Staff Trax

Here we are, the final week of Lent. In the church we call this Holy Week and it begins today with Palm Sunday. What an odd day, though! We began our time of worship with a celebration, but then the story quickly changes to one of betrayal, pain, grief and sorrow as we read the story of Jesus final days before his crucifixion. Many look at this day and week and think of it as a depressing…

Dear Salem Family,

This past week, I had the pleasure of working with some friends that are a part of the Islamic community of Johnson County. We had 4 friends visit Salem last Sunday and they talked with us about the similarities between Christianity and Islam. 24 members of Salem joined together in conversation with the Islamic community. We listened to our friends talk about the…

Well, here we are, the month of April has begun and we have only two weeks left in the season of Lent. As I have shared with you before, April is a month filled with mixed emotions for me. It is the month of my birthday. It's the month that I first asked my wife out 41 years ago. It is the month that my son and daughter-in-law were married 10 years ago. It is the month that my grandfather…

38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the…

Did you know that we are not born with full sight? Infants have sight, but not as most of us know it. A new born only sees in black and white and some shades of gray. Experts tell us that it usually takes about five months for an infant to begin to use both eyes together to see three-dimensionally and for the eyes to develop fully to be able to see full color. In essence, we learned to…

I grew up going to church every Sunday with my family. My dad was in the Army, so as we moved every few years we usually attended the Protestant service on the military post. We called ourselves EpiscoMethoBapTerian, as every year we’d have a pastor from a different denomination – so I feel pretty comfortable in most church services.

As I began to study how to be a choir director…

I began my sermon last week by commenting that there was so much to talk about in that text, John 3:1-17, that to cover it all would have taken all day. Well, today, and for the next several weeks, the same is true. Our lectionary for this Lent is filled with powerful texts that offer incredible insight into not only who Jesus is, but also what is expected of us, his followers. So, allow…

Over the course of the past several months, as we have been talking a lot about our budget, our income, our expenses, our facilities, our need to raise money, et cetera, I have also been thinking much about what it means to be “the church.” Do you remember the popular rhyme: Here is the church, here is the steeple, open the door and see all the people? Growing up, I remember learning…

Wow, there is so much going on in this text today that if you wanted me to attempt to address it all, you would have to cancel the rest of your plans for the day. There is the imagery of water and Spirit. There is the imagery of Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness. There is the imagery of God’s Spirit being like the wind and blowing wherever and however it chooses. There is…

Dear Salem Family,

I have been reflecting the last week on the word busy. We are so busy with so many things. There is always something to do, and always something we need to do. I will admit, I love being busy. I love having a full calendar and seeing all kinds of people and being involved in all kinds of things. But, I’ve also learned that when I am that busy, sometimes I’m not always…