A Life Like a Norman Rockwell Painting Memoir by Michael Usey May 2, 2015 Ever heard of the mighty men of David? They were the OT version of the Avengers. They were known as the Gibborim and are described in 2 Sam 23. These mighty men of David were a group of David’s toughest military warriors who were credited with heroic feats. This group included Josheb-basshebeth, who killed 800 men in one battle with a spear. Another was named Eleazar, who stayed on the battlefield when other warriors fled and killed Philistines until his hand was stuck clenched around his sword, and Abishai, the leader of the mighty men, who…

A Force of Nature: Inez Stone Ryals Memoir By Michael Usey April 18, 2015 One of the ways that we here at College Park seek to follow Jesus is in the empowerment of women as full partners with men as disciples, leaders, ministers.  This is not by any means a radical notion, as many North American Christian Churches and denominations do so as well, but it remains controversial in conservative and fundamentalist churches as well as those of the Roman church, for example.  But we here at College Park follow the NT precedents. In the NT there are a number of women leaders. Mary Magdalene was the first witness to…

Memoir by Michael S. Usey March 29, 2015 What I like about Christianity is that it is primarily a faith about right practice rather right belief.  The two are intertwined, naturally.  What one believes leads to how one acts.  But over and over again Jesus emphasized that it’s not primarily what we say we believe, but rather how our actions show what we believe. In the so-called sermon on the mount in Matthew’s story of Jesus, he ends his teaching to his friends by saying, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father…

Peggy Has Left the Building Memoir By Michael Usey January 21, 2015 This past Sunday I listened to Peggy’s four adult children and spouses (along with many of her nine grandchildren) talk about her influence on their lives. As they spoke, it reminded me of the story of Ruth in the Hebrew Bible. In Ruth chapter 1, Naomi’s husband and two sons die and she is left with just her daughters-in-law. She encourages them to return to their home countries. One gladly obliges, but the other–Ruth–refuses to leave her side and says one of the most poetic things in the Bible, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn…