Pastor's Pen

  Pastor’s Pen, This Sunday: Daniel: How to Live by Convictions                                                         Daniel 1:1-21   We live in a day when convictions are not popular. These days opinion polls dominate the landscape. Politicians operate on the basis of them, lifestyles are embraced based on what's popular, marketing is driven by research and regarding what people want, and everyone wants to be politically correct. It seems like no one wants to go against the grain. It in our day it is critical that we learn to cultivate biblical convictions and live by them. There is probably no better example that shows how to do this than the familiar story of Daniel. I trust God would use his story to help us develop and maintain biblical convictions. ***** We appreciate those who help sanitize our facilities for services each Saturday morning in in in in in in in in in in in preparation for Sunday worship as well as those who make it possible for us to ‘live-stream’ on

  Pastor’s Pen, This Sunday: Jeremiah: Recovering from Hopeless Despair                                       Lamentations 3:17-25   Have you ever felt yourself in a situation where you were overwhelmed with feelings of despair? You tried to figure out a solution, maybe even prayed about your circumstances. But they just seem to be no way out. Over the years, many of my radio callers have expressed despair. I remember Stacy, who called him two weeks before Christmas, feeling suicidal because of marriage breakup, a lost job, and children who were rejecting her. My friend Ron, after years of faithful service was fired from his pastoral position the same week he and his wife discovered their 10-year-old daughter had osteosarcoma.  Despair touched our lives and our family the night we received a phone call telling us our grandson Albert had died at age 21.  Despair is a feeling of utter hopelessness, and because of that the ultimate antidote for despair is hope. We learn from Pau

  Pastor’s Pen, This Sunday: Isaiah: Vision for Revival                                                                                Isaiah 6:1-13   If there's one word that seems to characterize our day, it's complacency . Times have been tough, COVID has disrupted life in so many ways, and while we dislike much about how life is going, we collectively don't seem to be willing to do much about it.  One example is in the area of unemployment. Because our government has been willing to subsidize with greater unemployment benefits, often more than individuals can earn on the job, many businesses are finding it hard to hire enough people to keep their operation going. Churches are affected in terms of attendance. When COVID struck, a large number of churches, including ours,  begin streaming our services live online. Now that our church and others have opened back up, many people have found it much easier to sit on the couch in pajamas rather than attend worship with o

  Pastor’s Pen, This Sunday: Jehoshaphat: Facing an Impossible Situation                                        2 Chronicles 20:1-21 Have you ever been in a situation when you're back was against the wall and, humanly speaking, there was no way out? What do you do in a situation like that?  King Jehoshaphat, one of the good Kings of Judah in the Old Testament, faced just such a situation. A massive enemy army was invading his kingdom, and they were only 15 miles away from Jerusalem.  Perhaps you have faced some threatening news that affected your future, your health, your resources or even your life. If so, I believe you will find encouragement as we consider the life of King Jehoshaphat. ***** We appreciate those who help sanitize our facilities for services each Saturday morning in in in in in in in in in in in preparation for Sunday worship as well as those who make it possible for us to ‘live-stream’ on Facebook at 10:45 each Sunday morning, and to post each Sunday’s mes

  Pastor’s Pen, This Sunday: Job: Responding to Multiple Trials                                                                         Job 1:1-22 Whenever we hear of someone going through multiple trials and difficulties-- and there are many people, including some of us here, experiencing adversity these days—our minds frequently go to the person so often associated with trials in the Bible,. Job was a Godly and wealthy man labeled “the greatest man of the East” in Scripture. Yet through a series of disasters he essentially lost everything—possessions, children, even his personal health. His wife suggested he curse God and die. His three friends insisted he confess some alleged hidden sin in his life.  Like us when enduring trials, Job likely asked why. Yet the book of Job doesn't answer the ‘why’ question. Instead the focus is on lessons Job learned through the multiple adversities he suffered, and how we can apply those lessons during hard times today. ***** We appreciate