Category: From the Pastor’s Desk

Can you remember the last time someone corrected you?  How did you feel about that?  Were you glad or sad or angry?  Correction is something we all need at times, some more than others, but we are often resistant.  To accept correction means we are admitting we were wrong.  Admitting we were wrong means admitting we are not perfect and that someone knew something we didn’t or they discovered something we hoped would remain hidden. Ouch. Our prideful natures do not like that.  But do we really want to go through life being wrong?  Does it really help us if …

When things go bad in the world, we often start to wonder what God is doing. Why is He allowing so many problems, so much trouble? We are tempted to think, to worry, that maybe God has faded from the scene or stopped caring. Because He knows our humanness and our tendencies, God has taken steps to prepare us for bad times. He has always done that for His people. Over the next few weeks, we are going to see this as we continue our study in Daniel. We are not just going to look at the “what” of prophecy, …

George Santayana said: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.  It might be more accurate to say, “Those who don’t learn from the past are condemned to repeat it” because it is possible to know something without really benefitting from that knowledge.  I’m afraid I can testify that it happens a lot.  It is not good enough to know, we have to act on what we know. In Daniel 4 we saw Nebuchadnezzar learn a very important lesson by a very difficult means.  God had to drive him from the throne with a bout of insanity …

We often hear that difficult times are what reveals a person’s true character, but I think that prosperous times might be just as telling, just as likely to produce a fall.  How a person handles success and prosperity is just as telling of there character than how they handle a trial.  Maybe more so. In the midst of a trial, we feel our weaknesses and they often drive us to help. In the midst of successes, however, we tend to only see our strengths and accomplishments and can be blind to dangerous weaknesses and tendencies that may ruin us.  This …

Can anyone accurately tell the future?  Even more significantly, can anyone control the distant future, especially as it concerns world events? If you met such a person, would you trust them? Daniel chapter 2 clearly states that no human can tell the future.  It also states, however, that God can.  In fact, He doesn’t just know it, He controls it.  He has also chosen to make some of it known to us.  This week I think we will begin to see why the book of Daniel is known for its prophecy.  Chapter two of Daniel tells us about Nebuchadnezzar’s prophetic …

Do you feel frustrated and helpless when watching the news, wondering what you can possible do to bring good in such a dark time?  What can one person do? Do you feel small in a world where powerful companies and superstars seem to dominate everywhere? Do you feel insignificant when you look at the talented, beautiful, handsome, skilled, wealthy, (the list goes on and on) people around you? The message planned for this weeks service (1/17 @ 10:45) is all about the power, value, and influence of one person.  It’s not about being a superhero or a millionaire or a …

Sometimes we can find ourselves faced with a crisis that just appears out of the blue.  Maybe it is a sudden health emergency, the unwelcome news of a job ending abruptly, a fire, a family member in trouble, or a crisis at work that you have to deal with unexpectedly.  What do you do?  What is your way of handling crisis?  Do you clam up, withdraw, become frantic, get angry, or dig a hole and hide? How should we handle a crisis, a problem, a roadblock? This message today looks at a situation that Daniel and his friends were suddenly …