Resolutions will always come up short in our attempts to remake ourselves A new year. Time to start over. A fresh set of possibilities. Out with the old, in with thenew. New Year’s resolutions are made—usually along the lines of self- improvement. And so, with a combination of optimism and grim determination, we set out into the New Year. But how long does our resolve last? Days? Weeks? It’s a good bet that the gym will be a lot less crowded at the end of January than it was

With Jesus we have peace, we have hope, we are loved—and not just at holiday I remember this jarring image: It was the Christmas Eve candlelight service at my home congregation. A banner depicting Mary and Jesus in the manger had been hung from the ceiling at the front of the nave completely obscuring the large suspended cross. I had seen that banner on Sunday mornings, but on this Christmas Eve in the semidarkness something else appeared. A spotlight that illumined the cross

Disciplines help us glorify God while serving in ways that are abundant, clear “I’m spiritual, not religious.” How many times have we heard that, usually from people who consider their unchurched status a mark of honor. When I heard this as a parish pastor, I became frustrated, especially when folks waxed lyrical about a spiritual experience engendered from contemplating the beauty of a mountaintop. This was perplexing because I served in Ohio. There are no mountains. I was t

This is most certainly true: Remember Eighth Commandment explanation By Elizabeth A. Eaton I remember a particularly contentious meeting with a church council when I was a synod bishop. It didn’t start out that way, but bit by bit the mood changed. Council members began to question my motives, then my veracity, then my character. Finally I said, “Hey, I have a mother you know.” That broke the tension. My point was that I was a human being just like them, not a bloodless funct

Christ crucified is God’s clearest and most complete act of love For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart (1 Corinthians 1:18-19). Uh oh. Paul wrote this to the Corinthians who were going astray. They were quite smitten with the elegant formulas of the Greek philosophers. The wisd

Signs of life to be found across this church if we take the time to notice By Elizabeth A. Eaton Now the wife of a member of the company of prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead; and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but a creditor has come to take my two children as slaves.” Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house, except a jar of oil.” He said,

A call to all for greater, deeper and unapologetic participation in this church We are in the middle of synod assembly season. All synods will meet, vote, discuss, worship and sing . I will be at five of these and can assure you that, though there are delightful regional flavors, they will be remarkably similar. If we were to take a voting member from the Pacifica Synod meeting in Hawaii this year and plunk her down in the hills of Pennsylvania at the Allegheny Synod Assembly

The essence of Christ: Loving, selfless suffering and death for the life of the world Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shown like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white (Matthew 17:1-2). The Transfiguration is a strange story — the mountain, the light, the appearance of Moses and Elijah, the utterly confounded disciples, the voice o