Just These Lines Pastor Blog

14th Sunday after Pentecost in Ordinary Time/September 11, 2019 Just these lines, my friends … … to say that we had a wonderful weekend at Matthews United Methodist. IT ALL BEGAN … on Friday evening in the Gym with a wonderful dinner and fashion show celebrating Promise Pajamas, a non-profit led by two extraordinary women in the life of our church — Valarie...

13th Sunday after Pentecost in Ordinary Time/September 4, 2019 Just these lines, my friends … … to say that we have concluded week #2 in our worship series called The Spirited Life. Why, even my wife (Karen) was quoting back my sermon to me on Sunday afternoon as we were driving to Linville to have dinner with my sister. She reminded...

12th Sunday after Pentecost in Ordinary Time/August 28, 2019 Just these lines, my friends … … to say that we launched our worship series on The Spirited Life. It was a glorious Sunday of beautiful, spirited music, uplifting prayers and so much more. (Watch here!) By the way…just a reminder that we are working our way through The Spirited Life (the Apostle Paul’s description of the...

11th Sunday after Pentecost in Ordinary Time/August 21, 2019 Just these lines, my friends … … to say what a day with Summer Brooke and The Mountain Faith Band! It may not have been your kind of music, but you couldn’t deny the joy, the richness of spirit and the love of God permeating every fiber of their being. Our...

10th Sunday after Pentecost in Ordinary Time/August 14, 2019 Just these lines, my friends … … to say what a splendid day it was with Rev. Nicole Jones this past Sunday. I was able to watch on live stream, and I thought to myself, “What a bright, bright light!” Her words on creating space and cultivating silence were important for all...

9th Sunday after Pentecost in Ordinary Time/August 7, 2019 Just these lines, my friends … … to say that I continue to write to you from Zanzibar, Tanzania, Africa. Karen and I are here with our son Ryan, our daughter-in-law Gina, and our granddaughter Rosa. We will begin to make our journey home later this week. It is a good...

8th Sunday after Pentecost in Ordinary Time/July 31, 2019 Just these lines, my friends … … to say that though I wasn’t with you in worship, we did give our best shot to worship with you by live stream. We were in and out with connectivity sketchiness, but I know it was a marvelous day of allowing God’s transformative work...

7th Sunday after Pentecost in Ordinary Time/July 24, 2019 Just these lines, my friends … … to say what a great day of worship this past Sunday (July 21) at Matthews United Methodist: Matthews Brass at 8:15 and 11:00 (Wonderful!); baptisms at 9:30 and 11:00; new members joining at 11:00; and celebrating the 100th birthday of Mary Healy. You can...

6th Sunday after Pentecost in Ordinary Time/July 17, 2019 Just these lines, my friends … … to say that Dr. David Wilkinson…husband, father, Durham University President, pastor, theologian, astrophysicist and so much more, was a straight arrow for the crushing questions of our souls. For 48 hours I felt like I was sitting at the feet of the Rabbi. I...