Eric Needle

I can’t believe we are in mid-August already! Where does the time go? At one of the Dollar stores I saw that Halloween candy and supplies are out and ready for purchase. A clerk says Christmas merchandise is on the way! It won’t be long and they will have their Valentine’s Day products out I am sure. Labor Day, the official end of summer, is 3 weeks from the time I am writing this and...

I now know misery like I never have before. I know physical pain, bruising, swelling and the joy of pain medication! I know what it’s like to have 3 people in your mouth! I had a tooth pulled Friday after losing a partial bridge Thursday! I get dental work done at the IUPUI dental clinic where senior students work with you (overseen by dentists) and it’s cheaper. So, anyway, there I was Friday afternoon getting...

I felt it right as I left the parking lot. It stayed with me all the way home and still does today. I faced traffic on the way home and fought to stay awake. When I got out of the car at the gas station they looked at me kind of funny. I looked down at my cross and nametag and wished I was back on the mountaintop. The “it” I’m talking about is what...

The National Gathering for our beloved VDC begins this week at Augustana College in Illinois! To me attending a national weekend is like an extension of my own weekend when I went through. Fellowship, Worship, listening to talks on the Christian life and the VDC life…it’s awesome. Do you remember your weekend? Remember the feelings, the fear and trepidation melting in to incredible joy at the end of the weekend?  I remember my table, I...

I only had a little gas left in the lawn mower so I hoped and prayed it would be enough to finish the yard. I didn’t feel like taking the container and refilling it. I wasn’t feeling 100%, tired, and really didn’t want to cut grass at all yesterday in this humidity. But grass waits for no one and away I went. I am down to the end of the yard and the lawnmower starts...

Every time I plugged in the green electrical cord into my garage outlet a fuse would blow. It didn’t seem right that there were a few sparks coming from the plug-in nor did it seem right to have the fuse go out every time. I even tried different outlets outside the house because I desperately needed to trim my yard and home with my electric trimmer! So my handyman brother suggested there may be a...

Grace, peace, and mercy from God: Father, Son, Holy Spirit! Let’s focus on the first word of this greeting as an encouragement in our walk with God and our work in this ministry: Grace. What a marvelous word! Volumes have, and will be, written on the subject. The second talk of a Via de Cristo weekend is titled “Grace” and energizes the process of renewing our relationship with the creator, redeemer, and sanctifier of the...

Self-loathing. It’s a term that I recently heard that describes how we feel about ourselves. If my 20 years of experience in ministry tells me anything at all, I know that at one time or another we have all done some self-loathing. We generally don’t like ourselves very well, the bar of self-expectation is very high. Most of the time, we loathe (hate) our outer appearances be it hair, weight, or something else about our...

Good Day Friends! I have a poor sense of direction and I admit it! I get lost pretty easily and don’t quite have the hang of how best to use my phone, etc. This problem of being “directionally challenged” reared its ugly head when I went Saturday to perform a wedding. This particular city near me (Lafayette, Indiana) also has several state highways coming through town plus interstate I-65 and Purdue’s campus. Like a lot...

Sunday he came up to me after church to chat. This is his custom whenever I sub at his congregation. I served on team when he made his weekend several years ago and we have even served on teams together over the years. I have always admired his son making his weekend and what that might have been like for this father and son. He doesn’t reunion with anyone, he doesn’t really fellowship with anybody...

Brothers and sisters in Christ: I came into work today and there was a note attached to my keyboard that said “Blessings to you, Doug” and was a surprise! I love receiving notes/cards and I think you do also. In our overly electronic world we have lost the fine art of sending a hand written note or card to one another. Years ago I attended a workshop where it was suggested that we mail a...

Ok, time to confess. I’ve been holding back, haven’t talked about it, but it’s time. Sometimes you can keep secrets, sometimes you can’t. I love the music of Barry Manilow! Bam! It’s out there, I feel better. I’ve loved his music since the 70’s and just really believe his lyrics to be so, so powerful. Who among us doesn’t have a “Mandy” or a “Mark” (whatever the name might be for a boyfriend you let...