Dear Epiphany People,

Hope, life, and light to you all!

Jim Valvano used to say, "My father gave the greatest gift I could ever receive. He believed in me." I have often said the same thing about my dad. I mention this in follow-up to some research I mentioned in last Sunday's sermon. What follows is not easy reading.

Author Warren Farrell (Why Men are the Way They Are) recently drew attention to the cries of parents in Newtown, Connecticut, "What's making our children kill?" Farrell points out that it is not our children who are killing. It is our sons. All but one of the 62 mass murders in the past 30 years was committed by boys or young men. So what's the difference? Girls live in homes that have guns. Girls are exposed to the same media violence as boys.   Girls are also about as likely as boys to develop mental illness. So, what is the difference?

Perhaps suicide provides some clues. Each mass murder in essence is also a suicide. At 9 years old, boys and girls are equally likely to commit suicide. By age 14 boys are twice as likely. By age 19 twice as likely, and by age 24 four times as likely. There is something in the chemistry of boys absorbing the male role with the mix of male hormones that can produce heart-breaking results. Click here to read more

pastorrick@epiphanysuwanee.org

January is the time for exchanging our white elephants, those ugly and unwanted Christmas gifts. Chris and I got some wild ones this year, including pens, a package of sticky notes, and a really hideous faux-distressed candle holder. Yes, we have some people in our lives who are giving impaired! But this year's white elephants helped me see how silly our Christmas gift-giving can be. I don't really need another sweater or CD, and these gifts certainly don't bring me any closer to Jesus. As I reflect on the holidays this year, what I will cherish is the great meal that I got to share with my side of the family and all the games of cards I got to play with my in-laws (even though I lost most of them!).

In the same way, as my ministry on staff with Epiphany comes to a close, it's certainly not all the meetings that I went to or the hassles of building construction that I will remember. It's the relationships. The people who trusted me with parts of their stories and the ones who listened to my story - these are the things that will endure. And before I even start my new ministry, I am hearing that the students that I will be pastor to are hungry for me to start Small Groups with them. These university kids at big time schools are desperate for more meaningful, loving relationships.

Relationships matter, deeply. But I am not writing some sickly-sweet Hallmark card here. Click here to read more

pastordevinstrong@gmail.com