The History Channel does a, “This Day in History” where they find interesting facts about things that happened all over the world on that certain day. For example, on Jan.16th, the day I am writing this, these are a few of the things mentioned; Prohibition is ratified by the States on 1-16-1919 Benny Goodman brings … [Read more…]
This is the time of year when we naturally think of beginnings and endings. We end one year with a sense of reflection and begin a new year with looking ahead. We look forward with hope, another year, another chance, a new day. Or we look forward without it, carrying with us the fears, the … [Read more…]
This week I was made aware of the opening pages of Ronald Reagan’s autobiography, An American Life. In it he writes, “I was raised to believe that God had a plan for everyone and that seemingly random twists of fate are all a part of His plan. My mother, a small woman with auburn hair … [Read more…]
Last year, the most popular New Year’s Resolution in the state of Indiana was to save more money. In fact, every state’s most popular resolution fell into only seven categories: Save more money, lose weight, get in shape, find a new job, take better care of self, learn a new skill, and eat healthier. … [Read more…]
In John Gibson’s book “The War on Christmas” he shares several case studies of places where Christmas is under fire. It talks about a school in Georgia that had a suit declared from the ACLU changing Christmas vacation to Holiday break. In Mustang, OK at Lakehoma elementary in their annual Christmas Pageant where there was … [Read more…]
As we approach the celebration of the savior’s birth, we are again reminded of the amazing faith that was central to the story. Matthew and Luke beautifully supplement each other and give two vivid pictures of two devout souls. Each sharply tried in different ways, and each richly blessed by their faithful obedience. During this … [Read more…]
As we begin to prepare for Christmas, a million things rush through our minds: what presents to buy, who to shop for, who to send cards to, what to make for meals, who to invite over, how many Hallmark movies to watch. The list goes on and on. But at the root of the … [Read more…]
Today as we focus on Paul’s prayer for the church, I would like to add a prayer written by Klyne Snodgrass that summarizes our text in a beautiful way. Then I would ask you to form your own prayer for the church after reflecting on this text. Blessings, Rick God our Father, We acknowledge that … [Read more…]
Today we bring to a close the series of messages focusing on Emotional and Spiritual Wholeness. There have been some challenging truths uncovered, by that I mean, things that are true but hard to hear about ourselves. We have been challenged to acknowledge the reality of the gap between where we are spiritually and … [Read more…]
Exhausted and overheated, the unnamed man stumbled through the desert that is somewhere across the ocean. Suddenly, his foot was caught and he tripped, falling in a pile of sand. When he turned to see what caused his fall he noticed, barely extending from the parched ground, the corner of an old but perfectly … [Read more…]