Our Blog Words of Encouragement & Useful Resources

I grew up blessed by a mother who was an excellent baker. If mom didn’t have a pie, cake, and cookies available at all times, she felt as if she had failed in her responsibility to her family. I learned a critical lesson as I watched her create her culinary...

Things around us are changing ever faster these days. It’s hard to keep up with world events, much less understand the “whys” behind those events. Positions we’ve taken for granted on foundational issues such as gender, marriage, family, fairness, and even what...

Aviators are familiar with the “1 in 60” rule, which can be expressed as “for every sixty miles a pilot flies with a one-degree heading error, the plane will be one mile off course.” An implication is that even a small mistake in direction over time can cause a pilot...

The evening after the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine began, I received a two-word text from a relative that directly communicated his feelings: “It’s scary!” Indeed, life circumstances (name your issue: the economy, the pandemic, terrorism, inflation, family...

If you took physics in high school, you might remember Newton's Laws of Motion, one of which is “objects at rest tend to remain at rest, and objects in motion tend to remain in motion.” The force created by motion is “momentum”--“the impetus gained by a moving...

The turn of a new year is traditionally a time for new focus, new passion, and new direction. Questions like “what should I give up,” “what should I pursue,” and “in what should I invest my resources” bubble around us. The pivot points of those questions are often the...

In an oft-played Christmas favorite, John Lennon and Yoko Ono sing, “So this is Christmas, and what have you done? Another year older, a new one just begun…” Few Christmas songs share such a direct challenge to personal evaluation, but the question is an appropriate...

As we enter the Thanksgiving season, thoughts turn to thankfulness in general and to thankfulness for God’s blessings in particular. We celebrate the joy of all that Jesus has done for us through his death and resurrection—forgiveness granted, eternal life provided,...

“Give me that old time religion, give me that old time religion, give me that old time religion—it's good enough for me!” So goes the chorus of the oft-quoted song, considered a plea to remain faithful to the “old ways” in the face of trendy innovations, which by...

“‘Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,’ says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” (Isaiah 54:10) Reflecting on the uncertainty that marks so many aspects of our...

Our Camp Meeting, held July 18-24, 2021, was a great success this year! If you were unable to attend, here are some of the messages from our camp.                        

My wife and I recently stopped by “Cedar Bog,“ a nature preserve outside of Urbana, Ohio. The welcome center host there will quickly inform all visitors that Cedar Bog is incorrectly named—it is actually a “fen.” The oft-repeated clarifying statement there is “bogs...

Last month, I shared about how God’s heart for churches is that we intentionally think beyond just getting “bigger” to engage our call to go “wider.” Jesus’ Acts 1:8 instructions are to multiply disciple making efforts in an ever-expanding geographic circle, not just...

A common evaluation question for the health of a church is “are you growing?” The underlying assumption is that God wants churches to grow, and I agree—with an important qualifier as to the type of growth God seeks. Growth is usually measured by addition in the...

Jesus’ command in the Great Commission, Matthew 28:18-20, is to make disciples. His desire is that, “going, baptizing, and teaching,” we would be about the work of disciple multiplication. Therefore, if we claim to be obedient to Jesus, we must answer these basic...