As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul yearns for you, my God. -Psalm 42:1 A deer relies on a stream of water for its existence. Without access to water, the deer will not survive. To pant means to breath with short, quick breaths. Panting is usually the result of physical exertion. As I...
There is a common human desire that is present in most people. I bet you feel it. You probably have felt it for a long time. We share the desire for our life’s work to have meaning. None of us wants to go through life with a feeling of pointless in our activities. Rather, we...
Yesterday I was in Montreat for the quarterly Presbytery meeting. It is such a joy to gather with other pastors and elders from around Western North Carolina. At yesterday’s meeting we studied the future staffing model for our Presbytery. It will have to be a new staffing model because after years of service to our...
Thank you for your support and encouragement of Youth Sunday! I am overjoyed at the amount of enthusiasm and passion our youth bring to leading worship. I am especially encouraged when I see the depth of their faith. I know the church is in good hands–both now and into the future. This group of youth...
This will be a special week. This week we get to focus, specifically and intentionally, on the last days of Jesus’ life. In many ways, your week may seem normal. You still have to go to work. You still have to take the kids to school. The chores of cooking dinner or doing the laundry...
“Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” -1 Corinthians 10:31 On Sunday we studied the spiritual practice of worship. Worship is your response to who God is and what God has done in your life. The goal we set out was to worship God daily–not just on Sundays. This verse from...
“Carry love and faithfulness with you wherever you go.” That was one of the takeaways from Sunday’s sermon on the Proverbs. In today’s blog, I’d like to explore some specific ways we can carry positive attributes with us from moment to moment. We carry feelings with us throughout the day. Unfortunately, sometimes we carry negative...
“Lay before God what is in us, not what ought to be in us.” – C.S. Lewis Prayer can be intimidating to those who believe that you must say the right words or be in the right mood in order to pray. This is not true. Prayer is simply the practice of communicating with God....
This past Sunday we studied how Jesus often went to a deserted place to pray by himself. The Scriptures remind us of our need for solitude. Our need to slow down. Our need to rest in God. Easier said than done, right? I find the words of Psalm 62 to be inspiring. “For God...
Gail Shiflett helps a mom eat in peace by holding a young resident of Hesed House during Tuesday night’s dinner. On Tuesday, March 5, the Tuesday Night Bible Study took a meal to the residents at Hesed House, Lincoln County’s only homeless shelter. Five crock pots of stew were quickly gone and items were left...
