Pastor Brian's Blog

This fall Trinity Church will serve as a teaching congregation for a student at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.  His name is Il-Han You.  Il-Han ’ s field education experience with Trinity Church will begin the first week of September.  The internship will conclude in May 2018. A native of South Korea, Il-Han is a graduate of Seoul National University of Technology (2011) and Baekseok Culture University (2006) with degrees in food science engineering and English.    He is a candidate for ordained ministry in The United Methodist Church.  He has previously served at Vision United Methodist Church in Mundelein.  Although Il-Han is not a regular church employee, Pastor Brian will supervise him and Trinity will pay him a stipend during his internship.  To grow in his calling as a pastor, he will need to be exposed to various roles in pastoral ministry, including regular assignments for preaching, teaching, and pastoral c...

Whatever happened to the lazy days of summer?  Life can be harried year-round if you're constantly rushing around and always trying to catch up.  Do you feel the pressure of a busy schedule, constant deadlines, and never-ending to-do lists?  Pico Iyer describes the predicament:   “We’ve lost our Sundays, our weekends, and our nights off — our holy days, as some would have it; our bosses, our email, our parents can find us wherever we are, at any time of day or night.  More and more of us feel like emergency-room physicians, permanently on call, required to heal ourselves but unable to find the prescription for all the clutter on our desk.” 1 We just aren’t built to sustain a highly stressful life.  Being busy all the time can undermine our health.  Slowing down is critical for our well-being.  We need downtime and rest. The solution, according to Deborah Caldwell, is to do “nothing” on purpose as often as possible. ...

I don’t usually like surprises.  It probably stems from my preference to be in control.  The trips my family took when I was growing up consisted of getting in the station wagon and heading in some general direction.  Often, we did not have specific plans.  Instead, we “discovered” our vacations by stopping periodically at rest areas and picking up brochures for local points of interest.  My parents never reserved a hotel room more than one day in advance.  We were spontaneous and flexible.  Our vacations were “footloose and fancy-free.” As an adult, I would rather know exactly where I am going and have assurances that I will have a place to rest my travel-worn body at the end of the day.  I learned this lesson from the year I visited Grand Tetons National Park.  The campground was full, and I had to drive over an hour outside the park for an available campsite in a nearby national forest.  I vowed never to let that happ...

“Never give up.  Never surrender.”  It's the motto of Captain Jason Nesmith (played by Tim Allen) in the science fiction film spoof Galaxy Quest .  Faith involves “sticking-to-it,” a determination to keep going when the going gets tough.  Fortunately, we can face the challenges of life with the support of God and the church who stick with us. During the weeks of summer, I will lead a series on the Acts of the Apostles.  With its place in the New Testament immediately after the four gospels, the book of Acts has a cast of characters who are unstoppable.  They are persistent when the going gets tough.  They persevere when the odds are stacked against them.  The stories of these followers of Jesus can inspire your faith.    June 4 - Pentecost Mary Acts 1:12-14 June 11 Barnabas Acts 4:32-37 June 18 Philip Acts 8:26-40 June 25 Ananias and Sapphira Acts 5:1-11 July 2 Stephen Acts 6:1-8a ...

As the summer solstice approaches, it is exciting to see things growing all around us.  One of the songs in The United Methodist Hymnal makes an analogy of faith to growth in nature: “Faith, while trees are still in blossom, plans the picking of the fruit; Faith can feel the thrill of harvest when the buds begin to sprout.” 1   In the spring, when I see blossoms on my apple tree, I anticipate that apples will be growing on the tree.  My hope for apples in the fall is based on the reliability of natural processes.  Likewise, faith is trusting in God because God is faithful. 2  Whereas God’s trustworthiness does not depend on our faith in God, our trust in God depends on God’s faithfulness.   Jürgen Moltmann suggests that faith emerges from our being born to a new life in the Holy Spirit.  We do not generate this faith from within ourselves.  It is founded on the faithfulness of God and never forsakes us.  It is eternal...

Dear Friends in Christ, A few weeks ago, during strong winds, a large spruce tree from the church yard fell over onto the parsonage.  Fortunately, a chain link fence broke the fall, and there was no significant damage to the house. However, while resting on the utility lines, the tree eventually stressed the lines and at least one line snapped.  In the blink of an eye, all kinds of things in the house became useless.  The oven, the vacuum, the microwave, the television, and a host of other gadgets do not work without power.  Without a connection to the source of power, my activity became very limited.  I am grateful to those who organized a rapid response in restoring services to the parsonage, especially Tom Board and Amy Reimer.  ComEd came within a couple of hours to trim the tree and restore power to the house.  AT&T restored internet service.  The next day Morrison Arborist removed all the tree debris.  From a ...

After Easter, I will lead a new series called “Second Chances: Stories of Redemption.”   Nobody is perfect.  We make mistakes.  People let us down.  We hurt ourselves and others.  Sometimes our life feels like a broken ceramic dish — fragmented, wrecked, or useless.  A Japanese aesthetic called wabi-sabi involves seeing the beauty in aging and imperfection.  Using a technique called kintsugi (“gold joinery”), a ceramic dish repaired with a precious metal can become even more beautiful than it was before it was broken.  To apply the concept of wabi-sabi to our spiritual life, all we need is for someone to see our potential and give us a second chance.   Jesus does that for us.  The gospel message is that no matter who we are or what we have done, God sees beyond our imperfections, loves us, forgives us, and offers us a new life. April 23 Forgiven Luke 7:36-39 April 30 – Rutter Requiem Dispossessed Luk...