More Than Today

I started 2021 with a goal of 60 books which was less than the number of books that I had read in 2020, which was 72. I like to achieve goals so I thought that would make it easier to achieve this goal. Before the end of May, I was over my goal so I kept increasing it for the rest of the year. From 60 to 70, then to 100, then to 110, and finally to 120. About halfway through December or so I hit and then exceeded my goal. I read 121 books in 2021. Then I decided not to finish any more books in 2021 but to keep listening / reading and wait to complete them in 2022 for my new goal. I know that's strange but that's what I did. Today is the first of January and it's time to start my new goal and finish a book or two up very soon. Goals are funny things. I don't always hit my goals but they help me reach more than I would have without them. My reading list has a variety of authors and ranges from fiction to non-fiction. I like Charles Dickens' books so I have been readin...

Sometimes you don’t know what to call it when you are part of a church that is different than what you think it should be. Maybe you are thinking things are changing so fast. Or things are changing too fast. Or things aren't changing fast enough. So you try to describe what you want to happen. Revitalization. But that takes a while and you certainly aren’t there yet. Re-engineered. But the pieces are so separate that you aren’t there yet. Reimagined. But you can’t see that far ahead and you definitely aren’t there yet. So here is a word. Repurposed. So much that we have doesn’t need to be thrown on the garbage heap of life but if we keep it a new purpose for it is needed. Repurposed. Taking what we have in front of us and doing what it is able to do. Perhaps that is taking “Church” and repurposing it to what it was always meant to be. We know the ways we have been using it don’t matter or work as much or at all anymore. Maybe they did at one point but slowly they drifted from what ...

My name is Rich Thornton. I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak to you today on a very important subject. But before I do that let me introduce myself so that you may decide whether to consider what I say on this very important topic to be potentially life-changing or just a presentation in an air-conditioned room with free snacks and drinks before you head out to the beach for s’mores and more. Who am I? Why am I here?  What in the world am I doing using Comic Neue font? The answers to these intriguing questions lie ahead, perhaps.  My full name is Richard Frederick Thornton. My last name is from my father, my middle name is from my mother’s father, and my first name was that of someone I ran into once in a campground when I was an adult and he told me that I was named after him. My father, when confronted agreed that was the case so evidently I was named after a friend of the family at some point and my parents liked the name Richard which is the story I’m going wit...

1. Give yourself the break that you are trying so hard to give to others. 2. Pouring more of the words of Jesus into my life is energizing today, gives me more for others, and... OK, it is fine just to hear Jesus speak to me and energizing. The "for others" part is just an outgrowth of that. 3. Naps are holy moments. your body was made by God and when your body tells you to nap listen to God and nap. Life is not a contest. Finish strong tomorrow by taking a nap when you need it. A restful place for holy moments many years ago at Doubling Gap Center, Newville, PA.  

I refuse. I refuse to lose your friendship, as far as it is up to me, over differences of opinion on current events. I refuse. I refuse to say you are not a Christian based on how you voted or your political party, or lack thereof. I refuse. I refuse to let the battles outside of us misdirect me from the calling on my life to reflect hope to you. I refuse. 

As I was listening one day to the Acts of the Holy Spirit, some call it the book of Acts in the Bible, I was struck by how often the Holy Spirit does act and then we try to put what happens in a box. We try to categorize, clarify, and demystify something that is outside of all of that. In the process, we take the joy out of it. When those who knew Jesus and experienced the Holy Spirit shared that with others they simply told what had happened, what they had heard, what they had seen. Could it be that they trusted the Holy Spirit to make what they were saying real to the listener? They didn't complicate it. They knew they were sharing difficult teachings and experiences. They had seen and heard Jesus take what God was saying to him and share it with stories and what was going on right then. They were writing stories and poems and songs in a real sense. They were bringing into the open moments that only God would make real for others. They were painting pictures, making sculptures, d...

Sometimes I think I see things very clearly. I wrestle with how to express what I see because I know that others don't see it the same way.  These days regardless of what someone shares there is someone else who is going to twist it. Someone who will turn it into whatever their own agenda is. It’s something all of us are capable of. I get that we see things differently. But don't assume that because we do that I am not a Christian. I really am bothered when some people call people of a different belief not a Christian. Next time you are ready to put something out there that says all ____ are not Christians please stop and look at my picture. I will look at yours. Christians see things differently without losing their faith. If you don't believe that then I just invite you to look at the Bible and see that people are Christians based on believing in and on the Lord Jesus Christ. All who call on His Name. Jesus didn't ask people to hate the Roman government. He didn't...

Rich Thornton was born in Western Pennsylvania to Lester and Louise Thornton who faithfully served many churches in what is now the Allegheny Region of the CGGC. At an early age, he knew that his passion was to do whatever God called him to do. He graduated from Findlay (Ohio) College, now the University of Findlay, in 1972 with a Political Science Major, History Minor, and certification in Secondary Education. Rich attended the College of Law at Ohio Northern U niversity in Ada, Ohio with plans of becoming a lawyer.  After just a couple of terms in Law School, Rich left and soon was on the staff of a church as Youth Director. Rich had done youth ministry in various ways since his teen years through singing in traveling groups to churches and camps. Youth Ministry and the questions that he couldn’t answer led him on the path to Winebrenner Theological Seminary where he graduated in 1978. From there Rich served Lancaster First Church of God as Associate Pastor, Yocumtown Church of ...

Often, like in current times, it is difficult to figure out how God works , like in the Gospel account of Jesus casting out demons into pigs and then the people of the area being afraid of him and asking him to leave (Luke 8:26-39). There is a whole lot in that story but see what happens. "Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left. The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying,  “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him." Did you see it? The people asked Jesus to leave and so he did. Actually, so did his disciples. What does Jesus do? He leaves but when the man who was healed wants to go away with him Jesus says no. Jesus left a witness, the best one possible, the one who had experienced the miracle in himself, not just seen i...

I’m celebrating Easter each Sunday. No one can stop me. Easter is a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. The first disciples of Jesus remembered the resurrection on the first day of the week, each week. That is because the first day of the week was the day that Jesus came back from death. Since then, we worship on Sunday because every Sunday is Easter, the celebration of Jesus come back to life. Many today think Easter is about bunnies and Easter Egg hunts (which I like) and maybe even lots of chocolate (which I really like). Ham dinners for some of us, which is kind of funny since Jesus was Jewish, and family gatherings. All of these things are fine. Good traditions along with others that you might have in particular. But Easter is not about that. Easter is about the fact that there was death. Sobbing and crying all around and bitter wailing. A long wait of despair with disciples sequestered inside, self-quarantining for their own safety. Hope seemed gone...

The pandemic is real. Just because we shouldn't go overboard and be completely fearful doesn't make it less real. Usually, I don't get to save a life or help someone's health. When I do it is usually more immediate. But just because being smart now and being more healthful won't bring results I can see now or perhaps ever, doesn't mean I shouldn't do what I can now and in the future. The life you and I improve may be the life of a nurse or doctor who isn't overwhelmed this su mmer at a hospital by people who are very ill. We may save the life of a stranger and we'll never know it. I for one would rather be cautious and potentially not only save a life but also the pain of the many who won't die but will get very sick. So don't panic. Trust in God. Jesus healed because people were sick, for real. Pray for people. If it doesn't get as bad as it might that's a good thing, not a cause for derision. Please be safe my frien...

Ever find yourself wanting to learn more to stretch your mind and get out of the rut of a life that everyday living can bring? You want to have more to talk about with others and even more, you just want to have more in your head to feel you aren’t just being stagnant with your own education or ideas. There is actually a pretty simple solution to this. Books. I’m not talking about books you don’t care about and books someone else thinks you should read. I’m talking about all kinds of books that you have heard about but never bothered to read. You have been too busy and how could you possibly take time to read for fun and to stretch yourself on a variety of topics. Once again let me say it. There is a very simple solution to this. Books. But don’t read them, listen to them. Use some of the time that you have to yourself to listen to a good book of fiction, a classic book you always wondered about but never bothered to read, or a book on a topic of interest to you now. ...

I remember when I was a Sophomore in High School adjusting to the school district having reassigned high school students from Victory to Franklin High School. I had gone to Victory from fifth grade through ninth grade and had such great friends there and then the districts merged and we had to go by bus 25 miles each way because there was a bridge out along the way. 50 miles each day on the bus with friends from my old school and then thrust into the mix of students from Franklin High School. It wasn’t my choice. I was reassigned. Then in the middle of my Junior year of High School after only being there for a year and a half my Dad was reassigned from one church he pastored to another, from a village to a town. We only moved a half dozen miles or so but it was a different school district, Grove City, and once again I was displaced. It was my third high school and I was with people I didn’t know at all. It wasn’t my choice. I had been reassigned schools because my Dad was reassi...

Today, October 2, you would have been 96 years old. We would have talked about how close you were getting to being one century old and we would have eaten cake and had balloons and laughed and I would have told you how much I loved you. You would have smiled and kissed me as I bent to kiss you and give you a hug and feel yours in return. Instead of getting close to a century-old you left before reaching a half-century. 49 just wasn’t old enough especially since I only knew you 22 of those years. When I last saw you I didn’t recognize you because you looked so old and frail in that hospital bed. We didn’t know that I would be the last one to see you alive. I would have stayed longer if I just would have known. And I know you would have stayed longer if you could have. I’ll never forget that last summer when I was home and wishing I wasn’t, wishing I was still with my friends from college where I had just graduated but instead I was home with you and Dad. I felt so alone ...

Yesterday I decided to go through paper files. I don't have a lot of them any more but I started in a little and then ended up keeping going. I have pictures and cards of/from my family and those were fun to see. I found poetry and music from myself and others. I have an Affirmation file that my good friend Jim Moss, Sr. advised me to start years ago. In that I read cards and notes and letters  from people over the years who affirmed me. I admit it, it was good to get those when they first arrived over the years and great to have now to remember the good times and good people. From Findlay Workshop I have 25 years of schedules, my very first name tag I got (1965), a few pictures, and even a couple of letters I wrote to myself when we did that on the Thursday night. All those in one file and lots more memories in my heart. I have original manuscripts of songs I wrote mostly by hand. And now...poems, letters, sermons, and more by my Dad. Lots of favorite files but one that at l...

I was listening to a book the other day and the author suggested that a good way to actually engage in conversation with people who have different ideas than ours is to say, "of course, I could be wrong." It really struck me, something that I would have to keep thinking about and seeing how I felt about that. What would it mean if on any issue on which I have an opinion, obviously thinking that I am correct, that I would express myself and also say, "of course, I could be wrong." If I were on the receiving end of that phrase wouldn't I be glad that they were open to that possibility and wouldn't it draw me in more to a real discussion? The problem is that I can get very opinionated. Oh, I may cover that up better than some (or most, if I really am expressing my opinion here ;) but I still have deeply held thoughts that have become very important to me. I think I 'm right and so that means that others are wrong. We need to have right and wrong beliefs,...

Five years ago, March 2010, God showed me that we should plant churches in North Carolina.   Not knowing anyone there, I posted an ad on Craigslist which remained unanswered for 16 months. No one responded, not even a bad candidate. Not even a response trying to sell me something. Nothing at all. I had one person as my prayer partner on this. Then I reposted it in July 2011. That time I began to get responses immediately. I often think about, what if I had not posted it again? What if I had just let the idea go? No one responded and only a couple of people knew I had even thought about this so it would have been easy to think of it as just one idea that didn't work. Sometimes it takes time and I am so thankful I didn't let it go. By September of that year, 2011, several of us went to Raleigh and began to meet and interview possible church planters. Meanwhile I kept working as Worship Pastor in Dover, Pennsylvania at Friendship Community Church. At that point I started taki...

Today I am packing again. Seems like I just got home from a vacation trip a few days ago...and before that a trip south...and before that... Anyway, I do like to travel and I like to help people who help people fall in love with Jesus...over and over. I am one of those people who continually falls in love with Jesus and am so thankful for his love for me. So tonight I will fly out of Baltimore Washington International airport, BWI, to Charlotte, North Carolina. Today is the  start of a 12 day trip, ( it would be a minor trip for Justin Meier   , a close by trip for Don Dennison and Ben Tobias and Caleb and Christina Acosta. And yes, I will pack it all in one suitcase. The memories from this trip will fill more than the biggest of suitcases. The friendships, the conversations, the laughs, the sometimes difficult discussions...and trying to be true to Jesus through it all. I am far from perfect. And I am so in wonder that God would use a person like me to impact the w...

Lately I have been walking a lot of evenings while listening to audio books on my phone. I enjoy the exercise, saying hello occasionally to people along the way, and I notice the sky a lot more than I used to do. Sometimes I stop and take pictures along the way and then pick up my pace as I head forward. One book that I have been listening to is Bonhoeffer, Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy: A Righteous Gentile vs. the Third Reich by Eric Metaxas. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German who was a Christian in the early 1900's until his death in 1945. There is much to learn about him from studying his life as would be the case with all of us I suppose. Finding out how I grew up in the home of Lester and Louise Thornton with Rosalyn and David as siblings would show a lot about some of the way that I am. Hearing my Dad tell a joke, a pun, would certainly make a person stop and realize where I got it from. Biography just shows us things, it is not good or bad. It just points out what happen...