Bible, Blessings, and Brews: Pub Ministry

What if people who wouldn’t attend church would come to a Bible study, if it were at a different kind of location?

That’s the question that prompted a local Christian leader, Kurt Faust, to host the “Bible, Blessings, and Brews” pub ministry at the Midland Brewing Company on N. Saginaw Road this summer.

Last month, I was invited by Kurt to come and lead the pub ministry’s Wednesday evening discussion on the topic of forgiveness. Now, you might expect the pastor of a conservative-ish holiness congregation like ours to say “no” to the invitation. But truthfully, I only hesitated a moment before saying “yes.” Continue reading →

Posture and LGBT Issues

A friend of mine, a music teacher in Indiana, is working on a master’s degree in his field. Recently, he talked with me about what he is reading and learning in his studies: specifically, the importance of posture.

For an orchestra conductor, posture is extremely important. Every arm movement, every change of stance, even the most minute of gestures can communicate messages instantaneously to the members of the orchestra. Bad posture leads to bad conducting, because the messages communicated by the conductor are confusing and inappropriate. Good posture requires the coordination of many muscle groups throughout the body, which in turn requires exercise and discipline. Conducting is no simple task, and conductors must learn how to pay attention to their posture at all times.

I am concerned that Christians have bad posture when it comes to the LGBT issues that we are facing these days. Continue reading →

August Youth Update

The TIME is NOW! This has been an unusual summer for my wife and me, as we have been to the mountaintop and we have wandered through the valley with our experiences and our life’s journey. We were blessed and motivated as we listened to David Beam as he shared about one of our passions, the people of Guatemala and their beautiful love for the Lord. Then, Connie’s mom, a 90-year old sweet lady, began to decline in her health as she struggled with pain each and every day. Leaving her in prayer, we traveled to Oklahoma City to the North American Convention of the Church of God where we were inspired with the boldness of the message “Jesus is the Subject,” and heard that in our culture, we must be bold in our walk with Christ and be consumed by his fire and message, despite what is happening in our world. Christ is alive, doing well, and no matter what comes, His Kingdom is in great shape and He reigns in our world.

Then, as we returned, Mom was still declining, not coming out of it and requiring more daily care. Leaving her safely in the care of Connie’s brothers, we ventured to the “Leadership Summit” at Warner University in Florida where we spent the week with almost 200 of the most God-loving, fired-up and ready to serve teenagers in our country, ready to love God, love people and live it out not only today, but with their future. We heard great speakers, had wonderful family times with our groups, spent a day in missionary training at Warner’s Heart Ministry, served in the community, laughed, worshiped, prayed, cried, exploded in joy with the blessings of God and even taught a couple of sessions to students exploring the fruits of the Spirit. Wow, we had an experience of a lifetime!

Connie’s mom was not getting better. As we returned, her pain and suffering was increasing, but we saw how God’s love is always redeeming. Provisions were being made to have three people on 8 hour shifts coming into her home (where she wanted to be) to care for her, with hospice making periodic visits to try and help alleviate her pain. It looked like perhaps she would be able to cope, but then hospice advised that she be moved to another place. She knew, she agreed, but on that Saturday there were no beds and she would need to wait until Monday for a place to be. On a beautiful Sunday morning, as we were driving to church, Connie received the call that her mom had passed. She was FREE, she was with her husband, she was without pain, she was refreshed, and she was with Jesus. There was no hurry, we went on to church, I taught our Sunday School class, I chaired the service, Connie played the piano, we served the Lord as we always did, but we knew that a celebration of life was happening in the next week and we would rejoice in knowing that our place in heaven is secured and we would once again join with family members. As Connie continued to tie all the loose ends together, I visited my 81-year old Mother and just her enjoyed our time together in God’s Kingdom.

The TIME is NOW! We live in His Kingdom, which is alive and now. My task in life has been to help Christ in leading youth to a life-long relationship with Jesus and witnessing to people of His love and care. We are family and we should together be serving and bringing glory to God. My challenge to you: come to church, be part of the family, grow in your love and relationship with Jesus, bring others, serve others, be consumed in your daily walk with Christ. As September comes, come to church and be an active participant in the life of Mt. Haley, the youth ministry, the community outreach, the family of God. Love God, Love People, Live It!

As you can see, it has been a pensive, emotional, exhilarating, inspirational, exhausting and a summer of a lifetime in my walk with Christ. Thanks for listening. But remember and dwell on this: God is good, He is real, He is our strength, He is faithful, He is our shield, He is love, and most importantly, He is ALIVE!

What more could we want?

Meanwhile, we are going to Michigan Adventure on August 5th, see Pastor Jerry ASAP if you would like to go, there will be St. Louis Camp Meeting (with ice cream one night) a concert in Ithaca, and perhaps another quick activity. Labor Day is the latest it can be this year, so school doesn’t begin until September 8th and our first youth ministry isn’t until later. New permission slips for the 2015-16 year will be mailed sometime this month. Summer is still in full swing, however, the church is still opened and will always be waiting for you where we want to help you grow in your discipleship of Christ. COME!

The Decision

Instead of “another day, another dollar,” today we could say, “another month, another sad story of conflict between police and citizens.”

In recent weeks, we have seen news reports from Texas, where an African-American woman named Sandra Bland was arrested by a Hispanic male state trooper named Brian Encinia. Thanks to today’s technology, we have seen video footage of the conversation, altercation, and arrest. That footage gives us reason to consider our lives and our choices. Continue reading →

Giving Jesus a Drink

Racially-motivated shootings. The legalization of same-sex marriages. The fear of Islam encroaching on our religious and personal freedoms. A sixteen-month-long presidential election cycle that will divide the nation into two broad camps.

We have many reasons to distance ourselves from other people, reasons which have had a lot of air time in recent days.

But from a Christian perspective – and from my inherited perspective of white, male privilege – I wonder what our response to these things should be. If you are involved in social media at all, you have likely seen more than enough responses to any or all of these topics in the past week or so. Many of these have been so angry and dismissive that it grieves my heart.

Let me offer an alternative response: the example of Jesus in John 4. Continue reading →

July Youth Update

Summer is moving along! Pastor David, Connie and I attended the North American Convention of the Church of God in Oklahoma City last week and were challenged, inspired and moved to be proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ with boldness. This event is one of the great events of the Church of God and we would fully endorse your attendance or even following it on the Internet. Topics, along with the many great speakers, music and worship experiences plus the general assembly, included a move to have the NAC every odd numbered year with the International Youth Convention on even years, resolutions to improve racial relationships, a call to community outreach and encouragement to keep “Jesus is the Subject” in our daily lives. A blessed experience for the entire Church of God. Continue reading →

Change in the Church of God

Real, substantive, meaningful change. That’s what we are hoping for, and that’s what we began to see in the Church of God Convention last week in Oklahoma City.

This was the second year in a row that the major CHOG Convention was held outside of our home base in Anderson, Indiana. Attendance was up, excitement was up, unity was up. Mean attitudes or doubting spirits were less present this year, compared to last year when the change was still fresh and not well understood. Continue reading →

On Racial and Religious Reconciliation

“But, God, they’re not like me! They come from a different place and worship differently than I do!”

Yet God says, “Take a look around yourself. Pay attention to the people you meet. Watch what I’m doing. And be ready to change your mind and your behavior when you see what I’m up to.” Continue reading →

June Youth Update

Summer is HERE! The last week of school has come, exams are over, people have graduated and we had our final Sunday of youth meetings until the fall. Time goes so quickly working in the Kingdom of God, but we are now ready for the adventures of summer and anticipate serving Him and bringing glory to God. NO, we will not be having weekly youth meetings and GRADS @ Grahams, however we hope to see you often with our activities and a weekly time of glory called “worship” that we celebrate every Sunday at 11:00 AM. Pastor David is leading us in a discussion of “The Sermon On The Mount” which will enrich our spiritual growth and honor our Lord. Included in that package is our regular Youth Bible Study at 10:00 AM where we are learning the characteristics of “Being a Champion” for God. SO, join us this summer as we bring the Gospel to your heart and ours. Continue reading →

Eulogy for James

My friend James died this past Sunday at 10:45am. He died of a rare and aggressive form of leukemia that whittled away at his strength for the past couple of years. James did not want a funeral or memorial service. He will be cremated, and the world will move on.

Most people would not care to know James. Let me introduce him to you. James was an ex-con, incarcerated on three separate occasions: once for statutory rape, once for breaking and entering, and once for check fraud. His last conviction was his “third strike,” and he spent twelve years in prison as a result. Continue reading →