By: Rev. Jerry Chiles One Friday evening my wife and I were going to hear the symphony and she asked if I needed to use GPS. I said no, I knew the way. As I proceeded to go to the venue, we encountered a street closure. If I had used the GPS, it would have […]
The Wise Still Ask For Directions Read More »
By: Rev. Jerry Chiles The excitement surrounding the solar eclipse reminds me of another celestial event from long ago. The Magi discovered a star, and using the information they had, they set out to find a new king. Where would be the logical place to look for the Jewish child king? The obvious answer is
Even the Magi Asked for Directions Read More »
By Rev. Dr. Rick Jordan We see what we want to see. At other times, we don’t see what is in plain view to others. We all have blind spots. What are yours? What are your church’s? Sometimes we need a set of fresh eyes to find out. I asked my father-in-law, who had redesigned
By Rev. Dr. Rick Jordan Recently, my wife and I spent a week with our son and daughter-in-law, Todd and Stacey, in Utah. One night, while he was grilling some steaks, Todd heard an owl call. He rushed into the house with the cooked steaks saying, “I heard an owl and I think it is
You’ve Got to See This! Read More »
By Rev. Dr. Paul Raybon I’m continuing to read and reflect on this idea of “resilience” as a metaphor and design for what we do as church. (See here if you missed it.) One of the practical applications, as described to me by Co-Pastor Ernesto Bazan of Iglesia Bautista Kerygma in Holguin, Cuba, was reorganizing
Ministry of Accompaniment Read More »
By: Dr. Paul Raybon You may have heard this word in the news, it is one of the “go to” words of our times. Resilience is the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulty, trauma, and disaster. The interesting thing about resilience is that scientists have determined that there are ways to build
By: Rev. Steve Zimmerman Last month Angela and I had an opportunity to get away for a few days along the Blue Ridge Parkway. But before our lodging was ready, we decided to do an overnight stay in West Virginia. In order to get to that destination, we had to drive a section of Interstate
by: Rev. Jerry Chiles If we open our eyes, we can identify walls in our own church that need to be torn down. The question is how do we begin to have an impact on these walls? Here are some simple suggestions. If you are having trouble identifying them, invite a ‘church visitor’ to visit
Identifying Walls In Your Church Read More »
by: Rev. Jerry Chiles Recently I noticed a small book entitled The Wall: A Parable by Gloria Jay Evans. Why it caught my eye I wasn’t sure, but I was drawn to it. I have edited the text for the following version. I don’t know when I first began to build the wall. I suppose
Building Walls or Tearing Them Down? Read More »
By: Rev. Dr. Rick Jordan I confess that most days, I walk through a day without much thought. Not that I’m ignorant or inconsiderate. But too often I do breeze through a day’s experiences without consideration of deeper insights. Sometimes, a shock to my system helps me realize that I need to ponder what I
How My Vacation Changed Me Read More »
