We are the risk takers, the change makers, the Adventurers of life! Welcome to 2017! By now you should know we are on a great adventure as Christians. This means we do not shy away from challenges, we do not hunker down in fear or play the blame game. We are called, we choose, and […]
We’ve all seen these kind of yard signs pop up from time to time proudly proclaiming the arrival of a new child. Parents and grandparents overcome with joy make a bold public display so the world knows that love has arrived making this house into a home. Christmas is just like this, or at least […]
“Jesus called a child, whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 18:2-3 4:1 These are pretty strong words that don’t get a lot of attention in a hyper-competitive and success-driven culture. Yet it may be […]
My Mission: To make a difference in this world in light of the next. People often give me a rather curious look when they hear my story about changing careers from being a research chemist to spend my life teaching and preaching about God’s love and grace. After all, where does faith fit in […]
“While money can’t buy happiness, it certainly lets you choose your own form of misery.” ― Groucho Marx “If I could just win the lottery, then all my problems would be over!” Have you ever heard someone make a wish like that? I know I have. Money is usually elevated to a god-like status […]
W. C. Fields once said, “I never want to belong to any organization that would have someone like me for a member!” W. C. Fields is known for his bar room humor and his disarming charm as an irrepressible drunk. His humor was based on his ability to say out loud what most people were […]
2013 Pastor’s Christmas Letter The Unexpected Life One of the amazing aspects of the Christmas story is how it unfolds so… unexpectedly. Mary obviously knew she was expecting a baby, but she never anticipated her first child would be born so far from home, let alone in a stable. And then there’s Joseph. […]
The comedienne Lily Tomlin once said, “The trouble with the rat-race is that even if you win the race, you’re still a rat.” Having spent a number of years in the maze, I always felted called to something more than just life in the maze, running here and there, exhausted and confused living each day […]
“I am a little pencil in God’s hands. He does the thinking. He does the writing. He does everything and sometimes it is really hard because it is a broken pencil and He has to sharpen it a little more.” ― Mother Teresa, The Joy in Loving: A Guide to Daily Living There is a great story […]
Crowds are clueless. They never get it right. They cheer for the superstars, and look past the saints. They glorify the rich and even cast votes for a new American Idol. Crowds are addicted to all the hype, bling and buzz they can consume, but then complain of loneliness, fatigue and overload. They look for […]
In 1994, two Christian missionaries answered an invitation from the Russian Department of Education to teach about 100 boys and girls who had been abandoned, abused, and left in the care of a government-run orphanage. It was nearing Christmas and so they decided to tell them the story of Christmas. It would be the first […]
“So, you see, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that there is a God and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6) Some people believe, while others have faith. There are all kinds of new slogans encouraging us to “keep the […]
I wait. Year after year, generation after generation I’ve been here, waiting, watching and hoping. I’ve watched so many climb these steps as the bell rang through the streets. I’ve watched generations pass by on their way to and from school and wondered if they knew why I was here. I’ve watch as horses gave […]
A business executive became depressed. The economy was in a tailspin and things were not going well at work. His worry and stress were taking their toll and he was bringing his problems home with him every night. Every evening he would eat his dinner in silence, shutting out his wife and five-year-old daughter who […]
Have you ever picked up a good mystery novel only to read the end of the book before you had ventured very far into it? When you do finally get around to reading all those middle chapters, you already know something the characters don’t and so with a sort of divine perspective you […]
“There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart.” ~Celia Thaxter Summer is a time of reflection and renewal. There is more sunshine, more family time and more time to live on purpose. During the summer our thoughts turn toward what’s really important to us not just what is urgent. We take more time to […]
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Mark 12:29-31 (NIV) With the development of the Internet comes all kinds of fun tools to become more intentional about healthy living. That means stretching our perspective, our muscles, our compassion […]
An innocent man is condemned by his community, abandoned by his friends, betrayed by a close associate, scourged until the flesh is just barely covering his bones, hung on a piece of wood in public to slowly suffocate, and is mocked, beaten and ridculed in the process. And we call this a “Good Friday”? Are […]
Surprised by Haiti It has been my experience that God usually delivers more than I ask for, better than I hope for and in ways I never expect. Of course when my view of the world is too small, or my heart grown too cold, anything God does will be bigger, better and […]
I know that there are hundreds of different ways to describe the church as it exists today, some good, some not so good. This ambiguity leaves many confused and struggling to create a definition all their own, often with disastrous consequences. I though I would give several definitions a try. See which one describes you best and then take a stab […]
I believe the secret to happiness and an abundant life consists of: Someone to Love I do not mean the roses and candy kind of love, which is often fleeting, fickle and fattening, but a love that draws you out into the open, makes you vulnerable and exposes your every weakness and in the process […]
A look at the faithfulness, generosity and gratitude of First United Methodist Church Williamstown, West Virginia Making Disciples ~ Making a Difference 2011 Annual Report FUMC Homepage Related posts: Centennial Moment II Centennial Moment XIII Centennial Moment XV Centennial Moment I
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson As we step into the flow of God’s story, I feel there is a growing excitement that God is moving us, shaping and equipping us to live beyond the ordinary. We are, after […]
New Birth – A Living Hope Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3 Hope for the Future “For I know the plans I have for you,” […]
Everyone has rules or principles they live by, unfortunately most people don’t give them much of a thought. As a result we are often swept away the winds of changing attitudes, fashion and expectations. We all feel pressure to conform and become something different. But unless we know who we are, or who we want […]
“Are you willing to forget what you have done for other people, and to remember what other people have done for you … to remember the weakness and loneliness of people who are growing old … Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world … stronger than hate, stronger […]
“We want a “religious” leader, not a king! We want someone to save our souls, not rule our world! Or, if we want a king, someone to take charge of our world, what we want is someone to implement the policies we already embrace, just as Jesus’s contemporaries did. But if Christians don’t get Jesus […]
All people long for God. Period. Some may say the exact opposite, but our desires, actions and values suggest something completely different. We all long to connect with something greater than ourselves, we long for the heart of God. There is simply no better way to connect with God than to learn who God is […]
“Nothing dangerous is happening here.” Those who hold this belief about God and church have made themselves irrelevant to all things spiritual because they’ve swallowed the Enemy’s first line of attack: “I don’t exist.” You can’t and won’t fight a battle you don’t think exists. This is right out of The Screwtape Letters, where Lewis […]
I just returned home from a weekend of spiritual reflection and renewal with some challenging thoughts. We did an exercise where we were asked to draw a picture of OUR spiritual journey. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, put your thousand word journey of spiritual growth in a pictorial representation. My initial thought was […]
August 17, 2011 Full Service Text Mahlon Fauss Funeral Bulletin Bulletin for Mahlon Fauss Sermon Text Matthew 11:25-30 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your […]
Deuteronomy 11:1-32 Most of the greatest Biblical dialogues were recorded and preserved because they contain within them a powerful message that spoke to the heart of a people longing for a word from God, a word that in most cases either clarified the present or changed the course of the future. In typical fashion these […]
What exactly does that mean? Is it just another slogan “filled with sound and fury, signifying nothing” [Macbeth]? Well I certainly hope not, but I do think it probably needs some further discussion. I believe we all have a purpose in life, something that God is calling us be, and the church is no different. […]
Over-Achievers: The dictionary defines an overachiever as someone who achieves success over and above the standard or expected level. The lives of overachievers are marked by an uncanny ability to achieve success despite times of uncertainty or when facing what seem to be insurmountable odds. They seem to have little or no fear of failure and […]
Every year about this time our church becomes a buzz of activity. People from all over converge like salmon to do their part in a ritual that goes back to before I was born. Walls that were once bare, cold and empty are virtually blossom with color, action and above all life. Of course I’m […]
As our soul grows in the love of God and journeys ever close into His Presence, our heart’s capacities also grow and expand to see the world as it could be: “Thou shalt enlarge my heart” (Ps. 119:32 KJV). Each year following Annual Conference I like to take time to sit in the Sanctuary […]
I hear it all the time “people just aren’t interested in church like they use to.” Translation: “people aren’t interested in the product we’re offering the way we’re offering it.” True enough. There is an undeniable decline in church attendance across America, but we must balance this criticism with another reality, the global explosion of […]
THE POWER OF C-H-A-N-G-E Part 1 – Connect I’ve always heard that religion is about reformation. But Christianity is about transformation. Those two things are not the same. The former is about what a person can do to make self-improvements – Ladder People. The latter is about a person totally yielding to the Person of […]
THE POWER OF C-H-A-N-G-E Part 1 – Connect Part 2 – Help Others I’ve always heard that religion is about reformation. But Christianity is about transformation. Those two things are not the same. The former is about what a person can do to make self-improvements – Ladder People. The latter is about a person totally […]
With so much going on it’s hard to see Easter as anything more than just another holiday, another family dinner, or another harbinger of spring. But Easter was never meant to be just a spiritual bump on the road to self-fulfillment, it was meant to be a whole new road. Easter is the perfect time […]
“Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.” John 12:26 Every time I read this statement by Jesus I have to stop and wonder whether he’s talking directly to me. There are times I feel I’ve lost the sound […]
Are There No “Normal” People! I get a frightening amount of spiritual fodder from comic strips. I suppose because in their use of humor they reveal the reality of the human condition and try to show us the silliness of most of what we do. Pearls Before Swines The inspiration for the comic strip title […]
Pastor’s letter for December 2009. Entire newsletter can be found at www.fumcwilliamstown.org What is your fondest memory of Christmas? Do you remember the excitement of childhood dreams that were so intense you couldn’t sleep the night before? Do you remember a Christmas Eve service with your family when the sanctuary is bathed in soft candlelight, […]