Smoke-jumpers are the firefighters who parachute into remote areas to combat fires where it is hard to send regular fire-fighting equipment. In 1949, fifteen smoke-jumpers parachuted into a remote area of Montana named Mann Gulch. Due to the tinder-like conditions, and a shift in the wind, the manageable fire they began to fight at the… Read More »

In the first century AD, the Roman historian Josephus wrote that in that time “there spread over all the Orient the belief that it was fated for men coming from Judea to rule the world.” Another Roman historian of the first century AD named Tacitus wrote that “there was a firm persuasion that at this… Read More »

As the sun went down Christmas Eve, George sat down beside a coffee pot in the office of his gas station. December 24th had become just another day since his wife passed away several years earlier. He didn’t hate Christmas. He just couldn’t find a reason to celebrate it anymore. Suddenly, the office door opened,… Read More »

Every year, we buy the United Methodist Program Calendar for the church office. It gives our worship leaders the information they need to plan Sunday services for each church season: Advent and Christmas, Lent and Easter. It gives our altar helpers the information they need to have the correct paraments on the altar, white for… Read More »