Robert and I are active members of the Fellowship Class. It is our Sunday morning home. Our class consists of families with children of all ages. We, like many other families at St. Luke's, are very involved in our children's activities and it makes non-Sunday gatherings quite a challenge at times. That is, until Harvey. As the roads dried up and the reality of the destruction set in, we all had one goal —to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Immediately. In addition, there are only so many days of cabin fever you can take when you [...]

When disaster strikes, the church responds, and when your church is located in the heart of some of the most diverse communities in one of the nation’s largest cities, it responds quickly. Gethsemane and their neighbors in Sharpstown and Gulfton are on higher ground, so flooding was not their main concern. But they did have another problem. Many of their congregation depends on hourly wages to make ends meet, and they couldn’t get to work. Add to that HISD shutting down for an additional week, and you see a pretty difficult financial situation. The Christian Community Service Center [...]

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.  For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 Hurricanes have a unique wind field. The primary circulation is the rotational part of the flow; it is purely circular. Harvey’s wide swath of destruction arrived as rain bands lashed around [...]

On the Sunday after Hurricane Harvey hit our city, all the church services at St. Luke’s were cancelled. The following Sunday our schedule was back to normal. But everything wasn’t really normal. There was a tangible sense of joy to be together, as a church family, back in God’s house. My participation in the three traditional services included receiving the collection plates from the ushers, usually filled with paper — paper bills and paper checks. However, in one service, in one plate, there was an anomaly. Sitting atop the plate was a zipped-up plastic sandwich bag. It was [...]

Mumford and Sons have a song called After the Storm. It spoke to me as I listened to it today. Here is just a part…And after the storm,I run and run as the rains comeAnd I look up, I look up,on my knees and out of luck, I look up….And I took you by the handAnd we stood tall,And remembered our own land,What we lived for.And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.Get over your hill and see what you find there,With grace in your [...]