The truth is that my story isn’t very glamorous. I was a hooligan as a youngster. My friends and I would walk through the local shops to pocket whatever goodies weren’t locked down. We vandalized property and acted like the law didn’t apply to us. One Easter morning, my parents compelled me to go to church. I remember sitting up in the balcony because I wanted a quick way out as soon as it was over. As I looked down on the church people, I heard the preacher talk about God in a way that caught my attention. He described the basics of the Easter story. He started by saying that God loves us an ..read more

  Jesus prayed for his disciples and the future generations of believers to be of one heart and mind. – John 17:20-21 Can you imagine a church where Christians of every denomination worship and work together? Believe it or not, this happens every week on US military bases worldwide. I often describe my experience growing up in this kind of church as being part of a convertible church. This is because it was designed to be changed to accommodate a wide variety of worship styles and theological perspectives. The walls had depictions of religious art that celebrated Catholic and Protestant ..read more

You may have heard the hit single “Message in a Bottle” sung by Sting. The song is presumably about a story of a castaway on an island, who sends a message in a bottle to seek love. A year later, he has not received any response and despairs, thinking he is destined to be alone. The next day, he sees "a hundred billion bottles" on the shore, finding out that there are more people like him out there. This famous song describes the human need for connection as an SOS for all to see. The hope is that somebody will respond. This points to the ongoing need to know that we are not alone in our journ ..read more