(CNN) — In the face of withering criticism over a sermon he apparently delivered on homosexuality in the 1990s, the Rev. Louie Giglio has withdrawn from giving the benediction at President Barack Obama’s inauguration. Giglio informed inauguration officials Thursday morning of his decision to withdraw from the ceremony, an inauguration official told CNN. “I am…
When people ask me to describe our church, I love to say, rather than being a non-denomination community church, we are a multi-denominational church! We come from so many different faith backgrounds. It makes for a very rich experience! I grew up conservative Pentecostal – and God fit very neatly in a tidy, well-wrapped, little…
Something wonderful happened in my neighborhood about a year ago. A Farmer’s Market opened up and sets up every Saturday morning. The fresh food is good, but I like the fresh Belgian waffles the best! There’s a story about a mother and her young four-year-old son attending a local Farmers’ Market one day, when the…
Thank you, again, for the wonderful surprise for Pastor Appreciation Day! I was so touched by your kind words and the cards I received. I was also touched that on the beautiful plaque you gave me, it had inscribed on it my Life Verse. A Life Verse is something that we hold on to as…
In this article, I give to you a very special invitation to cultivate gratitude and gratefulness as your basic attitude toward life; as the very ground of your being. Gratefulness is powerful. It’s one of the most powerful forces in the world. Gratefulness makes all the difference between just going through the motions and really…
A pastor asked her congregation one Sunday morning to read the 17th chapter of Mark in preparation for the following Sunday’s sermon. So, before giving the sermon the following Sunday, she asked how many had read Mark 17. Every hand went up. The pastor said, “Well, I have the right audience for my sermon today….
I know that it’s always risky for a pastor to talk about anything having to do with money, but that’s exactly what I want to do. Not because I have to, but because I want to. Many churches and synagogues have annual stewardship drives and ask the question, “What are our needs as we look…
Thank you for being lifesavers There’s a cartoon showing a crazed man being led away from a church in a straightjacket. On the steps of the church building the preacher comments to another, “I’m going to miss Harold – he volunteered for everything.” As humorous as that cartoon is, there are many people who believe it’s…
Even though the pastor of a church in Dayton, Ohio expressed concern that the burning of the church was an arson hate-crime, officials in Dayton are denying that was the case, citing a 36-year-old suspect’s stated motive for the crime. According to the Dayton Daily News in Ohio, Hocking County Sheriff Lanny North said suspect…
A few years ago, James Patterson and Peter Kim surveyed America and tabulated the results. The results were given in their book called The Day America Told the Truth. In the chapter dealing with America’s religious beliefs, they shared that 90 percent of the people questioned said that they truly believed in God. Yet, they…
