Rev. Zach

2 Samuel 11:1-15     Psalm 14     Ephesians 3:14-21     John 6:1-21 It has been a long week in Lafayette.  Last Thursday, the city that was selected in 2014 as the happiest city in America was shaken and laid bare for the world to see.  John Russell Howser, a man with a deeply grieved soul, shot and killed 33-year-old entrepreneur, Jillian Johnson, and Mayci Breaux, a 21 year old woman beginning to make her way in the world.  Nine others were injured before he took his own life.  Our police, our medical system, even our local news stations acted professionally, compassionately, and faithfully.  As with other similar incidents in our nation, this has sparked conversation, arguments, and accusations between friends and enemies over gun control, mental illness, and the presence of evil in our midst.  I’ve heard it said that the shooter’s name should not be spoken, but instead let us only honor Jillian and Mayci.  There...

2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27     Psalm 130     2 Corinthians 8:7-15     Mark 5:21-43 During the second World War the British government began a campaign to encourage their citizen’s resolve in the war effort. There were a variety of posters with simple messages that all had a drawing of a Tudor era crown above them. The most memorable of them read, “ Keep Calm and Carry On ”. These were all discarded after the war and would’ve been forgotten if a trunkful hadn’t been found, quite by accident, some 40 years later.  At first the phrase was re-introduced as “Keep Calm and Shine On” – a phrase that can mean anything from “be brilliant” to “be deceitful,” depending on which website you trust. Now you can find it on t-shirts, coffee mugs, and bumper stickers with “Keep Calm” followed by anything from “and Carry Guns” to “Presby On.” I’m not too sure about either of those, but given the range of emotion being expressed over current events it seems to me tha...