PASTOR’S PEN

Celebrate the Substitute!

Posted on Mar 28, 2023 by admin | pastors pen |

Let’s name an unsung hero: The substitute teacher. Suddenly thrust in front of an unfamiliar class, the substitute teacher faces a tall task. Working on short notice with perhaps a subject they have little knowledge of, the substitute has many challenges. Let’s be thankful for the work that they do for our schools and our students.

We are in the midst of Holy Week. From Palm Sunday to Maundy Thursday to Good Friday and Easter Sunday …

Redemptive Release

Posted on Mar 12, 2023 by admin | pastors pen |

Forgiveness can be a controversial subject, for a large number of reasons. History shows that when marginalized people forgive the wrongdoings of those in power, they often remain oppressed. That’s evident in the case of those who have been enslaved, abused women, and religious minorities. In these cases, forgiveness seems to enable injustice.

All the same, a world where the restorative presence of forgiveness is absent is a world marked by …

Send it on Ahead

Posted on Jan 25, 2023 by admin | pastors pen |

Send it on ahead

Sometime in the summer of 1989, my brother and I received tickets to an event at a local hotel.

I don’t remember where I got them, but I do remember what happened when we went …

THEREFORE

Posted on Jan 22, 2023 by admin | pastors pen |

THEREFORE

In 1954, the psychologist James Olds made a few ordinary rats the happiest rodents that had
ever lived. How?

He had directly wired an electrode into the rats’ brains, plugging into the septal area. The rats
seemed to enjoy it, so Olds gave them a lever: when pushed, it would turn on the electrode. The
rats quickly learned how it worked, and they had a fantastic time with it. Some of the rats would
giddily push the …