In order to spend time with my family, (my daughter and family or my siblings and parents), requires me to travel on the highway. I travel north to visit my daughter, son-in-law and grandson. And, travel south, which I was blessed to do this past weekend, to see my two sisters and two of my…
In Ephesians 3:20, Paul writes: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…” I love those words because they remind me of the amazing things God can do with ordinary people, like me. It reminds me of…
I’ve been loving the beautiful fall weather. I’m pretty sure it was on a sunny fall day like the ones we’ve been having lately that novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote, “I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house. So, I spend almost all the daylight hours in the…
There’s a wonderful story about a king who was growing old and had no son to succeed him. So, a competition was held among all the young men of the land, until only three were left. The final competition was to be a footrace. The instructions were clear: when the referee shouted “Go!”, the runners…
A couple weeks ago in our Wednesday night Life group, we watched this speaker share on the power of vulnerability. This is not something we really want to feel. To put ourselves out there wholeheartedly, (our true, raw, unpolished, vulnerable selves), among those we come across in life, even with our loved ones, it is…
The Bible makes it clear that good works won’t make God love us any more than God already does. But the Bible also directs us to be “doers of the word and not hearers only.” Sometimes that’s easy and sometimes it’s not. Years ago, when I was a young minister, I had a difficult situation…
If you attended 10:05 Worship this week (or have seen the post on our Facebook page) you were as blessed by our precious Heavenly Melodies group as the pastors for whom they sang. “Carry Your Candle” by Kathy Troccoli has long been a favorite of mine. As they sang, my mind went back to Infant…
At a church I once served, the first time I walked into the youth room I noticed a line of stick figures had been painted on the wall. They were holding hands and encircling the entire room. It wasn’t until I’d been there a while that I noticed one of the stick figures was upside…
As your pastor, I often hear stories about how our church is having an impact on people’s lives. The other day, Tammy was talking to one of our newer members, who told her that her family went through a rough patch recently and she needed some extra help with food. She soon found out that…
Let the budget process begin! I have decided to use my remaining articles this year to give you all some “basic” insights into the church budget process. A budget cycle has four phases: (1) preparation and submission, (2) approval, (3) execution, and (4) evaluation. Currently the Stewardship & Finance Committee along with me are evaluating…