tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46175277266109690532024-03-12T20:27:22.481-04:00The Moore Weakly"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9).Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04752075079427903139noreply@blogger.comBlogger492125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-59555002511267293022020-05-18T20:38:00.000-04:002020-05-18T20:38:01.445-04:00Bird Watching Our family put up some bird feeders just outside of our bay window a couple of weeks so we could begin enjoying watching birds this Spring. Here's a sampling of some of the birds we've seen thus far. The pictures do not capture the beauty of these tiny creatures (all of them were shot with my phone from inside the house through the window):<br />
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This first picture captures a male Cardinal (red circle) and a Blue-jay (blue circle). I'm not sure whether or not the Blue-jay here is male or female--I'm told they can only be distinguished by their behavior. These two were on the ground picking up some of the scraps that had fallen from the feeders. We've also seen female cardinals but I don't have a picture of those (they are lighter red with bright orange beaks).<br />
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The picture below is of one of the more rare birds to come by our home (only a couple of times have we seen this variety). It's called a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. The kids liked this one and thought it looked "chunky."<br />
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This next bird looks (to me) like something you might see in the tropics with it's bright yellow feathers. It's called an American Goldfinch. It looks very similar to the Yellow Warbler but the black above the eyes give the Goldfinch away. This variety is pretty common in our area and we see these almost daily at our feeders.<br />
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Below are two more American Goldfinches. The bright yellow one on the right is the male, and the one on the lower bar with light brown tones is the female. I'm told that the males turn bright yellow in Spring and Summer but are on the paler/duller side in Fall and Winter.<br />
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This last picture is of two Chipping Sparrows. These are also very common at our feeders. <br />
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We've seen other birds too like the House Finch and the American Robin but I don't have pictures of those. We will be posting more pictures of birds soon! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-20868635870363203882020-04-12T21:19:00.000-04:002020-04-12T21:20:01.353-04:00COVID-19 in South RoyaltonOur Governor, Phil Scott, just extended his "Stay at Home" order <a href="https://vtdigger.org/2020/04/10/scott-extends-stay-home-stay-safe-order-through-may-15/">through May 15th</a>. His previous order went through April 15th.<br />
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Our church has made the decision to not meet face-to-face until the Governor gives the green light. Although I was deeply saddened that Governor Scott did not classify churches and religious groups as essential, while other states, like my home state of NC did, we want to honor our leader's direction as Romans 13 instructs. <a href="https://accd.vermont.gov/covid-19">Here's Vermont's C19 Gov Resource page</a> which outlines everything our leaders are doing to combat the spread of the virus.<br />
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Until the order lifts and medical experts say its safe to return to work and business as usual, life in South Royalton like many other places, looks a bit different. I've been wearing this mask made by one of my parishioners.<br />
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Our local post office has put up a large barrier to limit the clerk's exposure to others.<br />
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Local grocery stores are putting up signs like this one below. Other stores have closed altogether or are limiting the number of customers in the store at a given time.<br />
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Our local food shelf which our church runs, has not been allowing anyone in the building. Instead we've been bringing boxes to our patron's cars or delivering them to their homes. Below is a picture of some of the scheduled deliveries for last week.<br />
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Our local bank put up this sign a couple of weeks ago. Now they've completely closed the bank and locals must drive to the next town over which has a bank with a drive thru teller.<br />
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When the virus first began to threaten our area, our local food co-op put up this sign. Now, in compliance with Governor Scott's order, they only take drive-up orders.<br />
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As far as how our church has responded to this crisis, we've done several things. The first I mentioned above--closing our building until the Governor lifts his stay at home order. We've also put verses like the one below on our sign to remind our community to run to God when they are afraid. Psalm 46 is one of my favorites and is the psalm that Martin Luther used as the basis for his great hymn "A Mighty Fortress is Our God."<br />
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Our church has also moved to doing services on Facebook Live. At the time of this blog entry our services and devotionals have been viewed over 5,000 times since the start of the stay at home order.<br />
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I've been experimenting with some new tech to try and improve the quality of our broadcasts. A trusty friend in NC has been helping and we've made some real progress! Here's a pic of some of the items I've been playing with:<br />
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Another neat thing we've been doing at Red Door is working on worship outlines for our people. We mailed out dozens of these for our people before the start of Holy Week on the 5th of April. They are best used in conjunction with our Facebook Live broadcasts but can be used independently if a person does not have access to the internet. Our hope was to give people a more engaging and interactive experience. If you would like to look at them, we have made them available on our church website <a href="https://www.unitedchurchofsoro.org/resources/">here</a>.<br />
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We've also been taking advantage of the extra space and time to work on some projects that have been on hold like having our church floor waxed (a team of two came in last week and did the work) and installing a big walk-in cooler over at the local food shelf (pic below).<br />
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The work is not complete but we've made a big step in the right direction this past week. Here's a view of the cooler from the inside.<br />
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I hope all of you are staying safe and taking the necessary precautions to avoid getting sick with the C19 virus.<br />
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Our family is doing well! Today Megan and I hid Easter eggs in the in the yard and the kids had an Easter egg hunt. Here's a pic as they were getting started:<br />
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Blessings to all of you! Happy Easter!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-14022341166302182812020-02-06T23:10:00.001-05:002020-02-07T08:42:21.027-05:00Vermont: The Most Drug Infested State in USA<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Photo Credit: © rabbit75_fot / Adobe Stock</i><br />
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<i><br /></i>After moving to Vermont six years ago I quickly learned that the state had a big drug problem. But I never would have dreamed that it was as big as a recent report has just revealed. Vermont is now the #1 most drug infested state in all of the USA.<br />
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Kal Penn did a short video titled Drug Infested Vermont that gives you a picture of just how bad it is. You can watch it <a href="http://natgeotv.com/in/the-big-picture-with-kal-penn/videos/drug-infested-vermont">here</a>.</div>
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Some of the reasons for this startling fact mentioned in the video are demographics, location, and a limited police force--all of which are true and make total sense. Maybe one that I would add to the list is that Vermont is a very secular place where religion is not popular. What this means is that when people need help dealing with life they rarely look to God, but to earthly solutions, like drugs.<br />
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Please pray for Vermont.</div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-80815365400381786162019-12-29T19:43:00.000-05:002019-12-29T19:46:03.709-05:002019 Christmas Celebrations at Red Door This year's Christmas celebrations here in South Royalton were excellent.<br />
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I was especially excited to see that our annual Pageant made the front page of our local newspaper! Two of the angels pictured below in the old gazebo are our oldest daughter, Ahavah (far left), and our son, Emmaus (far right). They thought it was really neat that they were in the newspaper!<br />
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Here's another picture from this year's Pageant that made the paper. <br />
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We had an abundance of volunteers this year, which was a welcome change. Below is a pic of some of them getting ready before the Pageant started.<br />
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The Pageant starts in front of the church with a carol (usually, "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear") and the announcement by the Roman Centurion (standing on a chair) that everyone must go to their town to be registered for the tax. Mary and Joseph then appear walking with a donkey and we follow them around the park.<br />
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Another one of the stops we make as we follow Joseph and Mary is by the old gazebo on the park. The shepherds stand by the fire next to the gazebo when suddenly the angelic host appear announcing the birth of the Christ child. (The picture above on the front page of the Herald is from behind the angels in the gazebo.)<br />
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Next we make our way to the bank where the three wise men are stationed. Below is a picture of the crowds as they make their way over to observe.<br />
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A friend captured the aerial picture below of the park during the Pageant with a drone. <br />
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Our Christmas Eve Service also was a wonderful experience this year. Pictured below is a rare shot of the church nearly filled to the brim (except for the front pews, which are never filled) with people as they sing Silent Night with the lights held high in worship.<br />
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Thank you Jesus for traditions that shine your light upon our lives and communities. May you continue to use these for your glory and honor here in South Royalton.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-39615913097711979282019-10-21T11:07:00.000-04:002019-10-21T11:07:59.083-04:00Working with Sue Thomas On a New ProjectLast week I had the privilege and honor of spending a day with close friends and ministry allies to work on a new project. The project is not my own, but is a work being undertaken for <a href="https://suethomasministries.org/">Sue Thomas Ministries</a> by a gentlemen with lots of experience in the movie making industry. You may know of Sue through her popular mainstream TV show titled, "<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0329934/">Sue Thomas FBEye</a>." You can learn more about her <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwftLq0Bsv8">here on this interview</a>.<br />
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We met out at Sue's Vermont home, a place she has named Waterbrooks, after Psalm 42:1: "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for you, O God." The property is absolutely gorgeous. In the center of a pond on the property, she has placed a 15 wooden cross, which you can see in the picture below.<br />
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This gentleman, named Nick, rowed with me over to the center island on the pond to do a brief time lapse and take a few pictures. You can see the cabin where Sue, and her aid, Deborah, live during the summer months.<br />
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The inside of the cabin is truly humble, but beautiful. There is no electricity or running water (they get water from a mountain stream on the mountain behind their house). I simply love the wood stove inside with the natural white birch mantle and the pots and pans that hang on the brick wall.<br />
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The cross is imposing when you are standing next to it. It is an utterly humbling thing to think that Jesus, the Son of God, was nailed to something like this for our sins.<br />
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Here is a picture of the filming of the short time lapse of the cross with the blue sky in the background (unfortunately, there were not many clouds on this day so the time lapse was not going to be as interesting as hoped).<br />
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After filming some at Waterbrooks, we moved into the village of South Royalton and did interesting shots at the <a href="https://www.unitedchurchofsoro.org/">Red Door Church</a>, where I am pastor. We started outside with the drone. Some of the footage we captured of the steeple and the town square was simply breathtaking.<br />
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Here you can see the drone flying in front of the church steeple:<br />
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From there we moved inside the church sanctuary, where we captured Sue speaking at the piano. She also did some playing, which was remarkable considering that she has never actually heard a piano in her entire life. She played on video the hymn: "Sweet Hour of Prayer." I think all of us had tears in our eyes at the end.<br />
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I am so excited to see what comes of this project! I'm praising God that I got to be on the periphery and observe a little. I pray God uses this for His glory and for the joy of His people.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-23729156874255659582019-10-17T11:15:00.000-04:002019-10-17T11:25:02.659-04:00Fall Scenes in VermontThe last couple of weeks I've been taking pictures of the area, trying to capture a little of the fall beauty all around. The camera just doesn't capture it!<br />
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Here's one of our little town from the far side of the bridge.<br />
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Below is a picture I took at Waterbrooks in Tunbridge a few days ago.<br />
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The weather has just been exceptional for 3 or 4 days now. A couple of days ago, I captured this neat picture of the church from the town gazebo (below). <br />
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While taking a walk with a friend yesterday I took a few pictures of their farm and of the road that runs through their property. I really love this little shed with a the old wagon wheel leaning against it.<br />
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My friends dogs joined us on our walk. The leaves are mostly brown at this point in the fall, but you find hints of color here and there.<br />
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Here's a shot of a cemetery just north of us in Randolph Center. Again, the camera just doesn't capture all the color.<br />
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This picture below was taken off of a bridge in Sharon, VT, five miles down the road from our home in South Royalton.<br />
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<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-84867360223332076302019-10-09T21:35:00.003-04:002019-10-10T07:39:05.442-04:00Quick Trip to NC to Reconnect with Family and FriendsLast week I had the chance to swing down to NC to see my grandmother who had a heart attack a few weeks ago and to also reconnect with friends. I didn't think I was going to be able to go, but thanks to a good friend who offered to help, I was able to leave for five days. I'm so grateful.<br />
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The first two nights I stayed with my mom and dad. I also got to see my sis for a few hours and watch my niece play in a softball game.<br />
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While I was there I did a few chores at my parents' home. It was a blessing to be useful.<br />
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It was hot in Charlotte. Yes, you are not seeing things. That says 99 degrees--in October! When I left Vermont we were seeing low 40s.<br />
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While in Charlotte, I had some time to go Corinth Reformed Church in Hickory where I did my internship in seminary and where I was ordained. They were in the middle of renovating their pipe organ. They are going to double the number of pipes in the organ, which will make this organ one of the largest in the entire Southeastern US.<br />
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My grandmother is now 94 and had a heart attack a few weeks back. After surgery she has made a miraculous recovery and is doing very well. I was so grateful to be able to sit with her for a few hours.<br />
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While I was with my grandmother, we got out some old picture albums. I found some fun old pictures of me and my sister (and many others). I really liked this one from my younger baseball days:<br />
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I also liked these of my sister and I:<br />
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My grandmother's refrigerator is covered with pictures of grandchildren and great grandchildren. It's amazing to see how the family tree has grown over the years.<br />
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One of the highlights of the trip was being reunited with my discipleship group from UNCC. All of us had not been in the same place together in 15 years! I was amazed to see how God has been faithful to each of us over the years. Between the seven us we have 19 kids. There are two pastors, one police officer, an organic farmer, one living and working in Silicone Valley, a missionary (Africa) and another who just started his own events company.<br />
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We ate at an awesome restaurant in downtown Charlotte called <a href="http://noblesmokebarbecue.com/">Noble Smoke</a>. Here's a picture of what we ordered.<br />
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One of the owners took us back behind the scenes and we got to see where the magic happens. These are 1000 gallon smokers!<br />
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One of the guys rented a place on Lake Norman for a couple of nights so we could really catch up and spend some quality time together. One day we went out on the lake for a few hours.<br />
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Some of the guys went water skiing.<br />
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Pulling out of the driveway one day, we spotted some deer just across the street. They were just feet away from our vehicle.<br />
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As I was getting ready to leave the last day in Charlotte, I got a taste of life in Vermont--a chicken walking through the gas station lot!<br />
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I left on Saturday. The flight was wonderful. The weather was gorgeous and the flight was nearly half empty, so I had an entire row to myself! A rare treat. I'm so thankful to my church who graciously allowed me to skip out for a few days and to my family and friends for hosting me and making room for me. I returned refreshed.<br />
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<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-67282594658116875232019-08-05T15:56:00.000-04:002019-08-05T15:57:38.390-04:00Ahavah and Amma BaptismsSo yesterday I had the unspeakable privilege of baptizing my two oldest daughters, Ahavah (9) and Amma (8) at our annual church picnic. We held the picnic at the local food shelf (the property is owned by the church).<br />
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The picnic started with our Sunday morning worship service. Below you can see us gathered before the service started.<br />
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After the service we walked down to the waters edge behind the property (the property is about 2 acres in size).<br />
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At the bottom of the hill is a small, narrow path leading to the riverfront (a very fitting physical picture of following Jesus, Matt. 7:14).<br />
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Ahavah, my oldest, went first. She was very brave.<br />
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When it came time to baptize Amma, I realized we had not brought a pitcher down to help, so we ended up using Megan's Nalgene bottle. Amma gets ear infections really easily, so we poured water over her head three times (in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).<br />
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Here's I am, the proud papa, with my girls and with one our church elders, Scott, after the baptisms.<br />
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May they both walk strongly with the Lord all their days.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-55601351181159943122019-08-02T11:03:00.002-04:002019-08-02T11:04:39.595-04:00In Milwaukee with the FWCThe past week has been filled with travel and meetings, and a little fun mixed in here and there. The reason for my trip? I was invited to the United Church of Christ's 2019 General Synod in Milwaukee (they have them every two years in different places). Milwaukee is a beautiful city with about 600,000 residents. Here I am pictured by the Milwaukee River (with my eyes closed).<br />
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I met up with other UCC colleagues involved with a group known as the <a href="http://www.faithfulandwelcoming.org/">Faithful and Welcoming Churches</a>. Most of us are pictured below in the exhibit hall of the Wisconsin Center.<br />
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One of the most significant items for discussion this year was <a href="https://www.uccfiles.com/synod/2019/resolutions/8-Stewardship-of-Exhibit-Space.pdf">a resolution</a> put forward by the Michigan Conference about the stewardship of the Exhibit Hall space. The resolution specifically targeted the FWC claiming that the UCC was not being a responsible steward of the Exhibit Hall space by allowing groups like the FWC to have a table in that space.<br />
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The intent of the resolution was to disallow FWC from having a booth in the Exhibit Hall during General Synod. Even if passed, it would not have banned FWC or its churches from having a place in the UCC. This was only about the display and presence in the Exhibit Hall. It was clear to most, however, that the impact would have been significantly broader. If passed, many believed (and not just those in the FWC), that the resolution would have resulted in a narrowing of the original vision of the UCC, "that they might all be one" from John 17.<br />
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Because we were the focus of a controversial resolution our table received a great deal of attention, not all of it good. However, by the end of the Synod, we were all encouraged by the many supportive voices that came by the booth. In fact, we all agreed, that the overwhelming majority of the persons who came by the booth, even if they disagreed with our stance on various issues, were supportive of our presence not only in the exhibit hall at Synod, but in the UCC in general.<br />
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On Saturday, several of us decided to break away from the stressful deliberations, meetings and conversations, so we went to a Brewers v. Reds game at Miller Park. We arrived just in time to get a few seats together because the lady at the ticket booth said that they had sold over 40,000 of the seats before the game even started! The Brewers ended up winning 6 to 5.<br />
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It was great to connect with other more experienced pastors serving in a similar context, like this brother pictured below, Ken Evitts.<br />
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Another highlight of the trip was the food. We enjoyed a lot of good food together. We went to popular local restaurants like Doc's Smokehouse and Purple Door Ice Cream Parlor. Below is a picture of a plate of pulled pork and fries from <a href="https://www.docsbbq.net/">Doc's Smokehouse</a>. The pulled pork was amazing! (The coleslaw was called "Carolina Spicy Coleslaw" but it didn't taste very "Carolina" to me.)<br />
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And here we are at the Shake Shack, which was delicious too.<br />
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The bulk of our time was spent in discussion with people involved with the UCC from all walks of life. We spoke to people of color, to people from all over the United States and some international folks. We spent a great deal of time in conversation with people from the LGBTQ community, listening to their stories and their feelings about the FWC group. It was shaping and helpful in many regards.<br />
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<a href="https://www.uccfiles.com/synod/2019/resolutions/8-Stewardship-of-Exhibit-Space.pdf">The resolution</a> mentioned above was ultimately tabled in plenary session, which means that no action was officially taken for or against it. Since the meeting ended without a request to take the motion off the table, it effectively died. Of course, we were relieved. We feel that this was one of the best possible outcomes for everyone. While this Synod was hard, I was thankful to be on the journey with friends and colleagues.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-80154191257584790022019-07-14T15:04:00.002-04:002019-07-14T15:08:00.624-04:00New England Christian History Day TourLast week some folks from Corinth Reformed Church (UCC) in Hickory, North Carolina, came up to serve our church! What a blessing this group of people was to all of us. Their primary purpose was to come and help with our soccer camp, but they helped us with many other things as well.<br />
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One thing that I put together for them to enjoy was a day tour of various spots in Massachusetts of special significance to Christians. The first stop we made was in Northampton, where Jonathan Edwards was pastor. In back of the Forbes Library, you can find all that remains of his home, the entry stone to the front door of his house.<br />
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Once inside, we enjoyed listening to a local expert on Edwards share a bit about his life and some of the items they have on display there. Below is a picture of a letter written to another Pastor named Eleazar Wheelock (who would eventually found Dartmouth College which is only 25 minutes from where Megan and I live in VT). In the letter Edwards says various things but one in particular that I remember the lecturer mentioning--Edwards says something to the effect of "Oh, how wonderful it would be if God would grant us success in our ministries like that of brother Whitefield in England."<br />
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Another interesting item we were able to view was this little piece of paper which is about the size of an average smart phone. Supposedly, it is a sermon that Solomon Stoddard (Edwards' grandfather and predecessor at the church in Northampton) preached on Ephesians. She says, Stoddard would not have used it as a manuscript but rather as a device for effect while preaching. The lettering is so unbelievably small, I don't know how anyone would have written it or read it!<br />
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Here we are all posed outside of the Forbes Library before moving on to our next spot in Northfield, where D.L. Moody was born.<br />
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Here we are approaching the home where D.L. Moody, the evangelist, and all his siblings were born and raised.<br />
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The plaque on the front of the home:<br />
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Behind the home, we were told that you can see on one of the mountains in the distance the home of C.I. Scofield, who popularized dispensational teachings through his Scofield Study Bible. In the picture below you can just barely see the roof of his home up on top of the mountain in the center of the picture.<br />
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In the back of the home there was a small museum where visitors could view artifacts from Moody's life. Below is a picture of Moody (far right), with one of his daughters and granddaughter. One of our tour guides said that the baby in the picture below was his mother.<br />
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Also in the museum was this portable organ which was carried around the world by Moody and Ira Sankey during their evangelistic conferences and rallies.<br />
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Our next stop was just down the road from Moody's birthplace--a school for boys called "Mount Hermon", also founded by Moody. He founded his school for girls in Northfield, first. His desire was to give underprivileged children who had little to no access to school, a good education. Today, <a href="https://www.nmhschool.org/">the school at Mount Hermon </a>is co-ed and is a college preparatory school. The girls school closed a few years ago and combined with Mount Hermon.<br />
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Below, the archives manager at the school library shows us some interesting books and papers from Moody's life.<br />
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One of the most interesting books we viewed was this bible pictured below. It was a bible that was given to one of the school's older graduates many years ago. It was signed by Moody and Sankey as well as numerous other notable persons like Winston Churchill and Theodore Roosevelt among others. The man said the bible was signed by 7 U.S. Presidents!<br />
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Here is a list of the names found in the front pages of this bible.<br />
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Our final stop for the day was in Williamstown, Mass. We went on the campus of <a href="https://www.williams.edu/">Williams College</a> where the famous Haystack Prayer Meeting happened in 1806. Every American missions organization traces its roots back to this prayer meeting! It sits right on the campus of Williams College and, sadly, is largely ignored. Below I'm pictured with the team from NC. From left to right: Haley, Christopher, Lisa, me, Amy, and Brandi.<br />
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What a great day. One of the best parts of the whole day was being with wonderful people. The conversation was refreshing and we enjoyed lots of stories and laughter together. I could not be more thankful.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-60239392287814852742019-06-21T22:20:00.001-04:002019-06-21T22:20:42.890-04:00American Heritage Girls and Royal RangersOur kids have become involved with local Assembly of God youth organizations for boys and girls at Faith Assembly of God just down the road in Bethel, Vermont. The boys group is called Royal Rangers and the girls is called American Heritage Girls. A number of their friends from their homeschooling group are involved too. (The groups are comparable to Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts but centered upon Christ.)<br />
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Not long ago, the groups put on a bake sale and car wash to raise money for uniforms and activities. Below is a picture of our table which was just off the main drag in Bethel, Vermont, about 10 minutes from where we live.<br />
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The kids took turns holding the sign and flagging down cars that drove by. <br />
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Everyone pitched in to help wash cars too. <br />
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Ahavah and Hermione really enjoyed working on the tires and rims together.<br />
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Amma enjoyed helping sell baked goods with one of her new friends!<br />
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We are grateful to AHG and RR for providing a fun and educational venue for our kids to grow and learn alongside other children their age.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-75150390967811389282019-06-20T09:49:00.000-04:002019-06-20T09:49:12.586-04:00Second Honeymoon in MaineA month ago, Megan and I were able to enjoy some time together in Maine. Thanks to the <a href="https://www.preachersaid.org/">Preacher's Aid Society of New England</a>, our stay was completely free! The Society was formed as a ministry to United Methodist Clergy and their families. Since I am a pastor of a Methodist Congregation (Federated), I receive brochures about the Society in the mail. <br />
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Recently, I received an application to stay at a home in Wells, Maine, for a week with my spouse. This home had recently been purchased and renovated by the Society with the vision of bringing refreshment and encouragement to weary Methodist ministers. Thinking that it was a long shot to be selected to stay in the home for a week, I reluctantly filled out the application and mailed it in. To my amazement, Megan and I were given a week to stay at this beautiful home! <br />
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Even more surprisingly, Megan and I were the first persons to ever stay in the home since it had been opened for this purpose! This trip was about as close to a second Honeymoon as you get. Megan and I had not spent more than a single night together alone since having our first child, Ahavah, nearly 10 years ago. To have five nights together in a beautiful setting such as this, was a significant gift that we are so very thankful for. <br />
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We took walks, went to see lighthouses, slept a lot, played Scrabble, did a little reading, and had some special times in prayer together. In the picture below, we are standing on some rocks in front of the famous Nubble Light at Cape Neddick, in Maine. <br />
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Thanks Preacher's Aid Society!<br />
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-22600472007966812862019-06-18T17:04:00.003-04:002019-06-18T17:04:44.801-04:00WRVS Baccalaureate Service at Red Door 2019Two Sundays ago we held our annual Baccalaureate service at Red Door Church.<br />
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Several guest speakers delivered short addresses offering their suggestions and wisdom to guide the young graduates as they enter a new chapter in life. One of the speakers, Dean Shirley Jefferson from Vermont Law School, shared her own impassioned, personal story to the students (pictured below).<br />
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Graduating seniors, like Triston Irish (pic below) also participated in the service, reading poems and passages of Scripture. <br />
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Yours truly offered some spiritual reflections for the students to consider. In my left hand (pic below) you will notice a small object--a rock--from the wilderness of Israel. I shared my personal story about my time in Israel and how the rock had become an "Ebenezer" or a "rock of help" to me because it reminds me in tough times that Jesus too was in the wilderness and suffered.<br />
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Our church praise team lead us in one song at the end, "Let There Be Peace on Earth" (and Let it Begin with Me).<br />
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As they exited, there were plenty of smiles to go around. The service was well received and many students were encouraged. We give thanks to God! <br />
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Following the service, the 21 students who showed up for the event stood in front of the church and posed for this great shot.<br />
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Thanks to Dylan Kelley at the Herald of Randolph for the great pictures, which are used here with permission.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-45918662314164223422019-06-17T11:00:00.000-04:002019-06-17T11:00:02.547-04:00A New Gardening Project UnderwayA few weeks ago I began taking apart our old chicken coop. Our chickens have all disappeared or been eaten and it had become a bit of an eyesore. Here's a recent picture of it from about a month ago:<br />
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As I disassembled the coop, I began using the wood and fencing for another new project: a greenhouse. I tilled up a patch in the center of our yard that had been used a couple of years ago for our garden and began to piece together an arch of sorts.<br />
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The kids wanted to help, of course. Here's a picture of Hermione "helping" on top of the ladder:<br />
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After putting together the arch, I covered it with 6 mil plastic (the one item I had to purchase for the greenhouse). I left a small gap at the top and inserted a pipe that sags in the middle to be a rain collector. The roof is pitched towards the back where I plan to have a 50 gallon rain barrel. <br />
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I also weeded out the raised beds I have in the yard this year. I'm hoping to grow tomatoes, peppers, and broccoli in them. The challenge is going to be to keep the woodchucks (groundhogs) out!<br />
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A part of my motive in all of this is not just fresh vegetables, but therapy. Digging in the dirt is therapeutic and ministry is stress-filled.<br />
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More pictures to come soon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-1201472175393648902019-04-26T21:13:00.000-04:002019-04-26T21:13:07.210-04:00Flooding in South Royalton!Last week our area was hit with some scary flooding. It was the perfect storm: a hard night of rain (2+ inches) coupled with unseasonably warm weather (70 degrees), resulting in the melting of a great amount of snow.<br />
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As you can see from the pictures from the article above (and below), many paved and dirt roads alike, were washed out.<br />
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Many of the roads around South Royalton were closed. For about 4 or 5 hours last Monday our family was completely landlocked--no way in and no way out.<br />
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Here are some pictures from around our area:<br />
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This first picture below is just behind our house. The beach is completely covered.<br />
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Here's a view of the same area from down on the beach looking back up the other way a few days later:<br />
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I captured a short video of the flooding off Route 14 headed south towards Sharon about two miles from our house. At this point, the waters had already subsided a few feet--earlier I'm told the water was completely over the road.</div>
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The day after I drove around our town a little and surveyed the damage. Here's a parking lot that is being cleaned up behind Vermont Law School.<br />
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Just a little further down, behind the Law School, the baseball and soccer fields showed evidence of being completely covered:<br />
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The ground was covered with a 3 inch layer of mushy soot:<br />
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A friend captured this picture of the same fields the day of the flooding:<br />
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Just seven years after Hurricane Irene did catastrophic damage to our area (before we moved to VT), this flood had many people around the area a bit frightened. (<a href="https://vtdigger.org/2016/08/25/five-years-after-irene-vermont-has-rebuilt-but-marks-remain/">Here's an article</a> on Irene's impact on our area from 2016.)<br />
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Yesterday, the kids and I went down to the beach to play. We are thankful that the beach was left mostly in tact, though it is visibly different. It's hard to imagine that just a week ago, the water was over the arch below the bridge. <br />
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<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-83538724673091450062019-03-30T20:58:00.002-04:002019-03-30T20:59:47.524-04:00Two Events with Fellow PastorsA couple of weeks ago I had the blessing of being able to sneak away for two retreats for pastors and leaders in the church. One gathering was an overnighter at a Christian retreat center named "Singing Hills" in NH. It was beautiful (though quite cold). You can check out their website <a href="https://www.singinghills.net/">here</a>.<br />
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The story of how the place came to be is neat. You can read about it here. I took a nice walk one day--the sky was gorgeous (pic doesn't do it justice).<br />
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The retreat was two days and one night. Thanks to a donation from the Baptist Foundation of New England, we were all able to stay overnight and enjoy a couple of meals for a very reasonable price.<br />
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<a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/erik-raymond/">Erik Raymond</a>, a pastor in the Boston metro area, delivered a handful of dynamite talks to the group on the topic of "The Ordinary Pastor." This was medicine to the souls of the 16 local pastors that came out for the conference. Marty Bascom, pastor of East Randolph Baptist Church in VT (pictured in the center, speaking, below), organized the event.<br />
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Here's the band of brothers that came out to be encouraged and taught.<br />
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The Ordinary Pastor retreat ended on Saturday afternoon. I went back to So Ro for the night and then to serve in the pulpit on Sunday at Red Door. On Monday, I joined another local pastor and drove down to Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (north of Boston) for a <a href="https://www.smalltownsummits.com/">Small Town Summit </a>event. This event too was excellent.<br />
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The turnout was very good. I'm told they sold out (I think that was like 200 tickets). This was the second Small Town Summit event that I've attended. <a href="http://mooreinreformed.blogspot.com/2018/05/more-pics-of-our-small-town-summit.html">The first one </a>was hosted by the Red Door Church where I serve!<br />
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Above is a panel discussion involving <a href="https://www.gordonconwell.edu/campusuite/modules/news.cfm?seo_file=Dr-Richard-Lints-Named-VP-and-Academic-Dean">Richard Lints</a>, Stephen Witmer, Brad Roth, Donnie Griggs, and David Pinckney. This was one of my favorite moments of the event.<br />
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Another VT pastor serving not to far from where I serve, wrote a piece about the event at the Gospel Coalition's Website recently. You can read it <a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/dont-underestimate-small-town-ministry/">here</a>.<br />
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Both events were refreshing. It's good simply to know that there are others in the trenches too, facing many of the same unique small town, rural church issues that I am. Thank you, Jesus.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-67636775804147713472019-02-28T01:09:00.001-05:002019-02-28T01:09:30.789-05:00Fun Skating on the Park (In Shoes)Every winter someone in the town goes out to the town park and sets up an ice-skating rink (thank you, whoever you are). They take wooden beams and attach them in a large, rectangular form and then fill it with water. Being that it is <i>always </i>cold in Vermont (it was -5 when I woke up this morning), that water freezes into a beautiful, thick sheet of ice. Well, in the 5.5 years that I have been here, I have never been on that ice, that is, until last week. The kids were all getting cabin-fever, so we went for a stroll. A stroll that turned into skating (kind-of), in our shoes.<br />
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We played tag for a while and then we did timed races to see who could get down to one end and back the fastest (Emmaus won). It was so much fun! And exhausting. I think we ran around for about 20 minutes and I was beat. Having the kids take turns riding on my shoulders probably didn't help though.<br />
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We sat for a while because daddy needed a break. Here's a picture of Ahavah while we were resting.<br />
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After our short break, we walked around to the other side of the green to go and get a few groceries. I grabbed a quick picture of our little church building while walking. I'd say our village is quite picturesque.<br />
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<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-75033471149431657942019-02-28T00:43:00.001-05:002019-02-28T00:48:33.358-05:00The Return of the Prodigal SonLast year, not long after my 5-year anniversary since arriving at the <a href="https://www.unitedchurchofsoro.org/">Red Door Church</a> in Vermont, I had a conversation with a lady on our Deacon Board about a possible "gift" for Pastor Appreciation (October is Pastor Appreciation Month). At the time I was reading a book by Terry Glaspey titled "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Masterpieces-Every-Christian-Should-Know/dp/0801017106/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?crid=FXKY9ALOTCVV&keywords=75+masterpieces+every+christian+should+know&qid=1551332677&s=gateway&sprefix=75+masterpi%2Caps%2C520&sr=8-1-fkmrnull">75 Masterpieces Every Christian Should Know</a>." One of the pieces I read about was Rembrandt's <i>The Return of the Prodigal Son. </i>The painting depicts one of Jesus's most touching stories (and one of his <a href="https://www.gty.org/library/articles/A115/an-unforgettable-tale">most famous</a>), found in Luke 15:11-32. Glaspey opens his short chapter on the painting with these words:<br />
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"Created near the end of his life, during a time of mourning, personal and artistic disappointment, and ongoing financial struggles, Rembrandt's <i>The Return of the Prodigal Son </i>is a testament to his security in the love and mercy of God in the face of all these trials."</blockquote>
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Glaspey also writes in the chapter dedicated to this masterpiece about how the painting changed writer <a href="https://henrinouwen.org/">Henri Nouwen'</a>s life. Nouwen had the chance to see the original at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. He later wrote of the experience as he sat in front of the painting for hours:</div>
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"I came to see it as, somehow, my personal painting, the painting that contained not only the heart of the story that God wants to tell me, but also the heart of the story that I want to tell to God and to God's people. All of the Gospel is there. All of my life is there. All of the lives of my friends is there. The painting has become a mysterious window through which I can step into the Kingdom of God."</blockquote>
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I was deeply moved as I read the story. It made sense. As I stared at the painting, I understood how it might be a window into the Kingdom of God for many.</div>
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Now, back to my conversation with this woman on our deacon board at Red Door. I mentioned to her that if the church was pondering a gift of sorts, I had an idea. I told her the story of the painting and asked if the church might consider purchasing a canvas reproduction of the piece that could be placed in my office. After looking at the painting on her computer, she could see how the piece would be pastorally significant. Graciously, she took the idea to the deacon board at their next meeting and they approved the idea.</div>
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Today, some 3+ months later, the painting arrived in the mail. I immediately rushed over to my office at the church and hung it on the wall behind my desk. It is stunning. I could not be more grateful. </div>
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My prayer is that this painting will be for all who come into my office what it was for Nouwen: a window into the Kingdom of God.</div>
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Thank you, God, for being the loving Father this story depicts. Thank you, Red Door Church, for giving me such an amazing gift.</div>
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Here's what it looks like on the wall in my office:</div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-53760534518611583452019-01-14T19:36:00.002-05:002019-01-14T19:36:19.002-05:00Christmas Celebrations 2019It's been a while since I've blogged on much of anything. One big reason was simply that we were so busy during the holiday season last year. Here's a quick rundown of some of our holiday activities last year!<br />
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We ventured out into the Black Friday madness with another couple in our area. There are some nice malls around the area up here if you are willing to drive a couple of hours. Despite the crowds, it was a blast!<br />
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A couple of weeks later we made a trip over to NY to see some new friends of ours in Saratoga, NY. We did a little site seeing and had a chance to sit down at a famous "Tin & Lent" bar where the song "American Pie" was purportedly written (though <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/nyregion/don-mclean-sets-record-straight-on-american-pie-origins.html">this article</a> I found online says that that was just an old myth). The picture below is all of us sitting at the booth where the plaque says Don McLean wrote the song.<br />
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Our church put on the annual Christmas Pageant again. 42 years this event has gone on! The pic below captures one of the stations of the story where folks stop to hear the narrator give the next part, in this case, the part about the shepherds in the fields watching their flocks.<br />
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Following the Pageant, we always invite folks into the church for cookies and hot cocoa. Megan got creative and made these delicious Santa Clause sugar cookies! They were gluten-free too!<br />
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Megan and our children were all angels in the Pageant this year (see pic below). They all had so much fun! I love how Megan fits right in with the little children!<br />
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The night after the Pageant was our Christmas Eve service. We had a nice turnout of over 100 people come out to sing carols, participate in readings, and listen to the Christmas story again. I read a wonderful little children's book to a group of young children titled "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Santas-Favorite-Story-Santa-Christmas/dp/141695029X?crid=WZLRL2A02I3O&keywords=santas+favorite+christmas+story&qid=1547512234&sprefix=santas+favorite+chri%2Caps%2C175&sr=8-1&ref=sr_1_1">Santa's Favorite Story</a>." (I didn't get any great pictures of this gathering.)<br />
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Another fun thing we were able to do this year during the holidays was to spend a couple of hours at the local Adult Day Care in Bethel. We made Christmas ornaments and ate cookies with some of the residents. At this point in the day, the kids were pretty tired, but overall I think they had a great time.<br />
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And then, of course, there was Christmas morning. Megan got me a super nice winter cap and a hoodie. The kids wanted me to try on a pair of sunglasses one of them got in their stocking, so.... they snapped a picture of me being ridiculous.<br />
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It was a full season. We count ourselves blessed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-83832542827192960452018-11-20T22:52:00.000-05:002018-11-20T22:52:03.479-05:00Celebrating 5 Years of MinistryA couple of weeks ago my congregation surprised me with a pastor's appreciation celebration following worship. The celebration featured a nice cake (a gluten-free spice cake too!) and a big pot-luck. They also loaded me up with hand-written cards and gifts too.<br />
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The turn out was great! Thanks to everyone who came out!<br />
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I came to South Royalton just over 5 years ago on September 15th, 2013. At the time we had three children and one on the way. Ahavah was almost 3, Amma was 2 and Emmaus was almost one. Here's a picture of our family just after we arrived in 2013 (in the front yard of the parsonage):<br />
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"Happy 5th Anniversary!"<br />
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Thanks to the people of the Red Door Church. I'm praying God will give us many more joyful years here in South Royalton.<br />
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<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-29450591838842589922018-10-14T21:52:00.001-04:002018-10-14T21:52:46.020-04:00Camping with Pastor Friends<a href="https://mooreinreformed.blogspot.com/2017/10/camping-with-friends.html">Last year I went camping </a>with two other Vermont pastors in Groton State Park. We decided we wanted to try it again but in a different location.<br />
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One of my parishioners has a little spot in the mountains that he let us use at no cost. The spot is about 45 minutes from South Royalton. We rendezvoused at the base of the mountain and hiked up about 1.75 miles or so. We stopped to take a picture by this sign. The road really wasn't that bad for walking, but would not be ideal to drive on unless you have a truck or some kind of Jeep or SUV.<br />
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The foliage was just beautiful.<br />
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The house has this amazing view of the mountains. Inside, hanging on the wall is this wooden plank with a picture of the ranges of mountains including labels. It was neat to be able to identify the mountains with the help of the drawing.<br />
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Here's a picture of your's truly with the mountains in the background.<br />
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As you can see in the picture above and below, there was a nice outdoor stove area where we could cook over a fire. We took full advantage of this element. Each of us brought our own food this time. I brought chicken tacos, a sandwich, and some trail mix.<br />
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Here's another shot by the fire:<br />
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Our time together was barely 24 hours, but it was refreshing. We hope to do this again!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-55364964131604763392018-10-14T19:17:00.001-04:002018-10-14T19:17:57.988-04:00On the Light Radio in VT!Last week I had a chance to go on the Light Radio. The Light Radio here in Vermont is located in Essex Junction, about one hour and twenty minutes from South Royalton. They are stationed in a large, old home, in a style somewhat typical of these parts.<br />
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I was on for what they call "Fall Share" which is one of two times during the year when the radio station makes an appeal to its listeners to give. They like to bring pastors and other Christian leaders on air to share reasons why like to listen to the radio.<br />
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I didn't share so much about why I like to listen (because I don't listen to much radio) but about the importance of Christian radio in general. My appeal for people to give was based on the fact that Christian radio has a kind of access to people that many of us do not. There are folks who would never step into a church building or have a conversation with a Christian they know, but they might hear the gospel message through the radio<br />
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My host was a woman named Gail. Gail brings so much life and energy to the air. She does a great job and made me feel right at home. She even gave me a chance to share a few words about an upcoming event at our church!<br />
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<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-39371449647599471142018-10-07T22:00:00.000-04:002018-10-07T22:00:07.719-04:00Picking Pumpkins!Fall is hands down my favorite season here in New England. It's simply breathtaking.<br />
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Today we went pumpkin picking at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Lincoln-Farm-111352972208961/">Lincoln Farm in Randolph, VT.</a> The pumpkin patch was awesome and the foliage was beautiful.<br />
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The pumpkin patch at Lincoln Farm is a distance from the road where you park, so they get you on a tractor and take you down. The ride is fun and you really get to take in the scenery.<br />
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I told the kids they could each get one pumpkin. Amma and Hermione liked the small baby pumpkins. The white pumpkin we ended up bringing home for Megan.<br />
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Ahavah seemed to look for the biggest possible pumpkins she could find and would then proceed to hoist it up onto her shoulder. She finally settled for a medium-sized pumpkin.<br />
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Here's Emmaus showing me a nice little pumpkin that he really liked. <br />
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We went up to the patch with some local friends. We had such a good time. After we picked pumpkins they gave us all cups of delicious, hot cider too. <br />
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<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-8969721409059202932018-09-10T19:16:00.001-04:002018-09-10T19:16:34.074-04:00Phil Waldrep Pastor's Encouragement RetreatMegan and I just returned from an early anniversary celebration in Whitefield, NH, at the <a href="https://www.mountainviewgrand.com/">Mountain View Grand Resort</a>. This coming week will mark 10 years of marriage.<br />
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On our way to the retreat we stopped in Montpelier and enjoyed some tacos at the Mad Taco. I recommend it. I had a fish taco and another called "El Pastor." Megan laughed when I ordered "the pastor taco."<br />
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We were joined by 200 or so others for a <a href="http://philwaldrep.org/retreat/">Pastor's Encouragement Retreat</a> put on by the Phil Waldrep Evangelistic Association. Megan and I were able to grab a quick picture with Phil at the end of the retreat.<br />
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The retreat was nothing short of amazing. Phil's ministry pays all expenses for these retreats by putting on events and taking donations. If you would like to give so that a New England pastor may go and enjoy some refreshment, you can do that <a href="https://philwaldrep.org/donate/">here</a>. <br />
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If you want to get a sense for Phil's heart in putting together this retreat, watch this video:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/191180277" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/277490542?from=outro-embed">Here is another excellent video</a> of the Pastor's Retreat. This video features an Indian Pastor in the Boston area who shares about the challenges of ministering in this very dark region. <br />
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The setting this year was gorgeous. Below is a picture of the front porch of the resort hotel.<br />
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From the porch you can see the White Mountains, including Mount Washington, the highest peak in New England and the second highest on the East Coast.<br />
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There were fun activities like the one pictured below: ax throwing!<br />
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One evening we played "State Feud"! Vermont finished last. The New York/Rhode Island team won. We laughed til we cried. <br />
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The scenery was beautiful. The hotel was surrounded by gorgeous flowers.<br />
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The hotel was set on a golf course. Chairs were sprinkled about and pastors and their spouses would often be seen just sitting and talking together. There was this huge wind turbine behind the hotel.<br />
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Megan and I were so humbled by the time. There are not words. We were supported. We were loved and cared for. Thanks to all those who gave and made this possible for us.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617527726610969053.post-82982774160824446722018-09-03T19:51:00.002-04:002018-09-03T19:51:18.915-04:00"Haying" on the FarmSo the other day I got to do another Vermont thing--hay (up in these parts, "hay" can be a verb). Well, technically I didn't do any real haying. What we did was the very last part of haying--putting the hay in the barn.<br />
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The grass had been cut down a few days ago (you can see it out in the field in the distance). The big red cage you see on the right of the picture hitches to the back of a truck and sucks the grass up and bundles it up into square bales. Here I am shortly after the baler dropped a load of bales (by the end of the evening, I had more hay than hair on my head):<br />
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A storm looked like it was brewing so we were fighting the clock! Thankfully it never rained on us:<br />
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The bales are placed on that red track behind me in the pic above. It has a metal conveyer belt with prongs that grab the bales and carry them up. This machine saves us a tremendous amount of work! In the pic below you can see one coming up the track.<br />
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Here's what the upper portion of the barn looked like when we finished! It was quite full.<br />
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Afterward, we spent some time with friends having dinner and ice cream! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0