Pastor's Column in the March Newsletter

Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

Greetings in the Name of the Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!

Maxie Dunnam, dean of Asbury Seminary, once suggested we respond to these two questions. One, if you get to where you're going, will you be where you want to be? Two, if you find what you're looking for, what else will you need to make you happy? Let those questions tumble around in your mind for a moment. If you get to where you're going, will you be where you want to be? If you find what you're looking for, what else will you need to make you happy? These are life questions. They force us to examine the direction of our life, our priorities, what we think will make us happy.

As I seek to answer these two questions I turn to Scripture for answers. Recently I worked at these questions and found myself wrestling with Brian McLaren’s novel The Story We Find Ourselves In: Further Adventures of a New Kind of Christian (J-B Leadership Network Series) (Book 2). The hero of the novel, Neo, lays out in several settings and changing audiences the broad narrative of scripture and our place in that story. This Lent we will be walking through Scripture to discover how God’s story is lived out in our midst. It seems to me that the ultimate answers to Maxie Dunnam’s questions lie in knowing what God’s answers are for where we are going and what will make us happy. Come join us for an extended conversation about the story we find ourselves in.

Grace & Peace, Allen