Rev. Valerie's Reveille

A couple of weeks ago, our Minister of Music, Thomas Williams, chose the song “Give me oil in my lamp” for the Gradual song before the Gospel Reading Luke 12:32-40, where Jesus mentions bridesmaids and their lamps.  It was a fun song that I don’t remember singing before, but it seemed that several people at church did. Well, this week we are supporting the Jesus Way Day Camp from Crossroads being held at our longtime partners in ministry, Christ the King Lutheran Church. Lo and behold – what song do they sing? “Give me oil in my lamp!”  However, like any good Christian camp song, it has a couple of extra verses in it that are a bit different from what we sang during worship. “Give me wax for my board to keep me surfin’ for the Lord. Cowabunga!” “Give me gas for my Ford to keep me truckin’ for the Lord. Honk Honk!” As you might imagine, the kids love the silliness of these verses (and hand motions, of course), but more importantly, they are learning about the j...

I am always impressed by Christians who are willing to witness to Jesus at work in their lives whenever and wherever.  This happened recently at the Olympic Games during an interview with David Boudia and Steele Johnson, who had just won a Silver Medal in Men’s 10M Synchronized Diving. The reporter asked the pair how they had prepared for this event that has been dominated by the Chinese, who set an Olympic Record Score in the event to win Gold.  In his response, Boudia said something about Jesus, but it was so quick, I wasn’t sure I heard him correctly, something about, “because I know Jesus, it would all be OK, no matter what happened.”  In that moment of heightened emotion, I was impressed he thought about Jesus, but it seemed like a side comment. Then Johnson responded, and while I cannot quote him directly, he essentially said that, like David, because he knows Jesus, the result of the competition would not change who he was, but it was a blessing and honor win ...

“N ow faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen .” Hebrews 11:1 Several years ago, on some road trip, I remember seeing a license plate from Missouri with the inscription, “The Show-Me State.”  Since I was born and raised in New Jersey, I had little to no idea about what Missouri was like or why it would require tangible evidence.  I would later learn that this adage came from U.S. Congressman Willard Vandiver in an 1899 speech, where he said, “I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me.” From the point of view where “actions speak louder than words,” this requirement seems less of a demand than a reasonable request.  None of us want to be taken as a fool or considered gullible.  Promises are great, but until we have hard evidence that the promise is being kept, we will remind skeptical. The above ...