PASTOR’S COLUMN (March 27, 2011)

Ruth Koch once commented about time-management expert David Allen in an issue of Rev. Magazine: “Even though most folks feel over-whelmed with too much to do and too little time in which to do it, Allen argues that having an attack of the overs (overwhelmed by it all) isn't from having too much to do, but from not finishing what we start.”

Our tasks sort into three piles – finished, not finished, and probably-won’t-ever-be-finished – with the third category the largest. There are things that we routinely finish because our lives won’t work if we don’t. “But the tasks that overwhelm us are the ones that may never be finished: the broken relationship between mother and son; the tension between work and family, home and church; the priorities that keep shifting and defying tidy categories.

“Allen suggests we address those undecided, unmanaged tasks in what he calls weird time.” Weird time consists of only a few minutes, like the 15 free minutes before we have to leave home for a meeting or the 6 minutes between appoint-ments. In weird time we accept that there are tasks we may never get tidied up and finished, still we choose to do what we can. In weird time we can grab the phone and say, “I hope you are having a good day.” Or we can do something, catch up a bit, in an area of our life in which we’re always behind.

“But the most important thing you can do with your five minutes of weird time is to ask God to give you a new time table, God’s timetable.” Trust that God can do amazing things in our lives whether we finish our work, are behind in our work, or won’t ever be finished with the tasks on our To-Do List. Ours is to be faithful. - DJ

Pastor's Column March 20, 2011

A couple of things. One, God gives us wisdom. Each of us has a brain, and that brain has been exposed, in many cases, to the church for quite some time. We have heard God’s word proclaimed in worship; we have studied scripture and various aspects of the Christian faith in Sunday school or PW meetings or Alpha; we have engaged in ministry; we have prayed; we have made sacrifices of our time and money, etc. We don’t have all wisdom we might have had had we been more diligent, but we at least have some wisdom.

Two, we are agents of Jesus Christ. An agent is always responsible to the home office, as would be a life insurance or a real estate agent. But an agent is free to determine how to conduct his/her agency. Where and how we serve God is ours to determine, we have the freedom and we have the wisdom. But whether it’s as a parent or on the job or as a retiree or as a volunteer in church, we’re responsible to God for how and what we do.

So here’s a thought for Lent. If as agents we have determined where and how we are going to serve God, let’s give up anything that interferes. For ex., maybe our schedule is so cluttered with non-essential matters that we should clear it and focus on what’s important. Or if we have determined where and how we’re going to serve God, maybe we should try to improve, say, get more training.

And if we haven’t determined where and how we are going to serve God, maybe we ought to devote some serious thought and prayer to determining our identity as agents of Jesus Christ. –D.J.

PASTOR’S COLUMN (March 13, 2011)

We are God’s people, touched by the Spirit to

Witness more effectively,
Think more clearly,
Feel more deeply,
Listen more insightfully,
Speak more truthfully,
Love more extravagantly,
Care more soulfully,
Serve more creatively,
Give more lavishly,
Encourage more lovingly,
Live more fully,
Teach more eloquently,
Give more generously.

Something to think about this Lent. - DJ

Pastor’s Column March 6, 2011

One way of talking about the importance of the Bible goes like this.


The Bible is the story of God’s involvement in human history, as well as the story of God’s people’s response in faith. The Bible tells us how God has moved with Israel, and then with the church, toward the kingdom of God, the fullness of God’s rule over humankind and earth.


It is the story of the one God, whose nature is best described as Father, the one who values each and every human being, his children, and who provides for our needs. It is the story of the one God, who reveals his nature in Jesus Christ. It is the story of the one God who is active in our world now as the Holy Spirit.


The story in the Bible is still unfolding in our lives and in our world. By faith we remember what God has done for our wellbeing, as well as what God demands of us. By faith we are heirs of the hope that fills the Bible from cover to cover. -DJ.