Author Archives: reallifepastor

So, here’s a thing I saw this week.  Monday night, just as it started snowing, my neighbor started mowing.  Mowing while it’s snowing?  Toto, we’re not in Georgia anymore! In Georgia, if it starts snowing, you rush to Lowe’s and … Continue reading →

  A reading from Mark:  When the Sabbath was over, Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought perfumed oils so that they could anoint Jesus.  Very early, just after sunrise on the first day of the … Continue reading →

Do you believe people can change?  Or are you a change atheist?  Do you believe people’s minds, ideas, hearts can be transformed?  Or do you believe people simply are who they are and that little can be done to alter … Continue reading →

Prayer Service for National School Walk-Out (3/14/18)   Welcome Reading of the Names of Those Lost at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 14, 2018. Alyssa Alhadeff, 14 Scott Beigel, 35 Martin Duque Anguiano, 14 Nicholas … Continue reading →

Did a shiver run up your spine just now when you heard this passage?  Those of us who were raised as evangelicals likely associate this text with trying to get people “saved.”  “Soul-winning” they called it in Baptist churches I … Continue reading →

I’m about to break the number one rule of starting a new pastorate–I’m going to tell you what I miss about my old pastorate.  Actually, I’m going to show you.   The pictures in the bulletin were taken in the … Continue reading →

Today is my fourth Sunday in the pulpit.  Does that make me a long-term pastor? Nah.  I’ve just finished saying hello and have only begun the process of getting to know FCUCC. Getting to know a community can be… confusing. … Continue reading →

            Our first day in Asheville, we had a pleasant chat with our next door neighbor.  She welcomed us, the dogs welcomed us … by christening our yard through the chain-link fence–it’s what dogs do, right? As we headed back … Continue reading →

It’s not quite the same as Peter, James, and John’s experience with Jesus at the Transfiguration, but we have been having a bit of a mountaintop experience here at FCUCC the past couple of weeks.  In our excitement, not knowing … Continue reading →

Hi, everybody.  I’m here!  Now what?  I’m reminded of that great scene from the movie The Graduate.  Not that scene.  The final scene of the movie.  Ben and Elaine have been working to disengage themselves from their parents’ expectations, and, … Continue reading →