Category: holiday

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church cartoons holiday

We Gather Together

We Gather Together Headline

Thanksgiving is coming in the United States. So there is nothing better for me than to dole out another Thanksgiving cartoon! It’s like an extra helping of oyster dressing and cranberry salad.

The church I grew up in felt obligated to sing We Gather Together each Thanksgiving season. The challenge was that the worship leader would sing it the Sunday before the holiday. To a child, that seemed an eternity away. We might as well sing a Christmas Carol while we were at it! Of course, that came the next Sunday. My poor immature mind couldn’t take this hymnal time warp every season.

The hymn wasn’t exactly kid-friendly either. The first verse was a lot to take in. There isn’t even a chorus! It didn’t exactly roll off the tongue for me.

“We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing;
He chastens and hastens His will to make known.
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing.
Sing praises to His Name; He forgets not His own.”

Theodore Baker 1894

So this year, I decided to modernize it a bit. Here is my version:

Cartoon of a couple singing a hymn. It's a parody of "We Gather Together."
Published in the November 2021 CHOGNews.

I realize “scones” is a little high class. But “donuts” didn’t have the same ring to it. Besides, I know a dear lady at one of our previous churches that makes the best scones. Whenever I bit into one, I felt quite grateful.

So have a happy Thanksgiving! enjoy a warm gathering and some scones. It may cause you to break out in singing.

I drew this cartoon for the November 2022 CHOGNews.

Categories
holiday

Happy Hallow-Reformation Day!

A flock of birds flying from a cornfield to some trees

Happy Halloween(or Reformation Day)! Yesterday on my run, I encountered what must have been hundreds of birds. As I ran by a cornfield, I heard dozens of wings flutter and a flock took off for the safety of some trees. If it was darker, it would have been a perfectly spooky end of the day.

As I jogged along, I saw and heard more birds. They were chattering while trying to stay warm and dry. I thought about the upcoming winter. The number of birds will be dwindling soon as the cold and short food supplies will test them all.

We experience cycles of life, testing, and death all the time. The days are getting darker and colder where I live. Yet, in six months, it will be a time of rebirth and renewal. It will be a little reformation of the world around us.

Stay safe tonight! Know that no matter how dark things appear, no matter how many ghosts and ghouls come knocking, there will be brighter days ahead. Instead of being part of the dark, be part of the light. May you have a little reformation in your soul and be renewed today.

Categories
Christmas church cartoons holiday

Where can pastors find sermon inspiration this year?

Cartoon of a pastor staring at an Elf on the Shelf. He says, "Don't just sit there. I need a sermon illustration!"

This has been a challenging season for everyone. No matter how you slice it, inspiration has been hard to come by. It has been especially so for pastors. Where can pastors find sermon inspiration during COVID-19? There are so many questions they have to deal with.

  • How do you inspire and minister to others when you are forced to pivot to all video services?
  • Who can you call on when you and half your congregation needs tech support in order to view a church service?
  • What happens when you are dealing with the virus in your own family?
  • How can you administer pastoral care when you can’t visit a parishioner in the hospital?
  • What do you do when the two biggest holidays in the church calendar are threatened by this virus? (Looks like Easter and Christmas services will be virtual at my church)
  • Do you address the whole vaccine controversy?

I thought about all these things when I had the idea for this cartoon. It’s must be a challenging time to come up with some sermon inspiration that would bring on a chuckle, yet address some hard issues we’ve all faced this year.

We had such high hopes at the beginning of this year. I was thinking about risk and reward earlier this year. Who knew the risks for 2020 would be so much more prominent than whatever reward we envisioned?

Here’s to next year! May there be some relief for everyone, including the men and women that have had to deal with their own stuff while ministering to others! In the meantime, I do hope all the pastors find some sermon inspiration during COVID-19. Maybe the elf on the shelf could offer some mirth. After all, he shows up in the most curious places.

I drew this cartoon for the November 2022 CHOGNews.

Cartoon of a pastor staring at an Elf on the Shelf. He says, "Don't just sit there. I need a sermon illustration!"
Categories
Business Business Cartoons holiday motivation

Administrative Professionals Day, and Earth Day

Cartoon of a man giving his computer flowers

This year is a different kind of Administrative Professionals Day. Many administrative professionals are working from home thanks to the coronavirus. Some are working the frontlines of essential businesses and keeping visitors from entering a facility without the necessary health precautions.

This year, Earth Day and Administrative Professionals Day fall on the same day. So if you have an administrative professional, this would be an entirely appropriate time to get them some flowers or a hearty plant. We all need a little nature as we stay huddled together in our humble abodes.

So thank you to all the administrators that make things happen behind the scenes. And thank you to a planet that needs some tender loving care. We couldn’t make it without either one of you.

Cartoon of a man giving his computer flowers
Categories
Easter holiday

Easter 2020: A Resurrection Sunday Like No Other

Cartoon of a boy talking to the Easter Bunny. He says, "Do YOU count all your chickens before they hatch?"

I feel sorry for the Mall Easter Bunnies this year. They rarely get the respect a Mall Santa gets. And just when people began thinking about the holiday, all the malls were closed. Perhaps that’s why this cartoon rang true for me this year. Mr. Easter Bunny, don’t count all your eggs before they hatch!

It’s safe to say nearly all of us have had to change our plans this year.

  • Retail sales have had to pivot to online sales
  • Businesses have had to figure out if they were essential or not
  • Parents have been forced to realize how challenging homeschooling can be
  • Pets have had to deal with having no “me time”
  • Churches that weren’t streaming services online had to learn fast

My wife and I will be attending an online Easter service. For a couple that has served and worked at churches nearly every Sunday for over thirty years, this has been an adjustment. The method has changed, but the message has not.

  • It is a message of hope
  • It is a message of glorious light after a pitch-black midnight
  • It is message that resurrects the dead
  • It is a message that trumps Mall Bunnies and Santas

They said unto them, “Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen.”

Luke 24: 5-6 (KJV)

Have a blessed Resurrection Sunday, everyone!

Cartoon of a boy talking to the Easter Bunny. He says, "Do YOU count all your chickens before they hatch?"