Photo by Roman Carey from Pexels You may remember that in 1953 Edmund Hillary was the very first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest. What you may not know is that he had a partner in his success. His name was Tenzing Norgay. Not only did Tenzing climb the mountain with him but on the way back down the mountain, Hillary fell and was almost lost. In fact, he would have been lost except that Tenzing Norgay pulled him back up the cable and saved his life. Edmund Hillary lived to tell a great story only because of this help from an unknown man. Much later, someone asked Norgay why he di ..read more

When I was a kid, I was confused by the term “Holy Ghost,” which was used back then. Since my idea of ghosts was informed by the movies I saw at the Rialto Theater on Brooklyn’s Flatbush Avenue, I just couldn’t get it. But some years later, churches moved to a more accurate translation: Holy Spirit. That helped, although I still felt mildly uncomfortable by its abstractness. Then I started my scripture studies as I worked toward ministry, and learned that in both the Hebrew of the Jewish Bible and the Greek of the New Testament, the words we translate as spirit also mean breath. Ah! The Breat ..read more

Photo by Roman Carey from Pexels You may remember that in 1953 Edmund Hillary was the very first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest. What you may not know is that he had a partner in his success. His name was Tenzing Norgay. Not only did Tenzing climb the mountain with him but on the way back down the mountain, Hillary fell and was almost lost. In fact, he would have been lost except that Tenzing Norgay pulled him back up the cable and saved his life. Edmund Hillary lived to tell a great story only because of this help fr ..read more

When I was a kid, I was confused by the term “Holy Ghost,” which was used back then. Since my idea of ghosts was informed by the movies I saw at the Rialto Theater on Brooklyn’s Flatbush Avenue, I just couldn’t get it. But some years later, churches moved to a more accurate translation: Holy Spirit. That helped, although I still felt mildly uncomfortable by its abstractness. Then I started my scripture studies as I worked toward ministry, and learned that in both the Hebrew of the Jewish Bible and the Greek of the New Testament, the words we translate as spirit also mean breath. Ah! The Breat ..read more

I love the Peanuts cartoon that showed Peppermint Patty talking to Charlie Brown. She said, “Guess what, Chuck. The first day of school and I got sent to the principal’s office. It was your fault, Chuck.” He said, “My fault? How could it be my fault? Why do you say everything is my fault?” She said, “You’re my friend, aren’t you, Chuck? You should have been a better influence on me.” When we make mistakes, or when things just go wrong, there can be a tendency to want to look for someone else to blame – blame God, blame our spouse, blame the boss, blame the job…. I think back to the book of Gen ..read more

I recently read about a missionary named Jeffery Ginn and his family who were serving in Cali, Colombia. One morning Jeffrey entered his office to find that a map of the world that he had taped to the wall had fallen during the night. A corner of the map had remained taped to the wall as the rest fell. Jeffrey took the torn piece from the wall and knelt to repair the map. At that moment his three-year-old daughter came in. She sat down on the floor and watched her father intently. Jeffrey’s wife, noticing that their daughter had grown quiet, called, “Anna, what are you doing?” Their daughter r ..read more

Back during the early years of television, a news reporter noticed a worker high up on top of the Empire State building in New York City, adding a tv transmitter to the top of the building. Thinking it would make for a great human interest story, the reporter decided to interview him. When they were finally face to face, he asked, “Aren’t you afraid to work under conditions like that? Isn’t it dangerous?” “Yes,” replied the man, “But then again, how many people can say that they have changed the skyline of a city like New York!” While we may never have the opportunity to change the skyline of ..read more

There is a story about a young soldier who was completely humiliated by his senior officer. This officer knew that he really had crossed a line and over disciplined the young soldier. So, when the younger man, clearly angry, said through clenched teeth, “I’ll make you regret this if it is the last thing I ever do”, the officer simply let it go. Several days later, their company was under heavy fire and the officer was wounded far from his troops. He was astonished when he looked up and saw that same young soldier coming to his rescue. At the risk of his own life, he carried the officer to safe ..read more

Remember how the Bible begins in the book of Genesis? It begins with a beautiful poem – almost like a song with a rhythm and refrain: In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth…. God said, let there be light, and there was light! And God said, let there be dome in the midst of the waters… and it was so. And God said, let the waters be gathered together into one place… And it was so. Over and over we read, “And God said… and it was so.” It’s interesting that God speaks creation into being. From the very beginning of scripture, we learn that there is something about language, so ..read more

Happy Thanksgiving! One year, leading up to Thanksgiving, my friend Tim Simpson, wrote an article in his church newsletter. It had been a particularly tough year for him in part because he lost his eyesight to diabetes. He wrote: “The tradition in my family is to say, just before the Thanksgiving meal each November, what we are each Thankful for. This year, I am going to say that I am thankful for the difficult things in my life. That’s a bit of a switch for me, because, like most people, I am usually thankful for things which evoke happy thoughts, precious memories and positive emotions. And ..read more