More From Les

Photo by  Bas Masseus  from  Pexels I have a friend. He is a friend who to others might seem as an odd friend for me. This friend is a straight, evangelical, well-known in famous evangelical circles man who does one thing when he interacts with me. He doesn't tell me that I'm living a life of sin as a lesbian woman, nor does he pray for my deliverance in my face. He doesn't shun me in his presence, refuse to make eye contact, frown at me, shout at me, or quote Scripture about the sin of homosexuality.  No, this man is my friend. To be honest, I really have no idea how he feels about me being a lesbian or about the LGBTQA+ community. But I do know this. I know he loves me, and the reason I know this is because of the text messages he sends to me. His most recent text ended with these words: "Keep serving the Lord." And then it hit me! My friend is like the Apostle Paul, the author of a great many New Testament books. He is an encourager, writing short notes to spur

Photo by  Anamul Rezwan  from  Pexels " And I tell you that you are Peter,   and on this rock I will build my church,  and the gates of Hades   will not overcome it." Matthew 16:18 March of 2020 was a very difficult time most of the world, as we watched COVID-19 transmissions march around from continent to continent. I vividly recall tracking positive cases from Washington State, to California, to Illinois, to New York City, and then straight to Florida. I was on an airplane in February, travelling to New Jersey to celebrate my Godson's sixteenth birthday, wondering how many fellow travelers were "positive." After my return home, I heard rumors of Broward  County shutting down, emergency orders of shelter in place, stay at home, etc. And it hit me like a ton of bricks...our church is not going to be able to meet. What will we do? How long will this last? Will we make it? Like many other humans, fear was the first emotion to hit me. But God quickly reminded me of

Photo by   nappy   from   Pexels   I saw him out of the corner of my eye. Startled by his presence, I sat in my chair just a bit nervous as he stood just outside my office in his long, black trench coat. I hadn't heard him enter the church at all! He stood holding a dead white pigeon in the palms of both hands, his face sad and quiet. My initial reaction was abrupt, as I was also sad. The bird reminded me of our first pet cockatoo who died suddenly a few years ago. I said out loud, "Get that thing out of here!" But he didn't move an inch, still there, still holding the bird out in his hands. As I gathered myself, I asked where he found this long-past member of the avian breed. "I found her on the sidewalk." My heart was broken, both for me as I recalled the grief of losing Zoey that awful day, and for him, as I discerned that he was also broken. What did he want? He wanted to give her a proper burial. I opened up the church storage room to find something wit

Photo by Pedro Figueras on Pexel I messed up this week. Yep, this is my first blog, and it's about how I made a big mistake. I had plans with someone and we had been looking forward to them for weeks. I forgot about the appointment and missed our special time together, disappointing both him and myself. So how did I deal with this when I realized what I had done? I felt guilty, I felt as though I had let him down, and I had a deep sense of regret. You might ask how my friend responded to my shortfall. This being the first time that I've shown my true humanity to him, in other words, making a mistake, I wasn't sure how it was going to go, how he was going to take it. His response... a loving, gentle, forgiving spirit told me there was nothing to ask forgiveness for, kept saying “It's okay, it's okay, I understand.” He showed me that he loves like Jesus loves. Collosians 3:12-13 says, “Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe your