Archive of entries posted by Ray
Merry Christmas
Christmas, God Working in the Dark
It seems that many people think you can only celebrate Christmas if all is well. You can see this in the various statements beginning with, “It just does not seem like Christmas because … Perhaps we set ourselves up for failure by expecting everything to be just right at this time of the year. If …
Thanksgiving Hymn by Douglas Bond
Readers at my children’s books blog will know that one of our favorite authors is Douglas Bond. It has been a delight over the last several months to get to know Doug via email as we have prepared for his visit to Union as part of the Psalms Project. One of the things I appreciate …
Pastor’s Self-Evaluation Questionnaire
I recently came across this “Pastor Self-Evaluation Questionnaire” thanks to a link from Steve McCoy. The questionnaire was written by Tim Keller and David Powlison. I have only looked it over so far, but it is a wonderful, searching tool. It opens citing 1 Timothy 4:16 where Paul calls Timothy to pay close attention to …
Psalms Project at Union
I mentioned previously that with funding from a Worship Renewal Grant from the Calvin Institute for Christian Worship Union will host a series on the Psalms and Christian Worship. We now have finalized the schedule and speakers. In our chapel services (10:00 am) we will have the following speakers connected with the project: 2/18- John …
Christmas and Missions
My friend Phil Eyster at Eagle Projects International just posted this photo sent to him from a friend in a Muslim country (you can see his comments at the blog). You can see the blood covering the streets after the Festival of Sacrifice last week. As we approach Christmas it is good to be reminded …
Wedding Folder
Here is a basic practical post. When I first began doing weddings as a new pastor, one of the challenges was keeping up with my notes, the vows and the order of the ceremony. I tried putting the pages in my Bible but that did not work well. In the end I picked up an …
Sammy and His Shepherd
Sammy and His Shepherd: Seeing Jesus in Psalm 23, by Susan Hunt Illustrated by Cory Godbey (Reformation Trust, 2008), hb., 50 pp. Ages 3-8 My family has appreciated Susan Hunt’s other books for children so I was excited to see this one. She works through the 23rd Psalm line by line, with each chapter illustrating …
E. V. Hill, His Wife’s Funeral
As part of the pastoral labor my wife and I do a fair bit of pre-marital counseling. As we were doing some more of such counseling this Fall I remembered hearing, while in college, a recording of Pastor E. V. Hill preaching his wife’s funeral. It was a powerful sermon filled with insight and anecdotal …