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Believing the Best

Everyone loves a good story. We read books, go to the movies, and binge-watch countless hours of streaming shows all because we like to be entertained by comedy and intense drama. We also like to tell stories. It is an amazing feeling when someone is hanging on your every word, just waiting for you to get to the end. This affinity for telling and hearing stories is hardwired into us by God because he is a storyteller. Roughly two-thirds of the Bible is narrative and contains the greatest story ever told, the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and rose again so that we might live in heaven for all eternity! However, there is a problem. The Problem Is We Love Sinful Stories As with all good things, our ability for storytelling and our love for story listening...

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Overcoming the Fear of Medical Issues

I don’t recall the exact moment my dislike of needles began. Instead, it feels like a persistent theme throughout my life. I am not a fan of anything involving needles—shots, blood draws, and IVs all make my face go white. Once, during a campaign to promote blood donation in my high school years, I absolutely refused. The thought of a needle going inside me made my head spin. I would only get my blood drawn at the doctor’s office if there was no other option. Each time felt like a massive ordeal, nearly causing me to pass out. For three decades, I was able to skirt around this fear. Bloodwork was only necessary once every year or two, and as a generally healthy individual, it wasn’t a dominating issue or constant source of anxiety. All of that changed, however, when I was suddenly...

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Faithfulness & Finances

The Bible is remarkably clear about the command to give regularly to the church. In 1 Corinthians 16:2, Paul says, “On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.” In other words, regular, patterned giving is a moral imperative. It’s something we, as Christians, must do. But what if I told you that various studies and surveys show that only 10-25% of Christians obey this straightforward command? How can this be? What if only 10% of Christians remained faithful to their spouses? Or what if 1 of the 4 people sitting in the pew next to you was embezzling money from their company? It would be an outrage! So why do we seem to let ourselves off the hook about Paul’s command in 1...

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Dealing with Discouragement

Are You Discouraged? Everyone has experienced the signs of discouragement. Your motivation is low, your confidence deflates, your courage is gone. You feel like you have been throwing seeds in a field, day after day, only to find no growth. You begin to wonder: “What’s the point?” Everybody gets discouraged. Discouragement is usually circumstantial – the accumulation of enough trial and struggle that our knees buckle under the weight. And sadly, the temptation to discouragement is inevitable in a fallen world. Constant euphoria is not the expectation of the Christian until we are with Jesus (Revelation 7:15-17). There are no silver bullets to avoid the thorns and thistles of this world. We don’t need silver bullets. We need biblical truth to help us understand the discouragement we are...

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Aggressors, Appeasers, and Agitators: A Guide to Change in Chaotic Times

Chaos, Correction, and Confrontation We are living in times of unsustainable chaos and pain. You see it in the wicked incompetence of elected officials, the moral confusion and corruption from cultural influencers, the convictional weakness of our religious leaders, and even in the spiking cost of eggs, milk, and rent. Everything is in a chaotic mess. Unfortunately, chaos is not the kind of thing you can drift out of. You have to bust out. It is a fact of history that a disruptive confrontation is required in order to correct chaos. Let me explain the way this works. Three Kinds of Actors In times of chaos and confrontation, at least three different kinds of actors exist. The first kind of actors are the aggressors. These are the bad guys who create the chaos through evil actions,...

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The Way of Escape

What expectations did you bring into this holiday season? We all have them. We cruise into Christmastime anticipating feasts and festivities, gifts and gatherings, rest and relaxation. Yet amidst the food, family, friends, and football lurks a saboteur, a prowling lion seeking someone to devour. “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). So many men and women will enter the new year racked with guilt over the forbidden fruit they ate in the garden of holiday leisure. Take heed! Add temptation to your list of holiday expectations. It will come, but there is hope! “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also...

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This New Year, Forget What Lies Behind

New Year Tension People deal with drastically different feelings during the new year. Some shake their heads with stress. “New year, new problems.” Some embrace exciting opportunities and a fresh start. Some people run from their past. Some live in it. Some can’t wait for tomorrow. Some just want to make it through today. Our relationship with time is often a complicated one. How should I feel about the new year? How do I process this last one? As we live in the tension of a time between times, we will be helped by considering these powerful words from the Apostle Paul: But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13b-14). A Surprising Thing to...

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Opening the Gift of Repentance

Patches of stubborn November snow dotted the landscape, refracting the headlights of my idling ’04 Honda Civic. I had limped to the end of a full Sunday and sat motionless in our apartment’s parking lot. It was my first Christmas season as a worship pastor and I was crumbling under the weight of traditions, expectations, and the fear of man. My new wife, Emily, sat beside me, patiently waiting and praying for the Lord to shine light into the gloom of my discouragement. Our first Christmas together was shaping up to be anything but merry and bright. As our vacant stares surveyed the snow-strewn hill through the windshield, the Lord surveyed my heart, piercing it with his word. He led me to grapple with my grief, and understanding struck me like a sword thrust; my soul was parched by the...

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The One Devotional Book You Should Read in 2025

Every year, we recommend daily devotionals to accompany your Bible reading. This year, instead of suggesting several options, we’ve selected one devotional for 2025. We are encouraging our entire church to use In the Lord I Take Refuge by Dane Ortlund. This devotional walks through the entire book of Psalms, showing how each Psalm is relevant to the Christian life. The chapters are short and easily digestible, making them manageable even on busy days. It is designed for 150 days and includes the full ESV text of each Psalm. If you choose to read the Psalm one day and the commentary the next, the devotional can nearly last the entire year (not counting Sundays). We have selected this book for the following reasons: The chapter lengths are achievable, even on busy days. The commentary...

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The First Christmas Ornament

Every year, on a designated date after Thanksgiving, the Connells decorate our Christmas tree. Sometimes, it is planned in advance and attended to with ceremonial bluster (that is my influence), and sometimes, it is the result of spontaneously seizing a free evening amid the annual Christmas chaos that accompanies a Worship Pastor’s home at Christmas. Now that our children are older and establishing their own homes in other places, this year’s effort had to be both planned and seized. We knew that we would have everyone under our roof briefly on Thanksgiving Day, so Mary and I made the decision in advance that we would violate my conscientious opposition to allow the ever-burgeoning Christmas season to encroach upon the sanctified day reserved for giving thanks. Even though my family...

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