter.

   Together they tell us the story that first of all, God loves us deeply and wants

Are you getting the most out of Christmas?

Christmas has begun. The merchandise has been out for over a month. Christmas TV specials and office parties will all begin soon.

As people filled with the Christian faith, we know that there is another “Reason for the Season.” We know that it’s more than parties and gift exchanges.

We know that beneath all the festivities is a profound and sometimes astounding truth:
God loves us so much that He came into our world to show us just what God’s heart is really all about.

As much as we might like to ignore that truth with bright lights, tasty food and decorative packages, it’s still right there, waiting for us to pause and think about what it means for our soul.

Before Christmas gets into full swing around your home, can you take time to pause and think about what the birth of Christ means for you?

We celebrate his birthday on Dec. 25, (even though we don’t know the actual date.) as a sign that the darkest part of the year has no sway over us.

And we proclaim that God is not only a loving God but an up close and personal God.
We also share that God is not a reward we get for being good, (like many Christmas presents seem to be) and that God is 

New Starts

In times past, when a boat navigated uncharted waters, a line with a lead weight was tossed overboard and the depth of the water was then measured.

These "soundings" were used to make sure that the passage was safe.

It has been my custom to share regular thoughts and insights about our journey together in a similar way through my "pastor's column."

It's simply an effort to plumb the depths of our shared journey. It provides a place for reflection and challenge, a place to look to Christ for our bearings.

It is but one of the ways that we explore just what a unique gift it is to be in God's community, to be the body of Christ.

Other ways will include

Singing Missionary: Alana!

Of all the “missionaries” I know, Alana Welch is the most surprising.

Far from the stereo typical "explorer" model, Alana is an all-American High School junior who is small in stature but with a great singing voice.

From the outside she looks almost too normal, but look out when she talks about what Christ is doing in her life!

She has joined up with the “Continental Singers” (http://www.continentalsingers.org/) whose goal is: “Advancing the Kingdom of Jesus Christ through the Performing Arts.”

While they have many programs, Alana is joining the tour group that will visit “the South,” (all our southern states of the U.S.A.) plus South Africa.

They will perform at many churches and other venues, all the while sharing Christ not only by their songs, but by their