I grew up being bored at church. When I later became serious about my faith and began training for ministry, I vowed to never let that happen in a place where I have something to do with it. Too many people stay away from church because too many churches are not worth going to.

Five active wildfires have ravished LA County. 10,000 homes and businesses have gone up in flames, causing billions in damage. 10 lives have been lost and 180,000 left homeless.

“Where is God in this?”

I’ve written a couple of summer blogs encouraging readers to get outside and enjoy the warm weather. But I’d like to encourage you to do the same thing in the cold.

In a Between The Lines episode about a week ago, Junior said, “We try to get outside in the winter as much as we can because it shortens the winter.” That’s a great point. Attempting to retreat from the cold and hiding inside makes you feel cooped up and the winter just feels longer.

2024 is soon to be over. For some of you, it was a great year. But for others, it was a year to forget.

Some of you went through a painful breakup this last year. Some of you lost your job. Others went through a friendship betrayal, family drama, personal defeats, and health challenges.

For some, this was a year that you want to put behind you.

It doesn’t make sense, but it was my favorite Christmas. It especially doesn’t make sense that it was our kids’ favorite Christmas…but it was.

It was a difficult year financially. Our expenses were high and income was low. We had a capital campaign at church and we committed a gift over and above our regular giving that was a stretch for us. And then we had some medical bills not covered by insurance.

When the type on his printer began to grow faint, Bob called a local repair shop where a friendly clerk informed him the printer probably only needed to be cleaned. Because the store charged $50 for cleanings, the clerk told Bob he could read the printer's manual and try to do it himself.

Bob asked, "Does your boss know that you discourage business?”