Rev. Dr. Jeff Garrison
On the evening of December 10th, a storm system produced terrible tornadoes in mid-America. The storm began in Arkansas and moved northeast into Missouri and Kentucky. By Sunday morning, when the clouds cleared and the sun rose, a destructive path, at places a mile wide and over 250 miles long, remained. 89 people dead and … Read more Rebuilding in Kentucky
Jeff GarrisonBluemont and Mayberry Presbyterian ChurchesGalatians 5:1-15, 22-23May 22, 2022 Thoughts at the beginning of worship: What does it mean to be a Christian? This week I came across a meme that I thought was insightful and a bit challenging. Geocide is biblical.Loving your enemy is biblical.Only one is Christ-like. Slavery is biblical.Chainbreaking is biblical.Only … Read more What does it mean to be a Christian?
Billy Beasley, Home (Abbeyville, SC: Moonshine Press, 2022), 234 pages. Things just don’t seem to go Trent Mullins way. Never able to please his father, he has stopped trying. Two different women have broken his heart (and one of them twice). Depression has set in. To break out of the depression, without pills, Trent finishes up his … Read more Where is Home?
Jeff GarrisonBluemont and Mayberry Presbyterian ChurchesGalatians 4May 15, 2022 At the beginning of worship: Do we have faith? There was farming community experiencing a severe drought. Day after day, month after month, the sky held no clouds. Pastures dried up; crops wilted. Without enough water and feed, ranchers sold off their herds. Things looked bad. … Read more Adopted by God: Entitled to an Inheritance
I rolled over a few minutes before 5:30 AM and glanced at the sky. The stars are beginning to disappear, but bright above the eastern horizon were Jupiter and Venus, separating from their conjunction a few days earlier. Although I wasn’t planning on it, I dozed off and woke at 6 AM. Not wanting to miss … Read more A Solo Paddle to Cape Lookout
Jeff GarrisonMayberry and Bluemont Presbyterian ChurchesGalatians 3:19-29May 8, 2022 At the beginning of worship: Mothers will do whatever they can to protect their children. Sadly, sometimes this gets them into trouble, as it was with this one poor grandmother in New York City, whose daughter was sick. This was back in the Great Depression. Her … Read more Law and Grace
In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been away the past week. During this time, I did several things I’ll write about, the first being a project I’ve been associated with for the past few years. The next day, I attended a friend’s book reveal, and then spent a few days paddling out to and camping … Read more Williston, 50 Years Later
Jeff GarrisonMayberry and Bluemont Presbyterian ChurchesApril 24, 2022Galatians 1:1-11 At the beginning of worship The “Church Curmudgeon” post daily memes on Facebook and Twitter. If you don’t follow him, you’re missing a treat. With humor, he makes so good insights. This week he posted: “Remember, you are made in the image of God and so … Read more Paul corrects the Galatians
Mark Jarman, Dailiness: Essays on Poetry (Philadelphia: Paul Dry Books, 2020), 177 pages. I became acquainted with Jarman’s poetry through poems published in the Reformed Journal. Dailiness consists of a series of long essays on various aspects of poetry. Originally, I thought I would use this as evening reading, but the essays were too long and deep … Read more Books on Poetry and Writing and a Poem
Jeff GarrisonMayberry and Bluemont Churches 1 Corinthians 15:12-28April 17, 2022 At the beginning of worship: In a devotion for Easter a few years ago, Richard Rohr, reminded his readers that “Easter isn’t celebrating a one-time miracle as if it only happened in the body of Jesus and we’re all here to cheer for Jesus.” Sadly, he … Read more Easter: Paul’s Defense of the Resurrection