About this author:

Carl Buffington

Carl Buffington

Carl Buffington is a bishop in Anglican Mission International (AMI). He has been in ministry for over forty years. He lives in Florida with his wife Barb and their lively golden retriever, Sammy.

Shell Alive!

March 10th, 2024 by Carl Buffington

Shall We Shell?

My wife Barb is an avid sheller and gifted shell finder. I'm her assistant. Of course, Sanibel is notorious for its shells, but then, we are not in the shell hot zone of Sanibel. 

We stay at a place called ''Tween Waters. It's between Sanibel and Captiva Islands. 

That's' not to say the shelling there isn't good. It is...just not as good.

 Not to grumble, but we have oodles of glass containers, even a rather large one shaped like a fish, all around our home filled with seashells. We even have framed shells on our walls, along with prints of shells framed on the walls.

We are beach people.  

Today, the last day of our five-day vacation together, we walked and talked about how shells remind us of just how great our Creator is.

Love Jesus

March 29th, 2023 by Carl Buffington

I love these words from Raymond Brown, a prominent New Testament scholar.  “How did the following of Jesus which involved love for him survive after he died? 

The answer, I suggest, is that it survived only because love for Jesus was looked on as an ongoing element, even among those who never knew him during his ministry.”  (From The Churches the Apostles Left Behind, by Raymond E. Brown p. 97)

Sometimes the love for Jesus is extravagant.  Here are a couple of images of extravagant love from John’s gospel.  

One is Mary, the sister to Lazarus and Martha, anointing Jesus at dinner. And the other is Peter being asked over and over again if he really loves Jesus. I think something beautiful was going on inside the heart of both Mary and Peter.

Are You  Set for Life?

March 28th, 2023 by Carl Buffington

In 1962 Decca Recording Company rejected the Beatles.  They said, ‘We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.”

In 1977 Ken Olson, Chairman of Digital Equipment Co., said, ‘There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.”

Sometimes we miss what lies ahead. 

How to  Love Well This Lent

March 13th, 2023 by Carl Buffington

At the end of my days, I would like my epitaph to read something like, 

“Here lies Carl, he loved well.”

Perhaps even before the end of my days. It is said that Annie Dillard said, “The way we live our lives is the way we live our days.“ 

So I have decided that I would even like to hear at the end of Lent’s days, “Carl Loved Well this Lent.”  

 Yes, at the end of Lent and Life, I’d like to have loved well.

How do you love others well?

I like to add to Annie’s saying, that the way we live our days is the way we live our moments.  So nowadays, I try and keep an eye out for “holy moments.”  

I saw one while visiting family in North Carolina a few months ago. 

Be Loved

March 7th, 2023 by Carl Buffington

“Will you help me find my mommy?”  It was a small shaky voice, from a 5ish-year-old named Tommy, that I heard that gorgeous spring morning. 

I had settled into what had seemed to be a deserted pool area at the hotel, found a lounge chair and table, and posited a pile of books.  It was Lent and I was on a quest, wanting to see again and anew the enormity of God’s love manifest on the Friday we call Good. 

Reflecting on Salt and Light in Lent

February 21st, 2023 by Carl Buffington

Time and time again I failed horribly at giving up chocolate for Lent.  It was worse than any New Year’s resolution I might have made.  So, long ago, I decided to take up, not give up, things for Lent.  What to take up?

Do Be Do Be Do: During Lent

February 20th, 2023 by Carl Buffington

I am excited to hear stories about the revival at Asbury College in KY.  Our daughter-in-law went to be part of it a few days ago.  In the mid-90s, I traveled to revivals in Brownsville, FL, and another in Toronto.  People, like me I suppose, want to be where God is moving mightily, where lives are being touched, changed, and healed.  Maybe we want to see him up close?  Want to be with God.

Is Home a Person, Place, or Thing?

February 16th, 2022 by Carl Buffington

“We’ve checked into the hotel earth overnight on our way to the heavenly Jerusalem.  Earth is not our home.”  I heard Brennan Manning say these words many times.  

So where is our home?

A Different Kind of Christmas Story

December 27th, 2021 by Carl Buffington

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.
 
  When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.
 
  About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands.
 

The Greatest Story Ever

November 18th, 2021 by Carl Buffington

Advent draws us closer and closer into the greatest story ever.  It’s a story told and retold in thousands of ways, for literally thousands of years. And with all the ways of telling the tale, it’s critical we get it right.

Bishop Ivan Sikha has built a large ministry in India, and elsewhere, using storytelling.  He uses 20 plus stories from the Bible.  When he trains his storytellers in telling the stories, he shares them orally and then asks the listeners to repeat them.  When they add or delete part of the story, Ivan has them do it again, and again, until it is correct.  Thousands have come to know Jesus Christ through these stories.  And his ministry in India continues to flourish.

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