South Vernon Methodist Church

10/11/2024

Sunset begins Yom Kippur, repent and pray for the peace of Israel.

08/06/2024

On this date, 36 years ago, Loretta Rearick (then Purta) took my hand to begin a varied and wonderful journey. I thank God for her, for her, our children, Anderson Rearick IV, and Laura Martin, and for our son-in-law Wes Martin in the many ways they have enriched our shared walk. I'd count myself one of the luckiest of men alive except that I long ago sought God's will in my marital journey and He led us all the way thus far.

04/22/2024

A joyous Passover wish to all my Hebrew friends on this most holy day that celebrates Divine intervention and the preservation and redemption of His people

04/21/2024

I keep thinking and praying for Amina al-Hassoun, the 7 year old girl who was seriously wounded in the missile and drone attack on Israel last Sunday. Multiple news sources noted her initial status but no one is reporting her current status. Jesus loves the little children. Will you remember her and her family in prayer with me?

Amina al-Hassouni’s father has voiced his anger at the Islamic Republic as his Muslim daughter remains in a grave condition

04/02/2024

Not a Political Post: I am so thankful that the woman whom God guided me to has continued her journey to God throughout our marriage. This video clip is from X so I do not know if it will translate. Jodan Peterson's insight that his wife's journey into Christianity has led to her becoming more of who she really is, and with it his awareness that the person she really is is the person he has loved all their lives together.

03/29/2024

M Mother’s favorite:

Álbum "By My Spirit..." - The Ministry and Mission of the Holy Spirit in a Choral PresentationFAIXAS:01 Breathe on me 00:0002 Holy Spirit, Be My Guide 03:150...

03/25/2024

Blessed is He who Comes in the name of the Lord:

Artist: Michael W. SmithAlbum: The Michael W. Smith 2Song: Hosanna (Blessed Is He Who Comes )Words and Music by: Michael W. & Deborah D. SmithVocals: Michael...

03/22/2024

Prayer Alert! My mother Ann Cubie Rearick who is 92 has been taken to the ER. Blood in her vomit this morning.

02/19/2024

Happy Washington’s Birthday! (Or as many of us remember it “President’s Day!) In point of fact, Washington’s birthday is Feb. 22, 1732. Plus because of an interesting historical shift when the British Empire adopted the Gregorian Calander over the Julian, Washington’s own birthday—date and year— changed during his lifetime. (Here’s an interesting video put out by the Washington Museum in Mount Vernon VA about that: https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/facts/the-truth-about-presidents-day/).

Meanwhile, Facebook failed to remind me that Feb. 12 was Lincoln’s Birthday which is celebrated in my home state of New York as a state holiday. So throughout my childhood in Long Island, my school calendar included both Lincon’s and Washing’s birthdays. In February all the classrooms were decorated with red hearts and at the front hung above the blackboard the portraits of Washington and Lincoln facing one another and looking down on us. Garrison Kiellier remembers thinking that Washington’s prim face meant he’d never give a guy any hint on tests while Lincoln looked more benevolent and might pass on the answer “It’s eight, Lincoln seemed to say.”

I confess that for years I mistakenly thought that the two birthday celebrations were combined to make room for Martin Luther King’s Holiday in Jan (as if the Federal Calander could only fit in so many holidays), but only Washington’s birthday is a Federal holiday. In fact, that is its official handle, Washington’s Birthday but for most of us it is just “President’s Day.”

I do not like this shift. I think it robs us of an important shared-narrative. I miss the joint the celebrations in February of both the founder and the savior of our nation. These two men were extrodinary. They weren’t gods, but humans and yet each struggled through and passed onto our country great things.

When King George III was told that after taking the highest position in America, Washington would voluntarily step down and return to his farm, the former antagonistic monarch said “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.” Before him no conqueror had ever voluntarily given up power. Meanwhile Lincoln delt with the grimmest days of the Republic. Having inherited the blatant injustice of slavery which led to secession as soon as he was elected, he fiercely followed the principle laid out by Pres. Andrew Jackson (another human president) that the union was indissolvable. Preserving that union led to the great nation we are blessed to be a part of today.

These points need to be remembered and celebrated. Over and over again, in the Old Testament, monuments and special days were set to help the people remember. Humans tend to forget and a ubiquitous vague day does nothing to help jog our minds. We don't need a day to sell more cars and sheets, we need days to celebrate the great things two of our greatest past leaders did for us.

02/14/2024

Today is both Valentine's Day and Ash Wednesday, the first day of the season of Lent. This rare convergence has happened four times in the last century: 1923, 1934, 1945, 2018, and will happen again in 2029 That will mark its final occurrence this century. The two days seem profoundly at odds since most of us share chocolate and a good meal with our significant other on Valentine's Day while Ash Wednesday is typically the start of a day of self-denial as believers think of Jesus' journey towards the cross.

https://religionunplugged.com/news/2024/2/5/valentines-day-and-ash-wednesday-fall-on-the-same-day-what-does-that-mean-for-christians

01/29/2024

12/21/2023

Not a Political Post: I continue to enjoy "The Polar Express" and while I know that it does not connect with the Jesus of Christmas, it does I think connect with part of what Christmas is about, faith:

I have been giving some thought to the 2004 film The Polar Express directed by  Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks. The film is based on a classic children's book by Chris Van Allsburg who...