Russellings of the Spirit

church

  • Backwards mission

    It is now just an hour or so until we head to the airport. Joan and I are about to jump on a plane and join 16 other people for a week in Guatemala. Going from 25 degrees and snowing… Continue reading

  • What a Friend

    I noticed them during the second hymn that Sunday morning. While everyone else stood and sang along, I saw that Sylvia and Jim were still sitting in their seats at the end of the aisle. Sylvia was bent over at… Continue reading

  • Theological Theme “A” – Connection

    Back in the day, Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri required each of its “camel” students pass through a uniquely fiendish “eye of the needle” before being allowed to graduate. Because of the toll it took on… Continue reading

  • Afflicting the Comfortable

    Thank God for Willis Carrier. Mr. Carrier, as you may have heard, is widely believed to be the inventor of the modern air conditioning system. According to Wikipedia, while Carrier did indeed develop the first ELECTRICAL air conditioning system in… Continue reading

  • Pray a Prayer of Peace

    With everything going on in the world today, I know your prayer list is probably full to overflowing.  But I wonder… can I coax you into squeezing ONE MORE group of people onto it? Just for today? Please? Can I… Continue reading

  • Questioning Church

    For most of my life, there has been very little question about church. To be sure, different chapters have witnessed different relationships to church. There was the “blind obedience” stage, the “I’m just here to meet cute girls” stage, the… Continue reading

  • “You’re FIRED!! “

    Have you ever been fired from a job? I don’t mean “Sorry, Russell, but we’ve got to let you go because of a downturn in economic conditions.” I mean FIRED. As in, “Dude, we thought you would be good at… Continue reading

  • Ideal vs. Real

    I flew my American flag every day last week. No… I did not fly my flag because of some sudden, Fourth-of-July-inspired outburst of patriotism. I flew my flag because that’s just what I do. Flying the American flag is a… Continue reading

  • Christmas Difference

    Christmas 2019 is going to be very different for me from most Christmases in my recent memory. For one thing, Joan and I will celebrate this Christmas in a whole different part of the country. That is because on November… Continue reading

  • Does it really matter?

    We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring you this breaking news: Joan and I attended church yesterday. But not just any church. We attended a (wait for it…) LUTHERAN CHURCH! And after the service, we turned our heads, looked… Continue reading