By Rev. Dr. Rick Jordan “I’m not sure how to ask this,” said my friend, “but how did you learn to pray like that? Did you have a class in seminary?” This was about an offertory prayer I’d said recently at our church. He continued, “I only ask because your prayers are deeper than most […]
Deeper and Wider Prayers Read More »
By Rev. Dr. Rick Jordan In a small group prayer meeting, I facilitated a discussion on what “in Jesus’ name” means, based on John 14:13-14, when Jesus said, “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my
Perfunctory or Passionate? Read More »
By Rev. Dr. Rick Jordan We see what we want to see. At other times, we don’t see what is in plain view to others. We all have blind spots. What are yours? What are your church’s? Sometimes we need a set of fresh eyes to find out. I asked my father-in-law, who had redesigned
By Rev. Dr. Rick Jordan Recently, my wife and I spent a week with our son and daughter-in-law, Todd and Stacey, in Utah. One night, while he was grilling some steaks, Todd heard an owl call. He rushed into the house with the cooked steaks saying, “I heard an owl and I think it is
You’ve Got to See This! Read More »
By: Rev. Dr. Rick Jordan I confess that most days, I walk through a day without much thought. Not that I’m ignorant or inconsiderate. But too often I do breeze through a day’s experiences without consideration of deeper insights. Sometimes, a shock to my system helps me realize that I need to ponder what I
How My Vacation Changed Me Read More »
By Rev. Dr. Rick Jordan If you read my last article, you know it was about a small problem I have with tardiness. I wrote the article, sent it in for publication, then struggled for a while. Should I have done that article? Does it make me look bad? Will people think less of me?
by Rev. Dr. Rick Jordan This weekend, we have the opportunity to once again “spring forward.” This includes the spring ritual of changing the time on our clocks. It is wonderful fun, of course. How many clocks do you have in your house? As I sit in my home office, I have a computer and
by: Rev. Dr. Rick Jordan Lately, I’ve been getting strange text messages. There is a phone number given as the sender. Then, there is a message: “Hi.” Or, “hi.” Sometimes the message has more content. Last week, I got a message from an unknown phone number that read, “It’s such a nice day. Want to
Loving Before Recruiting Read More »
by: Rev. Dr. Rick Jordan When I discovered that Walter Lantz, the artist that created Woody Woodpecker, was not my uncle on my mother’s side of the family – something I had believed all my life – it made me wonder what other non-truths I had taken to be truths. Of course, finding that a
by Rev. Dr. Rick Jordan My mother was a Lantz. Her mother liked to paint landscapes. Her uncle, George, was the staff editorial cartoonist for the Tampa (FL) Tribune newspaper. Then, there was the celebrity artist in our family, Walter Lantz. Walter Lantz was the creator of several popular cartoons, the most well-known was the
My Cousin, Woody Woodpecker Read More »
