Talk about an enjoyable guy who happened to be a pastor for close to four decades.
Bill Easton is that kind of guy.
Articulate, friendly, upbeat, and more.
That's Bill.
I enjoyed working with him on councils and committees in Pontiac, MI., and beyond.
At 69 he was rushed to the hospital December 20th and died yesterday, according to reports.
When I heard the news on WWJ on the way home from Livonia, I whispered a prayer and relished memories of this spirited leader.
At Clergy Village and the assisted living facility, Bill's dog accompanied him to see ailing pastors.
Father Tom Villerot lit up when he he'd see the dog. Many would.
I will miss him.
Many will, I'm sure.
He was a pastor of pastors who seemed to love life to the fullest.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord.
Monday, December 30, 2013
Saturday, December 28, 2013
New Time, New Man, Woman
Each new year, in fact, each new day, gives me the chance to be a new person with a fresh start.
At boot camp, the three-decades-old inmate is struggling with his three-month program. "I need prayers and divine help," he noted to me the other day.
At the point of struggle one may want to quit.
Don't.
There's a breakthrough there somewhere in that challenge to be the new person.
All of Scripture speaks of keeping one's eye on the prize, the end product, the goal, heaven, for sure.
2014 can be such a year.
But, detail will be necessary for that to happen in any one of us.
It's required.
Detail.
Specifically, how will I make this new year different and renewing?
How?
I told my chiropractor I wanted to put into practice the O positive blood-type diet of no gluten, no potatoes, no pork.
Like a workout, he adjusted my bones.
I felt the ache.
"It's all hard in there," he said.
Come every four days, he recommended.
I'll work on this project.
Indeed, I will starting today.
Inded
At boot camp, the three-decades-old inmate is struggling with his three-month program. "I need prayers and divine help," he noted to me the other day.
At the point of struggle one may want to quit.
Don't.
There's a breakthrough there somewhere in that challenge to be the new person.
All of Scripture speaks of keeping one's eye on the prize, the end product, the goal, heaven, for sure.
2014 can be such a year.
But, detail will be necessary for that to happen in any one of us.
It's required.
Detail.
Specifically, how will I make this new year different and renewing?
How?
I told my chiropractor I wanted to put into practice the O positive blood-type diet of no gluten, no potatoes, no pork.
Like a workout, he adjusted my bones.
I felt the ache.
"It's all hard in there," he said.
Come every four days, he recommended.
I'll work on this project.
Indeed, I will starting today.
Inded
Monday, December 23, 2013
Why I Believe in Christmas
Why?
Because I need to believe in it.
Its power and presence I cannot afford to be without.
Its infectiousness persuades me.
With Charles Dickens, among other classics on Christmas, this tale grips my faith, and, my imagination like no other story.
Christmas' miracle of sharing astounds me.
It grabs at my heart strings.
It captures my attention daily when I'm awake to witnessing its contagion everywhere when others help, seek out the lost, assist the needy, and, helps the neighbor ousted from his home earlier today in Roseville, Michigan.
Without Christmas, this culture would be less.
Others would be less also.
And, the world.
And, me.
Merry Christmas!
Because I need to believe in it.
Its power and presence I cannot afford to be without.
Its infectiousness persuades me.
With Charles Dickens, among other classics on Christmas, this tale grips my faith, and, my imagination like no other story.
Christmas' miracle of sharing astounds me.
It grabs at my heart strings.
It captures my attention daily when I'm awake to witnessing its contagion everywhere when others help, seek out the lost, assist the needy, and, helps the neighbor ousted from his home earlier today in Roseville, Michigan.
Without Christmas, this culture would be less.
Others would be less also.
And, the world.
And, me.
Merry Christmas!
Saturday, December 21, 2013
A Global War on Christians
They're indisputably the most persecuted religious body on the planet, according to John Allen in his, The Global War on Christians, a tome just published.
Allen details a litany of heroes in this modern era that matches anything in the church's long history.
The staggering story of Catholic Archbishop Christophe Munzihirwa is told here when he died in 1998 amid the engulfing wars in the Congo and Rwanda.
The archbishop was shot in the street.
Referencing numerous cites, Allen notes how Christianity suffered 45 million martyrs in the 20th century alone.
These were mostly due to communism or Nazism, and more.
This heartbreaking narrative that would anger any human being has me wondering why there is such silence in the face of such horror today.
Allen's trek of such atrocities among Christians is not a rant on Islam. This is not all about evil deeds of Islamists.
Persecutors of Christians have been secular, also, fueled by Marxist-Leninist ideology.
Allen details a litany of heroes in this modern era that matches anything in the church's long history.
The staggering story of Catholic Archbishop Christophe Munzihirwa is told here when he died in 1998 amid the engulfing wars in the Congo and Rwanda.
The archbishop was shot in the street.
Referencing numerous cites, Allen notes how Christianity suffered 45 million martyrs in the 20th century alone.
These were mostly due to communism or Nazism, and more.
This heartbreaking narrative that would anger any human being has me wondering why there is such silence in the face of such horror today.
Allen's trek of such atrocities among Christians is not a rant on Islam. This is not all about evil deeds of Islamists.
Persecutors of Christians have been secular, also, fueled by Marxist-Leninist ideology.
However one views them, these days are special times of sharing, healing and hope in the holidays.
They are promises, even pledges.
Yes.
They are.
Through six decades of life, I have learned that hope helps people carry on amid tragedy, heartache and more.
When the waitress at Big Boy's earlier today told me that her husband broke his back when he fell of a ladder trimming a tree, I knew she carries hope in her heart.
She does.
Hope.
It's that evergreen virtue, or strength these days.
It is.
It sees people through storms in their daily living.
And, amid darkness needed even for a little bit of light to see through, this hope shines in the season, these holidays.
It does.
They are promises, even pledges.
Yes.
They are.
Through six decades of life, I have learned that hope helps people carry on amid tragedy, heartache and more.
When the waitress at Big Boy's earlier today told me that her husband broke his back when he fell of a ladder trimming a tree, I knew she carries hope in her heart.
She does.
Hope.
It's that evergreen virtue, or strength these days.
It is.
It sees people through storms in their daily living.
And, amid darkness needed even for a little bit of light to see through, this hope shines in the season, these holidays.
It does.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Sex Abuse
Another case of sex abuse.
Now, John Nienstedt, a native of Detroit, is charged.
When will this end?
When?
Amid allegations, the case is being investigated in Minneapolis, while its archbishop stepped down.
While clerical rumors have a way of swirling, this latest announcement continues an unhealed wound for my church.
What's the answer to this sweeping scandal that parents, for the most part perpetrate, but cannot be charged?
I don't know.
I do know that it breaks my heart.
And, opens up once more, this unhealed wound.
Now, John Nienstedt, a native of Detroit, is charged.
When will this end?
When?
Amid allegations, the case is being investigated in Minneapolis, while its archbishop stepped down.
While clerical rumors have a way of swirling, this latest announcement continues an unhealed wound for my church.
What's the answer to this sweeping scandal that parents, for the most part perpetrate, but cannot be charged?
I don't know.
I do know that it breaks my heart.
And, opens up once more, this unhealed wound.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Snow's Way of Changing Things
The first big snow storm Sunday sent schedules in a tizzy, reports show.
Three events were changed for the afternoon when more of the wet, white stuff still powdered the Detroit area, concluding Royal Oak, Roseville and Harrison Twp.
So, not wanting to endanger life, I decided to go to the baptismal party at Big Jack's in Roseville.
I'd forget the other two events, including a house party, and, a Knights of Columbus event on the other side of town.
I'm glad I chose to be at Mason's baptismal party.
Memories of Mason, and his future, were written on tags placed on a memory tree.
Mine read:
"Stay close to your family and God," I noted.
It's a recipe worth guiding the young lad's life, I thought.
How could anyone lose with God and family, anyhow?
A crowd ate home-made soup, cabbage rolled over beef, and more Polish dishes that Mason's mom made through the night after a long trek home from the mountains where Tamara and her husband drive rigs and truck beds for a living.
Baptism.
Who would have though that this Christian initiation rite could mean so much to young Mason who relished all the attention, and, to me.
Three events were changed for the afternoon when more of the wet, white stuff still powdered the Detroit area, concluding Royal Oak, Roseville and Harrison Twp.
So, not wanting to endanger life, I decided to go to the baptismal party at Big Jack's in Roseville.
I'd forget the other two events, including a house party, and, a Knights of Columbus event on the other side of town.
I'm glad I chose to be at Mason's baptismal party.
Memories of Mason, and his future, were written on tags placed on a memory tree.
Mine read:
"Stay close to your family and God," I noted.
It's a recipe worth guiding the young lad's life, I thought.
How could anyone lose with God and family, anyhow?
A crowd ate home-made soup, cabbage rolled over beef, and more Polish dishes that Mason's mom made through the night after a long trek home from the mountains where Tamara and her husband drive rigs and truck beds for a living.
Baptism.
Who would have though that this Christian initiation rite could mean so much to young Mason who relished all the attention, and, to me.
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