Okay, look out. Gary, the curmudgeon, is in the house. I realized that it’s a terrible cliché of the Christmas season to complain about the way human beings observe the Christmas holiday. And the Church has been doing that for centuries. At least from the Middle Ages onward, you find examples of the Church trying … Continue reading Pastor Note #118: Advent Reflection #4
Month: December 2021
Pastor Note #117: Advent Reflection #3
So, here we are in the third week of Advent. It’s really a terrible cliché to say that time seems to fly by as we come up on Christmas. But cliché or not, somehow it seems to be true. Maybe it’s because we crowd these weeks full of events and “to-do list” items and expectations, … Continue reading Pastor Note #117: Advent Reflection #3
Pastor Note #116: Advent Reflection #2
[Note: This post is the script for a video reflection that I posted to my YouTube channel. To view this particular video click here.] I first began making my “Pastor Gary’s Video Notebook” videos in March 2020 when the coronavirus shutdown came to my community and my church. I had a number of goals for … Continue reading Pastor Note #116: Advent Reflection #2
Prayer Note #61: The Interference of God–A Prayer
Lord, there is in mea reluctance tosit quietly andattentively inyour presence.I want tobusy myself withthings that givethe appearance ofa devotional life, butwhich are,in fact,just externalactivity—busyness—withoutinternal reality.Yet it isthe internal reality ofintimacy withyouthat is the crucial element. Reading C. S. Lewis’s Surprised by Joy showed me something about myself. He speaks of how, as a child, … Continue reading Prayer Note #61: The Interference of God–A Prayer
Pastor Note #115: Advent Reflections #1
I just did a quick online search for Advent calendars and discovered that you can buy Advent calendars at Target, Walmart, and on the Etsy site. They’re everywhere. I also noticed that almost all of them are incorrect. All of the Advent calendars I looked at start on December 1, and five out of every … Continue reading Pastor Note #115: Advent Reflections #1
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