“Paint Christ Alive …Risen!” Easter is not just a Sunday. Easter is not just a season of the church year when we keep out the white paraments. Easter is the reality which changes everything. I find in Easter the hope that I need. Out of the death of God’s Son came his new life and …
Each Cheraw Spring Festival that I have experienced since coming here in 2008, the weather has been nice. Each First UMC Barbecue I have experienced (seven since coming here in 2008) the weather has been nice. I write a week in advance of this year’s Spring Festival and Barbecue, and I hope the string will …
The words “Via Dolorosa” are Latin for “Way of Suffering” or “Way of Grief.” The Via Dolorosa is a walking route through the Old City of Jerusalem. It follows the approximate route Jesus took to the cross, and Christian pilgrims have been retracing it for many centuries. The First Station of the Cross or beginning …
Our first destination in Jerusalem a few weeks ago was not our hotel but a large gift store. The proprietor and his staff served us hot tea and the Arab version of baklava. (It was yellow and as scrumptious as any Greek baklava I have ever had.) After giving us plenty of time for shopping, …
In late January, Kay and I went for a fun swim in the Dead Sea. “Swim” is not really the right word. We floated around, never daring to put our heads underwater. A sign posted on the beach warned in three languages that if you put your head under the surface or so much as …
Imagine you are a visitor to the States from another country. You spend a few hours in front of a television as a presidential primary (either major party) approaches. You learn that Candidate A is a lying two-faced hypocrite with seedy friends. You learn the same about Candidate B and Candidate C. The tone of …
I think we’re going to have an exceptionally good Christmas. Those words were written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer from a prison cell in Berlin, Germany, on December 1, 1943. Earlier that year, he was arrested by the Nazis who suspected he was trying to undermine the German war effort. He was writing to his fiancée, Maria …
Heaven…a glorious place. I’ve never been there, but I hear it’s a place of peace, tranquility and harmony. Yet God crossed the great divide to come among us. God gave up the glory and joy (Peace!) of heaven. God chose to be born of a woman, and not in some fine palace but in the …
Soon after Christmas you and I will be able to go to the Upper Room’s web site and begin using a Prayer Guide for our upcoming United Methodist General Conference. I like this option to join together in prayer for the delegates who will be in Tampa, Florida, April 24 through May 4. As a …
A former parishioner named Bob served in the CIA during the Cold War. Two times I asked him what he did for the CIA. Both times he smiled and said: “Paul, if I told you then I’d have to shoot ya!” Those words were followed by a hearty laugh. I got the point. I gave …
