One of my favorite cartoons when I was young was The Flintstones. Remember them? In one scene, Fred said to his sidekick, “Barney, do you have any trouble sleeping?” Barney replied, “No, I don’t have any trouble sleeping. My trouble starts as soon as I get up.”That’s the way life is. We are seldom free of trouble for very long in our days. Make no mistake about it; there is no escape from difficul...  Read More

I begin on a personal note—This past Sunday our 250th Anniversary/Independence Day Celebration Event and Worship Experience turned out to be a Great Day in the life of our church. Though many of our people were out of town, understandably w/ family for the July 4th Holiday, still there was a really large crowd of enthusiastic worshipers and excited participants, along with many family members and ...  Read More

Happy 4th of July & 250th Anniversary of the USA! Today is a great day for celebration! Enjoy it! But I would like you to pause first and give consideration to the price that was paid and the foundation that was laid for our liberty as a nation…Paul Harvey, noted radio commentator, wrote the article years ago, “What Price Freedom?” In it, he answered the question: “What happened to those men who s...  Read More

The devotional today is about personal failure. If you have never failed, then this writing is not for you. But, of course, failure is a part of life—everyone’s life—including yours! That we all fail does not make it any easier. Nor does it mean we are okay with it. None of us wants to fail…but we all do. Moreover, we are in good company when we do…On the threshold of our 250th Anniversary as a na...  Read More

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). I have always loved this verse for it tells us: God never will let us down, because He is ever-present in times of trouble. We need to know this since there will always be troubles. Jesus said as much… Remember, the night before the crucifixion in the Upper Room, Jesus told His disciples three things about facing troub...  Read More

Today I want to remind you of the power of temptation. I think we all understand this, though we may not always be inclined to admit it. However, as the compass needle is affected by magnetic pull, even so every person feels the pull of sin. Temptation can be a powerful force. Consider what Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in his book Temptation:“In our members there is a slumbering inclination towards d...  Read More