The snow just keeps coming! As I write this, we are expecting another big snowstorm on Tuesday night. My wife, Tammy, who has been teaching in the Midwest for many years, doesn’t remember a winter as bad as this one in terms of school cancelations. Unfortunately, many of the snowstorms we have had over the…
I recently read an article pointing out we are the difference-maker representing God to those just getting to know Jesus, or folks who can’t yet understand why we set aside what we have for the benefit of “church”. Think about it this way: Most folks acknowledge, or are at least aware of Jesus at Christmas…
My parents recognized early on they needed to handle each of their children in very different ways. For me, one of the worst punishments was being sent to my room by myself. My sister, on the other hand, was a different story. As an introvert, the best discipline for her was to make her sit…
Time is getting closer… for our Adult Mission trip to Puerto Rico to help rebuild homes damaged from two hurricanes in 2017. This will be my first ever mission trip but, with no doubt, I will be traveling with many “veterans” of mission trips that will guide and direct me! This is something I have…
While the Super Bowl was being broadcast on Sunday evening, I was driving to Louisville, Kentucky for a meeting with other recipients of the Louisville Institute grant for pastoral study projects. My project won’t happen until next year around this time, but this is a required part of the process laid out by the Lilly…
What a great question I was asked by a child desiring a relationship with their Heavenly Father. God already knows what we are going to ask for and God knows what is on our heart. Do we believe that our prayers will change God’s plans and circumstances? Is there another reason for us to pray?…
Years ago, in the Soviet Union, the Communist party tried to eradicate religious belief – with no success. If they’d paid attention to history, they would’ve known that persecution just makes the Church stronger. Their other mistake was that they severely underestimated the faith of their own people, especially the babushkas (or grandmothers). One Sunday…
Last month, before Christmas, one Sunday morning we were running a little late, and so I was anxiously in a hurry to get to church. I got Ollie all buckled in to his car seat, everybody got in, and I zoomed out of the garage! But the problem was that I had failed to close…
I recently heard a story about a church that was looking for a new pastor. The leaders of the church sat down with their regional minister and she asked them what they wanted in their new pastor. “Someone who can attract young families,” they all agreed. The regional minister asked, “What is it about your…
This past week, Mom and I found a bag of my sister’s clothing; I kept a couple items. Sunday, words from Saturday’s sermon rang in my memory “the light reveals things we couldn’t or didn’t want to see before”. A black shirt at home did not reveal what sunlight in the church parking lot did…