“Be Silent and Come Out!”

Jesus has barely begun his ministry when he is confronted by a crazy man yelling at him. Jesus knew it wasn’t really the man, but a man possessed with an unclean spirit, hell bent on violent disruption of a sacred space. Sounds like current events. Jesus freed the man from the spirit, just as the Holy Spirit today seeks to free us from loud, violent, disruptive spirits.

Amelia particularly enjoyed this story because it brought back special memories of experiencing the Kingdom-of-God-drawn-near in jail and prison when teaching this story. She tells about one of those times at about the 15 minute mark.

A dramatic telling of Genesis 28:10-22 by James “Battle-Tested” Clay

On January 17, James Clay told the story of Jacob’s dream at Grace United Methodist Church in Dayton, Ohio. James has an uncanny ability to learn a story in very short order, to live into it deeply, and present it creatively so that we who experience his telling can also live into it. To answer God’s call upon his life, James was battle-tested like Jacob.

How to celebrate New Year’s this year?

We really didn’t celebrate New Year’s this year, everything being as strange as ever, no guests or partying, 2020 having been so extraordinary in multiple ways, and with such uncertainty about what the new year would bring (premonitions perhaps of January 6). But when a friend shared this video, it felt like an appropriate way to celebrate.