Ministry in Motion

“…Be anxious for nothing, but ….”   [1] Can you really be anxious for nothing, as the Apostle Paul wrote? Even people of faith, and especially in these uncharted and challenging times, we all can feel anxious [2]  about one thing or another. If you’re feeling anxious today I encourage you to spend a little time with it. Pause. Name it, saying:   I’m anxious about __________! Labeling emotions, like being anxious, is a simple act acknowledging the feeling in an effort to help you untwist and separate, if even only momentarily, from the emotion. In that brief hiatus from your emotion, breathe in God’s love, while exhaling everything else. Relax.   Bask in the sufficiency of God with you. Breathe out. See all the things that you’ve exhaled evaporate, vaporizing the light of God’s very presence. [1] Phil 4:6 [2]   Charles Goodstein, MD , a clinical professor of psychiatry at New York University Langone Medical Center, writes: “What makes .. ( anxiousness a ) .. disorder is when

M inistry in Motion is proud of our tradition of serving area students of all ages at several schools but we are particularly fond of Don Jeter Elementary School . Over the next few weeks, possibly months, teachers and students are being asked to experience uncharted territory. The way in which teachers teach and students learn has been completely flipped upside down. Teachers are being asked to deliver instruction in a way they are not used to, and students are being asked to learn outside of the traditional classroom. Teachers will be delivering instruction using various remote learning platforms, such as email, webpages, and video. Teachers will be providing various activities, while keeping in mind the many different home situations of their students. Some activities will use technology, and some will not. Many students are being asked to complete activities without parental guidance, or the supplies they were used to having at school. This is definitely going to challenge teac

Intellectual humility =  “the recognition that the things you believe in might in fact be wrong,” ~   M. Lear Least we forget it’s the Lenten season, I pause and contemplate what the Book of Common Prayer says this week: “…There were some people who thought they were very good and looked down on everyone else… One … was a Pharisee. [He together  with and a tax collector] …they both went to the Temple to pray….the Pharisee prayed…‘O God, I thank you that I am not as bad as other people…thank you that I am better…I fast twice a week, and I give a tenth of everything I get!’” He thought he got it, but he did't - he was not nearly as religious as he hoped.  “…The tax collector stood alone…he prayed…not even looking up to heaven. He felt very humble before God. He said, ‘O God, have mercy on me. I am a sinner!’ ” Jesus concluded this story by saying: “… People who make themselves important will be made humble. But those who make themselves humble will be made important… ” L

I’m sitting sipping coffee and listening to classical music, in a nearly empty French Bistro in Houston. The wait staff is very attentive — but noticeably anxious. A recent customer ate his quiche while loudly proclaiming societal and financial doom and gloom. I thought, 'eat more, talk less'. The novel coronavirus pandemic has stirred up fear, worry, and anxiety in many people, and understandably so.  As people of faith, how are you responding, in the most loving way, during COVID-19?   Share your thoughts on our  FB Page ... #pkes #MininstryinMotion    Facebook   Twitter   Instagram   Home   Email

As an old hippie wishing someone peace was fairly common. Not so much today. In Jesus’ time wishing peace was a way of bidding farewell. Even today in the Middle East "shalom" and "salaam," both are fairly common greetings and goodbyes. In one of the most amazing, wonderful and sweetest stories in the Bible, mere hours before Jesus was crucified, He was concerned for the faith of his followers. Think of it. Jesus said to his disciples in John’s Gospel:  “…Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives…”   The verse gives me pause: Did I offer peace today?   Did I bring a smile to someone's face?   Did I say words of healing?   Did I let go of my anger and resentment?   Did I forgive?   Did I love?   These are the real questions.  @HenriNouwen May the God of all hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him;  May you experience the tangible and overflowing power of shal

Ministry in Motion is proud of our tradition of serving area students of all ages at several schools but we are particularly fond of Don Jeter Elementary School .  I n the past we've been ‘the church outside the church’ with activities such as underwriting a monthly mobile food pantry; playing Secret Santa for multiple families at Christmas;   providing school supplies for teachers who need just a little extra for their class room; helping students with basic school uniforms and ensuring kids have new school shoes at the start of the year. R ecently we’ve collaborated with Jeter committing to award two bicycles each month for the 2020 Spring semester. Kidos with academic excellence and perfect attendance were awarded brand new bikes.  P ictured here are February’s outstanding schoolchildren along with their principal and Ministry in Motion’s staff .    Students, you are valued! We see you, we recognize you, we applaud you. Congratulations!  

Learning from our past. Celtic Christianity, the form of Christian faith that flourished among the people of Ireland during the Middle Ages, has gained a great deal of attention lately. What many contemporary Christians don’t realize is that Celtic Christianity was one of the most successfully evangelistic outbreaks in the church’s history. The Celtic church converted Ireland from paganism to Christianity in a remarkably short period, and then proceeded to send missionaries throughout Europe.  Join us starting Wednesday March 11th @ 7pm  as we being this multipart interactive study.   Síocháin (peace) #MininstryinMotion  #pkes   Facebook   Twitter   Instagram   Home   Email

Choose your words wisely. It seems that some people often say that they’re blessed instead of using other language so they can add an emphasis on the idea that God had something to do with their circumstances. Is that arrogance or truth? Slang. If you say you’re ‘blessed’ it’s like you’re voicing you feel lucky or to have something: health, love, fame, fortune, talent, etc. If so, I’m very happy for you. Maybe the only time you feel blessed is when you sneeze…. Sacred. ‘Blessed’ is a spiritual word. It is a biblical word. Consider God’s words to Abraham: “The Lord said to Abram … I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing…”   The Abrahamic promise seeks to begin to reverse the effects of the Fall and restore creation to the blessedness seen in Genesis Chapter 1 . What does it mean to be a blessing? People of faith use the word ‘blessed’, a lot. It’s a beautiful word if voiced in sincerity. When people say, “You’re a blessi

Controlling our passions and cravings, mastering our impulses and follow through, has intrigued philosophers and psychologists for as long as there have been people studying people. “ The word temptation, wrote Oswald Chambers, has come to mean something bad to us today, but we tend to use the word in the wrong way. Temptation itself is not sin; it is something we are bound to face simply by virtue of being human.”  The season of Lent has become increasingly important in my own growth and spiritual formation. I practice Lent because it helps me connect to Jesus in a way that is far more complex than savior. As the faithful journey through the Lenten calendar towards Good Friday and Easter Resurrection, let’s leave room for some serious self-reflection beginning with temptation. Temptation, it’s as old as, well … the Garden of Eden. The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely e