'Tis the season to think of family; immediate, close in, not-so-close in, added in by marriage or adoption, and those considered part of the family even without kin relationships. These folks are Mishpochah – Yiddish for family...
On Friday, December 9th, Nancy and I attended a wonderful cantata for congregation and choir call Carols by Heather Sorenson at our church, Zion Lutheran in Walburg, Texas. (This is available on their site for your viewing, too!) The congregation was an integral component of the music by singing along...
One of our volunteers, Ken Ebright, in St. Louis has kept up his personal ministry by wandering around ever since we left St. Louis in 2015 to move to Texas. The following are a few of his many reports of what has been happening. Your prayers for Ken would be much appreciated, and If you want to send him a note of encouragement he can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
I have come across many books and seminars on leadership since I began my ministry in 1976. Some were great, others not-so-great. But one principle which has stuck with me is known as MBWA – Management by Wandering Around. The concept is simple, get out of the office, ivory tower, cubicle or wherever you have your workstation, and wander around the area where the actual work is being done. In that way, you get to interact face to face with those in your team and actually see what is happening in their sphere of influence and work areas.
When Yeshua walked this earth, he had an incredible impact on thousands of people. Ultimately, he chose twelve in be part of his core group, and from those twelve, he invested most in three, Peter, James and John. These three were brought close into Christ’s inner circle, so that following His ascension, they were the emerging leaders of the nascent church.
It has been a challenging couple of weeks. On September 6th, Nancy’s Aunt Bev’s journey on this earthly plain came to an end and her time in the Lord’s presence began. She was one of the sweetest people and I had the privilege of getting to know her and her loving husband, Uncle Dan Crews. We made last minute plans to travel to Denver to be with the family for the funeral service and a loving time of memory. The funeral was on September 15th, my 73rd birthday.
I came to faith in Jesus as the Messiah in 1973 through the prayerful witness of a Lutheran layman. He cared enough about me and my salvation that he prayed for me daily for three years and introduced me to a Jewish book my rabbi did not want me to read. That Jewish book was the New Testament. For the first time in my life, I read of the hope and promises of the Messiah. I grew up surrounded by Christians, but until the age 23 not one of my Christian friends had ever spoken to me about Jesus.