A couple months ago I went down to North Carolina to help with the cleanup efforts after hurricane Florence. For the first couple days, we were gutting out houses from all the water damage. Many of the houses were not affected from the storm as much as they were from the storm surge after as […]
One of my biggest struggles is something I have dealt with my whole life. It has come out almost every week for the last 8 years I’ve been in vocational ministry. I’m an introvert. I know, I can hear you laughing. You’ve seen me in my role as a youth minister, camp dean, vacation bible […]
I believe there are decisions where Christians need to hear directly from God before proceeding. For the most part, however, God has told us what He wants and how He wants us to behave in His Word. He expects us to love Him and love people. He expects that we tell others about Him. He expects us to care for those who are in need. He expects us to serve. He expects us to pursue holiness, to chase after Him and become more like Him every day. He expects us to avoid sin, to confess when we mess up and ask for forgiveness. He expects we make restitution before Himself and others. He expects us to live in this world, in the mess of this world, without being a part of this world.
Our Heartland trip leader, Dr. Mark Ziese, is an archaeologist who has taught at Cincinnati Bible Seminary and Johnson University. Early in his marriage, he and his wife spent a year in the Heartland (Palestinian/Israeli area) on an archaeological dig. During this time, they had two young children; a son six years old and a […]
A couple weeks ago I was blessed to spend a week, to use our guide’s term, in the Heartland. The Heartland refers to the geographical area surrounding the Jordan River, Dead Sea, and Sea of Galilee. It includes present day Israel and Palestine. It is where Jesus was born, lived, and did ministry while on […]
A couple weeks ago, Pastor Carl Lentz, from Hillsong New York, was on the day-time show “The View”. He was asked point blank if abortion was a sin. Lentz replied, “That’s the kind of conversation we would have finding out your story, where you’re from, what you believe … God’s the judge. People have to […]
Walking through Walmart, a child, about 7 years old, ran up and gave me the biggest hug ever!! Now this happens in Church on a somewhat regular basis—with a couple kids in particular—and I love it!! The difference here is Walmart though; I had no clue who this child was!! It filled my heart with […]
A year ago, Mechanicsville Church of Christ (MCC) went to Mechanicsville Elementary School (MES) for a service day. MES had a learning garden that became over grown and was in terrible condition. We pulled up grass and weeds, put new weed blocker down, and mulch! It was great! It was fun and at the end […]
I grew up a preacher’s kid. I have several friends who grew up as a preacher’s kid as well and swore they would be homeless before going into ministry. Not me. I decided my freshman year of high school to go into ministry. My dad was great about showing me a little more behind the […]
“How does that make you feel?” This phrase is often used, not by real counselors, but Hollywood’s depiction of counseling. I learned early on in a counseling class to never ever ask, “How does that make you feel?” It is great to ask, “How do you feel…” or even “How did you feel…” but never […]