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An unexpected calling
BY DAWN REED Many times in the Bible, God showed up on ordinary days. Moses was a shepherd when he saw the burning bush. David was also tending sheep the day the prophet Samuel came to his house. Gideon was secretly threshing wheat, and Elisha was plowing a field when their lives changed forever. It
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Just Say No!
BY PASTOR GREG CRUM “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” I Corinthians 9:27 Paul’s message to the first century believers in Corinth was simple—Christian, keep your body in check. Why? Because Paul understood
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Blessing or curse
BY PASTOR JACK WARD Genesis 12:1-3: “Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great;
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An unexpected gift
BY DAWN REED Tuesday evening, I had the opportunity to spend some time with the ladies of Allen Baptist Church. It was their annual Christmas party. The cooks and bakers of ABC had outdone themselves; tasty treats lined several tables. Women of all ages in brightly colored sweaters and shirts milled about the fellowship hall.
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Our Common Call to Generosity Part 2
BY GREG CRUM “There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.” Proverbs 11:24-25 Last week, we wrote about how upside-down the life of faith is compared
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Do not take no for an answer
BY PASTOR JACK WARD A story came across the wires from Reuters about a family of ducklings that fell down a sewer grate in Vancouver. Their mother did what any parent would do: She got help from a passing police officer. The mother duck grabbed the police officer by the pant leg while he was
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The unexpecteds of Christmas
A few days before Christmas in 1981, my beloved came home with a great big present just for me. We were newlyweds, living on love and Tator Tots. I didn’t know what it was or how he had paid for it. He laid it gingerly under our sparsely decorated tree. Not one time in my
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Notes from Calvary: Our Common Call to Generosity
BY GREG CRUM “Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond
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The Pastor’s Pen: With Heart and Hands and Voices
BY JACK WARD Phil 4:6: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.“ 1 Th 5:18: “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Martin Rinkert was a minister in the small town of Eilenburg, Germany,
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Telling the Story: Holiday choices
BY DAWN REED I cried in Hobby Lobby this week. Because I missed my mom. Walking down the Thanksgiving and Christmas aisles, I was overwhelmed with a yearning for my sweet mother, who is now in heaven. The wrapping paper had me longing for her presence. Thanksgiving memories gushed forth. One year, not too long
