Browsing

Stewardship in 5 Simple Steps

Many people would love to give to their congregation more regularly and methodically, but they don’t know how — or even how to plan it. Here is a simple five-step process that we introduced to my congregation. Feel free tocopy or adapt it for your use. (Photo © koya79 – Fotolia.com)

Lent’s Wake-Up Call

For me, exactly one moment in the entire church year awakens me to the urgent imperative of our Christian walk of faith. That moment comes when the pastor takes a muddy thumb and swipes it twice across my forehead with the words, “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Photo © Tom Mc Nemar – Fotolia.com)

Lessons from ‘Financial Fasting’

Fasting is a time-honored spiritual discipline that helps people gain clarity of mind and spirit. Going without food for a certain period of time raises awareness and strengthens the will. When I went on a “financial fast” I was amazed what I learned about my spending! (Photo © Borys Shevchuk, via Fotolia)

Resolutions for These End Times

In recent years we have been deluged with “end-times” paranoia, ranging from vague and scary apocalyptic prophecy to specific day-and-hour predictions. Even so, I’ve created my own “end of world” prediction – one that is entirely true, based on Scripture and scientific evidence. And based on my prediction, I’ve crafted New Year’s Resolutions for 2013. (Photo © rolffimages – Fotolia.com)

How Much We Take for Granted!

One moment you’re in your warm house on a blustery October evening, seated at your computer writing emails and listening to storm coverage as your evening cup of tea cools. The next moment your house is as dark and as silent as midnight, oozing heat to the eager cold. There’s nothing like a power outage […]

Cool it! Naturally

Give New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg credit for a creative solution to a problem that had him boiling. On these steamy summer days, he hated entering a parked car whose inside air had been superheated by the sun. (Who doesn’t, right?) But it was a bit extreme of “Hizzoner” to install a window air conditioner […]

Independence Day

As Americans who are also Christians, we are probably the freest people in the world, because while our Constitution guarantees us freedom from worldly oppression, our God guarantees us freedom from spiritual oppression. And it’s a freedom we too often take for granted. (Photo © GIS – Fotolia.com)

Do Mormons love Jesus more?

A clever bumper sticker speaks wisely: “Tithe if you love Jesus. Anyone can honk.” If that nugget of wisdom holds true, we have to ask, “Do Mormons love Jesus more than other Christians?” An impressive 79 percent of Mormons tithe their income – giving 10 percent to their church, according to a recent article in […]

What is your soul?

“How is your soul?” a friend of mine always asks. The greeting always gets me thinking, “Well, how IS my soul doing?” And I can’t help but wonder, come to think of it, what exactly IS my soul? When I asked that last question — “What is your soul?” — to the faithful worshipers at  […]

Resolutions you can really use

‘It’s Personal!’
Most people forget their New Year’s Resolutions as soon as they break them. It’s too bad, because resolutions to be a better steward of your life really can help you. Here is some advice for how to keep them from getting stale or forgotten.
(By Overthehill, via Bigstockphoto.com. )