I absolutely believe in miracles. If you’ve worked with me, you know that I’m all about the big picture — if something amazing occurs, I don’t question the details or try to figure out the magic. I’m married to an auditor, so I leave the explanations to him!

My take on unexpected blessings is to give thanks for the wonders, and keep searching for more. I have a friend who calls…

As I mentioned last week, we will be reading through Chapter 6 of John’s Gospel over the next several weeks. Now when we ended this story last week, we ended with the story of how the disciples left the “other side” in a boat without Jesus because when they left, Jesus wasn’t with them. If you remember, after Jesus had fed the 5,000, the people were excited and wanted to make Jesus their…

This past Sunday, we began a five-week series of readings from Chapter 6 of the Gospel of John. This series of readings focuses on one thing, and that is that Jesus is “the Bread of Life.” When it comes to healthy living, nutrition experts tell us that we should eat certain amounts of foods from the various food groups — vegetables, fruits, grains, meats, poultry, fish, and dairy. …

If I can make a suggestion, you might want to make sure you have a little breakfast before you come for the next several weeks, because today is the first of five weeks in a row in which we will read from the Gospel of John about food and specifically about bread and its importance in our lives.

Now before we begin talking about the text itself, I think it is important to get an understanding…

I was hanging out at VBS this week with some awesome wee servants and hard-working volunteers. The theme is based around serving God by serving God’s people. The first night’s story to kick off our service-minded VBS theme was the feeding of the five thousand. As I sat in the sanctuary with all of our amazing wiggly friends and the story was read, I was struck by the Holy Spirit through…

Salem’s kids are performing their summer musical in both services this Sunday, which means I’ve been singing, dancing, and acting with our youngest talent every morning this week. Believe it or not, as much as I love it, the music is not my favorite part of our summer musical camp! What I absolutely love is experiencing scripture through the eyes of a child.

Monday morning, we met for…

As I have shared before, Amos is truly one of my favorite prophets. I suppose I like him because first, he really wasn’t a prophet in the typical sense. Amos wasn’t born into a religious family. He wasn’t dedicated at birth to the temple and raised in the temple like other prophets. In his own words, Amos says today,“I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser…

In our Old Testament reading for this coming Sunday, Amos 7:7-15, we hear how Amos was treated by the religious and political leaders of Israel when he spoke out for justice and God’s ways. Amos warned the leaders of Israel that their ways were wrong and that they needed to change, but the leadership did not want to hear that, and so they kicked him out. The high priest, Amaziah, who was technically…

About six years ago, Rodney Atkins, a country music artist, recorded a song called "Watching You". The song is a about a dad and his 4-year-old son who wants to be just like him. As the song begins, they are in the car and the little boy is eating his Happy Meal in the back seat, but when his dad has to hit the brakes suddenly, the meal goes flying and the little boy, without thinking,…

Hello, Salem! I am so excited to be serving in ministry with you!

In my short time here I have already been inspired by Pantry Pack, worship, the youth, music, and working with this awesome staff. I am eager to get to know you and more about Salem! I love hearing the stories of how God works in the lives of God’s people, and I can’t wait to hear yours.

I have done youth ministry…