Rev. Zach

Leigh Peterson is a phenomenal young woman who runs a non-profit without pay and works for another one to pay the bills.  She takes in strays (people - not cats), and has been recognized in the community for her hard work.  She lives her faith, albeit imperfectly, as intentionally as she is able to.  Leigh has been suffering from something they can't define for a few months now.  She becomes dizzy and disoriented and has other neurological symptoms.  They have ruled out most of the major stuff (cancer, tumor, etc.).  They have monitored her heart to check for arrhythmia, and she is currently undergoing a sleep study.  Please pray that God will offer clarity.  Not because Leigh is so good - which she is even though she would deny it.  Pray for her because God is good.  Please pray that God's sustaining presence will be evident, that a diagnosis will be achieved, and that a treatment plan will be developed.  Oh, and that she has sweet...

Well, we finally did it.  The PC(USA) took a demonstrative stand on the issue of homosexuality, and it has become quite the media sensation without and quite the firestorm within.  I will admit to voting in favor of this amendment, and I will tell you why.  Primarily I felt the former language of the rule limiting ordained office (ministers, elders, and deacons) to those "faithful in marriage and chaste in singleness" to be disingenuous.  The church had no desire to become the bedroom police of it's heterosexual leadership, and no desire to take a stand on issues related to sexual promiscuity.  The language was simply there to keep a gate closed to homosexuals and to turn a blind eye to those following social norms.  I do not mean to say that the norm of marriage between a man and a woman is bad.  I mean to say that we all know which speed limits are enforced and where to push the limit. Beyond the double standard of the language, there are gays and ...

First Presbyterian Church – Lafayette, Louisiana April 24, 2011 – Easter (Year A) Jeremiah 31:1-6 Colossians 3:1-4 John 20:1-18 Crazy Talk – that's what all of this Easter stuff is, you know.  Crazy talk – that's what they had to have said about Jeremiah!  His disciples drag him off to Egypt after he has seen his nation crumble, the King's sons put to death, and the King blinded, bound, and dragged off as a slave.  Yet all Jeremiah wants to talk about is their history of salvation, making claims that God will do it again – "on that day," whenever that will be. Then we have Paul, or someone writing in his name, telling us that we are hidden with Christ, that through our baptism we are already dead.  Not only have we died but, presumably, we have also been raised with Christ.  But how do we know? If we have been raised with Christ then we will set our minds on things that are above.  Oh.  Well, that clears it right up. Then we have this audac...