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Thirty-seven years ago, when our island’s population was considerably smaller than it is currently, an islander named John Wampler decided that it was important for the community to gather together to celebrate Thanksgiving.  After a few years, several of matrons in attendance asked to move the date of this community Thanksgiving from Thursday to the… Continue reading Pastor’s Perspective November 21, 2024

While recently travelling on vacation, my wife became ill with some sort of stomach bug.  She was miserable, so I did my best to adjust our plans to allow her to recover as comfortably as possible while accounting for various plans.  Then my oldest daughter, who was travelling with us, got the stomach bug shortly… Continue reading Pastor’s Perspective November 14, 2024

I had a rather remarkable evening recently, when Jan and I had the opportunity to go to an historical location for an event that had promised significant insight into that place and the family associated with it.  We were in a group of approximately 15, so there were plenty of opportunities to pose questions.  While… Continue reading Pastor’s Perspective November 7, 2024

I’m the sort of person who likes to think about future events and know that I have contemplated a variety of potential outcomes, to have some degree of understanding as to how I might then respond.  I’ve found that contingency planning helps to keep me from being paralyzed or otherwise stymied when my preferred outcome… Continue reading Pastor’s Perspective October 24, 2024

A young woman in Honduras was murdered earlier this week.  She had been raised in an orphanage that my family and I had visited several times, but had aged out and was making a living as a young adult.  Tragically, she was gunned down as she walked home from her bus stop, the victim of… Continue reading Pastor’s Perspective October 17, 2024

As I am writing this, Hurricane Milton threatens to potentially bring tropical storm conditions to our island community.  Recognizing that even as forecasters strive to accurately predict future conditions, they can be off by a considerable amount when it comes to the local impacts of tropical systems, it is impossible to say exactly what the… Continue reading Pastor’s Perspective October 10, 2024

Next week will mark the eight-year anniversary of Hurricane Matthew striking our island.  I started writing these weekly messages at that time, as a way to share information to those somehow connected to the island.  These posts conveyed updates on progress during the recovery, and they provided my perspective as a pastor as I saw… Continue reading Pastor’s Perspective October 3, 2024

Sometimes life does not go according to plan.  Perhaps it would be better if I was more specific.  Sometimes life does not go according to my plan. This morning, my plan was to enjoy a cup of coffee while reading my Bible, followed by a time of prayer, and then sitting down to write my… Continue reading Pastor’s Perspective September 26, 2024

I have seen individuals undertake and complete significant and complicated projects all by themselves.  Building a house or a structure is normally the sort of thing that a team or multiple teams of workers will complete, but sometimes an individual makes the decision to undertake the entire project without any other help.  It takes a… Continue reading Pastor’s Perspective September 19, 2024

When looking for simple yet profound guidance on how to live a decent life, I’m a big fan of the first part of Matthew 5:37, which simply declares “But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’” If you say “yes” to something, do it.  If you can’t do it, say “no.”  It is… Continue reading Pastor’s Perspective September 12, 2024