belief – Page 2 – DAVE GIPSON

Another Day in Paradise

beliefMarch 11, 20251KViews 0Likes 0Comments

I remember the first time I fantasized about retirement. I was in my early 40s, and the church I served was thriving. In the 5 years I’d been there, we’d grown from around 900 to over 2000 in worship each Sunday. My choir loft had over 100 people crowding it each Sunday, plus an orchestra…

MASQUERADE

beliefMarch 6, 20256KViews 0Likes 0Comments

From hanging out with lots of pastors, worship leaders, and stage actors, I’ve been blessed to have lots of friends who are performers… Yes, performers: each one of those groups are quite skilled performers. I know that may make some people bristle, because they consider performing to imply something is fake. But every person who…

Kind, Powerful Words

beliefFebruary 27, 20252KViews 0Likes 2Comments

I’m looking back now on this picture taken two years ago, when I was sitting in the room pictured above. I had been working on a full-scale musical in that chair, in front of that keyboard pictured for about 10 years at that point. Writing a show is a long process of stops and starts.…

The Age of Opinion

beliefFebruary 13, 2025819Views 0Likes 0Comments

You may not have noticed a huge shift began in news media back in the 90s. Instead of reporting the news, whole channels were created to tell you what they thought about the news. These channels, on all sides of the political spectrum, grew and have now overwhelmed any pretense of simply reporting facts. In…

A Mountain Every Morning

beliefJanuary 30, 2025605Views 0Likes 0Comments

I loved to run when I was younger. Just a 30 minute run could give you quite a rush of endorphins. That short amount of aerobic exertion could make me feel pretty peaceful for the rest of the day. And peace is a commodity of which I could always use more. But the older I…

Why I Post

beliefJanuary 17, 2025686Views 0Likes 0Comments

I thought I’d take a moment and explain why I post some things I do, especially on my personal Facebook page. You may not realize most of what I put there is quite intentional, with a purpose. I’m sure you’ve noticed I post a lot of humor, and I do that for a couple of…

Where we’ll never grow old…

beliefJanuary 15, 2025475Views 0Likes 0Comments

"I have heard of a land On the faraway strand 'Tis a beautiful home of the soul Built by Jesus on high There we never shall die 'Tis the land where we'll never grow old..." I’ve discovered, to my surprise, I don’t really know how to have fun. Part of the problem is I really…

A Light in the Darkness

belief, ChristmasDecember 26, 2024461Views 0Likes 0Comments

There’s a certain odd hush that comes upon a town at Christmas Eve. It’s not that people aren’t still working — those days when everyone got off work for Christmas are gone. But a calm still descends as families gather, and the majority of stores shut off their lights and workers head home. That’s the…

Careless Whispers

beliefNovember 2, 20242KViews 0Likes 0Comments

A few years back, I wrote a song about gossip called “BIG MOUTH”. To soften some of the tough truths in the lyrics, I set the song in the context of an old Science Fiction movie from the 50s. The Big Mouth destroying the church was a gigantic monster, stomping on steeples like Godzilla did…

Saturday

beliefNovember 2, 20242KViews 0Likes 0Comments

I love the rhythm of the week that finally winds down into a sleepy Saturday. With our two little girls, it’s the one day we get to sleep late. Since Sundays are usually full at church, we try to keep our Saturdays slow and easy. Saturdays can be deceptive, though. We trudge through the early…

When you’re a father…

belief, parentingOctober 24, 2024763Views 0Likes 0Comments

My girls are taking swimming lessons now. One has almost perform form on her strokes. Watching her swim is a thing of beauty. But the other one? She flails about like a goose trying to take off. Her arms flap on top of the water like a basset hound’s oversized ears. Does watching her give…

About your political posts…

beliefAugust 26, 2024959Views 0Likes 0Comments

I remember a friend of mine in Florida who made a big push for his church to hand out bottles of water on the beach during the summer. “We want to show people the love of Jesus!” Ok, that’s important. “We want people to know we care!” Well, sure we do. “So here’s what we’re…