[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
Tag: Religion and Spirituality
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
Pastor Note #114: Michael Flynn and One National Religion
“If we are going to have one nation under God, which we must, we have to have one religion. One nation under God, and one religion under God." Michal Flynn, speaking at a “Reawaken America” event in San Antonio, TX on November 13, 2021 Washington County (Pennsylvania) Courthouse; photo by GAC It is hard to … Continue reading Pastor Note #114: Michael Flynn and One National Religion
Quote of Note #123: Christianity & Coercion
Photo by GAC "Christian civility takes human freedom seriously. I may want people to believe as I do about some basic matters--but what I want is for them to choose to see things that way. This means that I must rely on testimony and persuasion in presenting my views to them. Civil Christians will be … Continue reading Quote of Note #123: Christianity & Coercion
Bible Note #48: Justice for the Weak–Ezekiel 34:11-22
Here God proclaims his love. God proclaims the bias of his heart. God proclaims the direction of movement of his heart. photo by GAC Above all, he is for the weak. Above all, he is for the vulnerable, the wounded, the broken, the lost. (Does this sound familiar? “For the Son of Man came to … Continue reading Bible Note #48: Justice for the Weak–Ezekiel 34:11-22
Quote of Note #121: Honoring All People as Divine Works of Art
Photo by GAC "All human beings are God's handiwork. Each person is a very precious work of divine art. To make light of an artist's work within the artist's earshot is a cruel thing to do. To demean one of God's most precious artworks when God is listening--and he always is--crudely dishonors the divine artist." … Continue reading Quote of Note #121: Honoring All People as Divine Works of Art
Pastor Note #113: The Real Danger Facing the Witness of the Church
The Real Danger Facing the Witness of the Church[A Retiring Pastor’s Message to his Flock] These are dangerous times for Christ’s Church. As I prepare to retire as your pastor, I want to leave you with some resources for facing them. I care about you individually, and I care about you as a church. … Continue reading Pastor Note #113: The Real Danger Facing the Witness of the Church
Quote of Note #119: The Grace and Hope of Prayer
photo by GAC "Our hope depends not on the right technique or the proper phrase or gesture, which borders on magic, but on the promise of God to look with favor on those who throw themselves on his mercy and who acknowledge the efficacy of the atoning sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ, for their … Continue reading Quote of Note #119: The Grace and Hope of Prayer
Pastor Note #111: All Types of Pastor
Sedona, AZ; photo by GAC Pastoral ministry involves a dizzying variety of tasks and activities. Some days I go from counseling someone in a difficult personal crisis to untangling some issue in the church’s financial management and bookkeeping, from researching the best interpretation of the Greek of some passage in the New Testament to meeting … Continue reading Pastor Note #111: All Types of Pastor
Quote of Note #118: The Truth of the Resurrection
photo by GAC "I contend that the historicity [of the Gospels] does matter, and I do not see why we, who live nearly two thousand years later, should call into question an Event for which there were many eye-witnesses still living at the time when most of the New Testament was written. It is no … Continue reading Quote of Note #118: The Truth of the Resurrection
Gary Chorpenning's Notebooks 