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Hello all! I hope you are staying cool/warm today. I don’t know how it feels outside right now and it could be scorching or freezing this time of year, so I just hope you’re comfortable. Did you guys ever hear your parents (or another person in a position of authority) respond to your questions with a “Because I said so!?” Probably so, as I think most all of us have heard that at some point in our lives. It’s a great go-to that used to frustrate me as a child, but now treasure as an adult. If...
It would come as no surprise to people who know me that my favorite books and movies are “The Lord of the Rings.” And even those of you who do not know me will now be unsurprised to hear it because now I’ve told you. Anyway, in one particular scene in the movie the evil wizard, Saruman, is trying to convince the good wizard, Gandalf, to join him in using the Ring of Power to gain unlimited power and basically rule the world. Here’s the problem though: The ring was made by someone named Sauron wh...
My church and I have recently celebrated the Advent season in preparation for the Christmas celebration. If you don’t know what Advent is, that’s all right; that shouldn’t matter. To put it simply, it’s an ancient church tradition that believers engage in to prepare our hearts, minds and attitudes to properly appreciate and celebrate the birth of our Savior. We do that by focusing on a different word every Sunday. The first Sunday was the word “HOPE” and while the celebration is now behind us,...
I grew up hearing the term “double-edged sword” but wasn’t 100% sure what it meant. I knew that there was a scripture (Hebrews 4:12) that compared the Word of God to a double-edged sword, but nobody ever explained to me what it was. It wasn’t until I was in junior high that a random history lesson revealed to me what it was and, like millions of other moments in my life, I felt like a complete idiot. It’s a sword that’s sharp on both edges. Of course it is. I should not have had to have that e...
I believe in Christ crucified, risen and coming again. I believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven and there is no other Name by which anyone can be saved. However, the longer I live and observe, the more I realize that sometimes we need to ask ourselves if what we say is important to us really IS important to us. You see, it’s very easy to say certain things about ourselves, even if they’re true; it’s a whole other thing to actualize these things into our lives in a way t...
I’ve been a Christian for a long time. Most of my life, actually, and I have learned to trust God through the highs, lows and in-betweens. I’ve experienced Him pull me through (sometimes kicking and screaming) some incredibly dark periods of my life and there has never been a single instance in which I found myself disappointed or left in the dust by the One in whom I have placed my life and my trust. Long story short, I have never been given a reason not to trust my Jesus. But even at that … I...
Hello all and I hope that everyone who is reading this is healthy and happy! I mean that sentiment now more than I ever have. As the Christmas seasons rolls up on us, many of us are feeling different than we usually do this time of year. Our typical holiday cheer has, in many cases, been replaced with holiday frustration and even some quantities of fear, disillusionment and frustration. While I can’t write, type or otherwise verbalize anything that can fix our current situation, I can proudly and humbly point us all to the one who remains u...
This past Sunday I talked to the congregation about prayer. I realize that some of them may be reading this (if you are, HI!) but I’m gonna take a chance at repeating myself to a few of them by sharing with you just a little of what I shared with them this morning. There are an awful lot of needs we all have right now. We are living in crazy times and it seems like nobody knows exactly what the next few hours will hold, let alone the next few months! This has, I suspect, led to an awful lot o...
Hello all! I hope you are all healthy, happy and navigating these unbelievably kooky times with all the grace that God will provide. With all the absolute nuttiness sweeping our world and culture right now, it’s a daunting task to attempt to figure out what to highlight in a section of the newspaper that I only write for once every few months. But, with all things, I tend to default to the idea that our spiritual health and relationship with Jesus Christ trumps anything at any time, so I’d like...
Hello, Church! That's right, I called you Church and I even capitalized it so you know I mean business. I hope that you guys are staying safe, being responsible, and enjoying the myriad of new worship and ministry options that have sprung up recently. It has been a frustrating time for all of us as we learn to adjust, but I want to try to offer you a little bit of encouragement if I possibly can right now. I know that there is much uncertainty in many people's minds regarding what is happening,...
Happy end of February, everyone! I know that’s a weird thing to celebrate, but in these post-holiday seasons you must take what you can get! Now, to anyone who knows me this should come as no surprise at all, but I must confess something to you. Are you ready, because it’s a shocker? Alright, here goes: there are people who are better than me at pretty much everything I do. Now, I know that comes as a surprise to most of you and several of you may have just woken up from passing out due to the bomb I just laid on you, but it’s true. Even the th...
Have you ever made a mistake? Dumb question, right? Of course you have and of course I have. As a matter of fact, there are times in my life when it seems as if I make more mistakes in a given day than not. Case in point: As most of you know (as evidenced by you currently reading this article) I, along with my other fellow pastors, occasionally write devotions for this paper. I’ve been doing it for a while now and it’s something that I consistently look forward to doing. Well, I was supposed to...
Ever have one of those times when you tried so hard to do something, but it just wouldn’t work or come together? The most frustrating of these times is when the failure is through no apparent fault of our own. We, perceivably, do everything right and yet it doesn’t work. The answer is “Yes. Yes, you have.” We’ve all had days (heck, I’ve had months!) where even our best efforts do not yield results. It can be incredibly demoralizing, but it’s a great opportunity for us to realize that sometime...
Hey, boys and girls! I hope you’re enjoying the tail-end of summer and getting outdoors with your family and friends before cold weather settles in. Our Wednesday night Bible study group has been going through the parables of Jesus Christ (not every single one of them, but a lot of them) and recently we read through Mark 13:24-33. This is the parable of the fig tree and it wasn’t the only time that a fig tree came up as an object lesson from Jesus. In this instance Jesus used the budding of the...
Good morning! Or afternoon, or whatever. You’re an American; you’re allowed to read the paper any time of the day you want. I hope this article finds you doing well and living in the peace and joy that only our savior can bring! As a pastor, I put together lots of sermons, devotions, talks, etc. – several a week. And although I strive my best to always present an accurate and easy-to-understand presentation of the gospel and particulars of the Bible, I am still a human being and I do not know ev...
Hello Alva! (Or wherever you happen to be reading this.) I hope you’re enjoying yourselves, but mostly, I hope you’re living with the joy of serving Christ as your King! On Sunday morning, our church has been going through the book of 1 Samuel and while it is a book filled with all sorts of exciting, miraculous and even funny things going on from chapter to chapter, one theme that runs through it (and the whole Bible itself for that matter) is that God is still God whether we act like He is or n...
