The pastor of Bethlehem United Methodist Church is the Rev.
B.J. Brack.  Rev. Brack grew up about 100 miles north of Clarksville in Henderson, Ky.  He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro, Ky.  And a Master's of Divinity Degree from Vanderbilt Divinity School.  He was ordained elder in the United Methodist Church in June of 2002.  He has served the Bethlehem United Methodist Church since June of 2001 with his wife, Laura, and their two sons, Alex and Jacob.  The last two years we have also had two new "adopted" members of our family as we have hosted two exchange students from Germany- Franziska Seidel and Diana Hasanovic.     

From the Pastor
There is a story about two Italian sculptors and contemporaries, Donatello and Michelangelo.  One day Donatello received delivery of a huge block of marble. After examining it carefully, he rejected the marble because it was too flawed and cracked for him to use.  Now this was long before forklifts, so the workmen moved the heavy load by using log rollers.  Rather than take the log back to the quarry, they decided to deliver it down the street to Michelangelo.  After all, he was known to be a little absent minded.  He might not realize that he had not ordered a three ton block of marble. When Michelangelo inspected the marble, he saw the same cracks and flaws, but he also saw the block as a challenge to his artistic skills.  So Michelangelo accepted the block of marble and he proceeded to carve from that flawed and useless piece of marble what is considered to be one of the world's greatest art treasures- the statue of David.                                   

Lent is the season of the year when we think about the cracks and flaws in our lives- those things that separate us from God.  In these 40 days of preparation, we are to repent or turn away from the our flaws and turn toward God.  When we turn toward God and allow God to shape our lives- we become one of the world's greatest treasures.   B.J.