by Rev. Richard Burguet •

You do know that the way it is now is not the way it was originally, don’t you?  You understand that everything changed here a very long while ago, and because it is all changed now we struggle with the results?  I am not talking about the rapid advances in technology that have changed the rotary telephone into a smart phone with which you can call your family, text, send pictures and movies, and even monitor your home.  We are no longer living in the age of the fountain pen and legal pad, but in the digital age where most published books today are also available via wifi to download instantly onto your electronic digital reader.  You can get the application for Healthy Living and read this article on your tablet, computer or smart phone; but that is not the change I am writing about.  I am not even talking about the politics of our nation, or of the global community.  I am talking about a deeper, more systemic change that took place long before you or I were born, but a change none-the-less that impacts you and me every single moment that we have breath in this life. [Read more…]

by Rev. Richard Burguet •

Every pastor does it. Lots of church members do it. The church officers and Sunday School teachers, too. What is it that we all do? We grieve over those who on one occasion made a promise and then have failed to keep it. I am thinking specifically of the fourth vow of membership: Do you promise to support the Church in its worship and work to the best of your ability? I anguish over those who make that promise and then walk away from it.

When we say we expect members to “participate” in the life and ministry of this church we know that statement evokes different responses in the minds of different people. I think it involves at least four things. [Read more…]