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Thursday, November 13th, 2025
First, a clarification. In yesterday’s post I failed to mention the book I was reading to the Kindergarten classes. I told the past two and the one coming in December but never mentioned this one. DUH! 🙂 I read The Little Red Hen and let me tell you…I had a blast! It is a great folktale about a hen who has to do everything. Neither the goose, the cat, or the dog would help. There is a twist at the end but I can’t give it away. I guess you will just have to find it and read it on your own. 🙂
Today is another exciting day. I’m glad. Today was supposed to be the day Jo and I headed out to Phoenix to be with Susan and a bunch of others to celebrate my friend, Dave’s life. But as I related in another post, that trip had to be postponed due to air travel being “up in the air” (pun intended). The disappointment is palpable but today’s excitement will help dull that pain.
I mentioned yesterday about reading to the Kindergarten classes. Today is similar, but different on several fronts. I just KNOW you are there with curiosity written all over your face and your breath coming in spurts as you anxiously await the reasons why. Okay…no more suspense. 🙂
- I’m reading today to the 3rd class of one of our local schools. The principal, Kris, found out less than a week or so before school started that the principal of this school requested a leave of absence for at least a year. She has her principal’s license so was asked to be interim. Meanwhile, the 3rd grade teacher is a young lady from another church I pastored. This is her first year teaching.
- When Jo and I went to visit Ashley (the teacher) for the first time, many of her students remembered me from 3 years ago when I read to the K class. My heart filled up.
- I proposed to both Ashley and Kris that we consider reading as a team. The book? The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. They both loved the idea. Kris bought books for each student to read along and then to take home when we are finished.
Today is the first day of reading. I love the L, W, & W and if I can instill that same love for the book and for reading, it is worth the drive to the school. (It takes about 20-25 minutes to get there on a very windy road). It is the “farthest out” school of Owen County, and sadly the most forgotten. There is dedicated staff there and wonderful students. Kris is making it even better. And with teachers like Ashley it will get even better.
The best way to overcome disappointment is to find something to occupy your time and brings joy. I believe this will do the trick. 🙂
Posted in InTheShadow | 4 Responses »
Tags: C.S.Lewis book, Friendship, Kindness, Leadership, Miscellaneous, Opinion, Reading to children, Reflection, Story
Wednesday, November 12th, 2025
I hope you took time yesterday to search out a veteran and thank him or her for their military service. Monday I met a man named Houston as he was walking at the Y and I was working out. I’ve seen him plenty of times but decided I was going to take a break from my headphones and say hi to him. He is a US Army veteran and in the process of talking he told me everywhere he had been. Please don’t ask me to tell it back to you because I guarantee my memory would fail me! 🙂
I sent a group text to 25 veterans associated with OVCF, the church I pastor. It was a simple “Thank you for your service” (and an apology for the group text). I received several texts in reply, some personally. It made me feel good to have reached out and from the reply texts, the feeling was mutual.
Today is a day of a different color. The school system has a program called Book Buddies. It was first started by the United Way in Bloomington. But when COVID hit they discontinued it. I continued to read to the one Kindergarten class I had been reading to. A couple of years ago I wanted to restart it so I talked to the appropriate people and the new Curriculum Director was able to get Title 1 funding for it. After two years that money dried up, so this year our local Owen County Community Foundation stepped up and paid for all the books so the students can take home the book I read to them. Today is the day I read The Little Red Hen to five different Kindergarten classes at two different schools.
The love of reading is something I want to foster in children. With the onset of games on our devices, reading is often a lost art. If I can encourage and instill the love for reading in the heart of just one student, I will have considered my time successful. I have already read Pete the Cat Lost a Tooth (September); Scat the Cat (October); and along with today’s will read The Gingerbread Man in December. Come 2026 there will be 3 more to read. It is one of the most rewarding things I do. Even though it is outside the scope of my ministry in and to the church, I consider it an extension of what I do. If I can share my love of reading, with lessons along the way of kindness, sharing, and doing your part, then I consider it time well-spent.
Besides, the kids love me and I can be a kid again with them. Does it get any better than that? 🙂 🙂
Posted in InTheShadow | 6 Responses »
Tags: Kindness, Leadership, Ministry, Miscellaneous, Opinion, Reading to children, Reflection, Story
Tuesday, November 11th, 2025
Rather than just do my own thing today, I thought I would borrow a blog post from James Emery White. He blogs at churchandculture.org. You can check out his post there if you prefer. Here is Pastor White’s post (written yesterday):
Tomorrow is Veterans Day. It is a well-known American holiday, but one with many misconceptions. So many that the U.S. Department of Defense issued “5 Facts to Know About Veterans Day” in relation to its observance back in 2018. In honor of Veterans Day, and as my own salute of gratitude to veterans, I thought it fitting to share the five again:
- Veterans Day does NOT have an apostrophe. In other words, it’s Veterans Day, not Veterans’ or Veteran’s Day. It is not a day that belongs to one veteran or multiple veterans. It’s a day for honoring all veterans.
- Veterans Day is NOT the same as Memorial Day. Veterans Day honors all of those who have served the country in war or peace – dead or alive – though it’s mostly intended to thank living veterans for their service. Memorial Day is a time to remember those who gave their lives for our country, particularly in battle or from wounds they suffered in battle.
- It was originally called Armistice Day, commemorating the end of World War I. World War I officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919. The actual fighting, however, ended about seven months earlier when the Allies and Germany put into effect an armistice on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Since it was seen to mark the end of “the war to end all wars”, November 11 was named “Armistice Day.” But then more wars came, so to honor all veterans, it was renamed Veterans Day in 1954. In 1968 it was moved, along with a few other federal holidays, to a Monday to ensure a long weekend.
- Veterans Day was originally set for the fourth Monday of every October. The first Veterans Day under the 1968 bill didn’t take place until 1971. The delayed implantation, along with moving it to a date different from the historic 11th day of November, led to confusion. Many states continued to celebrate Veterans Day in November. On September 20, 1975, President Gerald Ford signed another law that returned the annual observance to its original date.
- Other countries celebrate it, too, in their own ways. World War I was a multinational effort, so there are many celebrations around the world on November 11. In Canada and Australia, it’s called “Remembrance Day.” Great Britain also calls it “Remembrance Day” but observes it on the Sunday closest to November 11 with parades, services and two minutes of silence in London to honor those who lost their lives in war. {End of post}
Take time today to thank a veteran for his/her service. You might surprise them and you might just be surprised how they respond. I stopped one who was walking at the Y yesterday and we talked almost 10 minutes. He had a lot to say! 🙂
Posted in InTheShadow | 6 Responses »
Tags: Leadership, Patriotic, Reflection, Story, Thanksgiving, Veterans Day
Monday, November 10th, 2025
We all struggle with disappointment from time to time. We try out for a sports team and when the final cut is made we find we have not made the team. We long for a new or different job so we interview and feel like we did a bang up job. When the day comes we find out they have hired someone else (and maybe not given you even the courtesy of a phone call). You are sure you “Aced” the test. You studied hard because you knew it would go a long way toward advancing your goal in a particular field. You did okay on the test, but not as good as you needed. Or maybe you strive hard to complete a course of study because you wanted a particular job, but after you got that job in just a short amount of time it isn’t what you thought, nor what you want. You long to be married and thought you had found prince/princess charming, but the novelty wears off and your prince/princess finds someone else.
Recently Jo and I suffered a big disappointment. For some it may not seem like much, but to us it took the wind out of our sails for a moment. In September my best friend, Dave, passed away after an 18 month battle with a glioblastoma. We visited in February of ’24 and one week later I got a call that was nothing but gibberish. After a number of phone calls trying to figure out what was happening, Dave was able to communicate about his brain tumor. 18 months later Dave lost his battle. He wanted no memorial or big production. Susan said, “This is one time I will not do what he asks.” This coming weekend has been on the calendar for almost 2 months for his celebration. Tickets were purchased to fly out Thursday and return Sunday. We were so looking forward to it. But I “little” thing called “a government shutdown” has changed all that. This past week, after making a call to the airline and being told one of the early morning non-stop flights from Indy to Phoenix would be cancelled (but they didn’t know which one), I made the tough decision to change our tickets to February of ’26. While I feel it is the tough/right decision to make, that does make it any easier to cope with the disappointment.
However, what helps cope is knowing that God saw this and there is a reason for me changing our dates. I believe nothing happens that is not in God’s purview. I will trust that He has something better planned. I can already tell you that Jo is much more comfortable with it. The Open House Susan had planned already had 120+ people responding that they were coming to her house. Yikes! In February it will just be the three of us with a small gathering one evening with the family.
Don’t see disappointments as final. See them as God has something better.
Posted in InTheShadow | 6 Responses »
Tags: Christian Living, Disappointments, God, God's Plan, God's purpose, Ministry, Opinion, Reflection, Story
Thursday, November 6th, 2025
Contrary to what many may think the Christian life is a life of love.
Not judgment. Not hatred. Not rules and regulations. Not getting even. Not a “hellish future awaits you.”
Love. In I John 4, John wrote, “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God, for God is love. God showed how much He loves us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love-not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” (I John 4:7-10 NLT)
A few verses later (v. 20) John writes that if anyone says he loves God but hates his brother, he is a liar. Put simply: hate is the antithesis of love. Left to myself, I am an impatient, judgmental, and irritation-driven man. But when God’s love enters the picture, I am transformed into a patient, understanding, and more peaceful man. Does that mean I never exhibit those ugly qualities? Aaah no. I’m still human (in spite of my best superhero impersonation). But in the big picture God’s love is transforming me into a new creation.
How can that be seen? Take John’s words: a sure sign of being transformed is living a life of love. Just think what that thought would have done to the mind of the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. Just think what it does to the minds of the self-righteous Pharisees of today. What shows transformation is not my spiritual intellect (Bible knowledge, prayer life or church-going), or my ministry experience. God’s transformation within my heart is seen by how much I love and who I love. While not compromising the truth of the Gospel, I am to love even those who hate me, those whose lifestyle is abhorrent and adverse to the Bible, and those who curl my insides with hateful and hate-filled rhetoric.
The apostle John finished chapter 4 with some pretty strong words: “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates a fellow believers, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God whom we cannot see?” (v.20 NLT)
Good words. Strong words. Essential words. Don’t you agree?
Posted in InTheShadow | 6 Responses »
Tags: Christian Living, God's Word, Kindness, Lifestyle, Love, Ministry, Opinion, Reflection, Scripture look
Wednesday, November 5th, 2025
I have a favor to ask. A little over a month ago (although it seems like eons ago) I was called to a suicide as the chaplain of the Owen County Sheriff’s Department. It was a first for me-not being called out, but being called to a suicide. Fortunately, the sheriff’s deputies and other first responders were there and I was not privy to the scene. But his best friend was. In fact, when the weird phone calls came to the mother (who was in Bloomington) and brother (who was in Florida), his best friend was on the way back from Louisville and reached the scene first. While I was there I talked to this friend quite a bit and offered to listen if he ever needed someone. Monday I got a call that he would like to take me up on my offer to talk. I am meeting him this afternoon in another town. It will be a first for me on several different fronts. If you are a praying person, may I ask you to do so? Pray for wisdom and clarity for me. Pray for me to listen well and not pretend as though I know or have the answers. I am not a professional counselor. I do know this young man needs a friend.
I had planned on writing on something else this morning, but feel compelled to chat a bit on this subject. Many times when people need to talk to us, we often give off airs of having it all together and being a know-it-all with the answers. First, we all know (or should) that we don’t have all the answers, and second, we don’t always have it together. In life in general there are many unanswered questions. In a suicide that seems to amp up a bit. The biggest? WHY? There are a lot of factors that play into a suicide. Health (physical): Long term sickness, like cancer or MS or some other seemingly incurable or hopeless disease. Mental health: loneliness, abuse, abandonment, bi-polar. The list can go on and on. Life situations like poverty, or job loss, or helplessness. And yes, some of it is cowardice (someone who goes on a spree, for example, and then shoots themselves rather than be taken captive).
The sad part is the fallout for those who are left behind. This is a case in point. No one knows why this young man took his life. One guess is that he has been sick lately. He was a highly functional autistic young man. He lost two fathers from cancer at different times in his young life. The family and friends may never know. What I do know is that I am meeting someone today who is hurting. I could say a lot more, but it is unnecessary. I will say this though: if you are in that much despair, PLEASE get help!!
Meanwhile, don’t judge the person. Don’t condemn him. Love those who are left behind. And please pray for me.
Posted in InTheShadow | 8 Responses »
Tags: Death, Friendship, Grace, Leadership, Listening, Love, Mercy, Ministry, Opinion, Reflection, Suicide
Tuesday, November 4th, 2025
Love and Hate.
Two words that seem to be at odds with each other. And I guess it reality they are. We are real good at saying the two don’t coincide. Take our current culture, for example, in regards to sharing truth. People see them as incapable of cohabiting with each other. In some minds, if you tell the truth then you must do it with sternness, without an ounce of empathy or sympathy. On the other hand, there are those who eschew any talk of truth because, after all, “my truth is the only truth that matters.” Both are wrong approaches.
To share the truth of the Gospel is not bias or hatred; it is actually love. Why would we not want to share the greatest truth in all the world-“God love you and gave His Son for you”? However, and here is the rub, that truth must still be given in love. How appealing is it to tell someone they are loved by a gracious God while having a stern or judgmental attitude? Answer: not.
On the other side of the coin is the one who refuses to tell the truth about sin because either they are afraid of offending someone, or “all sin is equal so what gives me the right to tell someone that what they are doing is wrong?”
Go back to my original 3 words. Love and Hate. They don’t coexist. They can’t coexist. Unless you hate sin so much and love someone even more to have a dialogue with them. What we often fail to remember is love compels us to speak up. When my girls were growing up, Jo and I had “rules” in the house. Break the rules and face the consequences. We didn’t allow screaming and yelling or name-calling or disobedience. There were consequences to that type of action. We did it, not because we were vengeful, but because we loved. Our goal as parents was to raise young girls to become responsible and godly young woman. Were we successful? They can tell you. 🙂
Truth must be shared…but in love. Not hate. Not with belligerence. Even the woman caught in adultery was forgiven by Jesus, but also told, “Go and sin no more.” Jesus did not excuse her sin as though it didn’t exist. Forgiven but live differently.
Sounds like good advice for me and the world we live in.
Posted in InTheShadow | 6 Responses »
Tags: belligerence, Christian Living, Humility, Kindness, Leadership, Love, Love and Hate, Ministry, Opinion, Reflection, Sin, Speech, Truth Telling
Monday, November 3rd, 2025
It was a busy week. No make that a busy two weeks. Okay…a busy year.
This week and next promise to be more of the same.
I was supposed to have gained an extra hour of sleep this past weekend with Daylight Savings Time, but I didn’t even notice.
It seems like busyness is part and parcel of our daily lives. I used to have conversations with people and when I would ask them how they were doing they would say, “Busy.” My response? “Well, that is better than being bored.” To be perfectly honest I hate being bored so there is some truth to that statement. But there comes a time when being bored (my synonym for relaxing) sounds awful good. Like now. I’m 73 and I am supposed to be slowing down and enjoying life. Well…I do enjoy life, but as for slowing down? That is a little tough to come by. And I know it is my fault. I have chosen to work out/ride my bike during my lunch hour. I have chosen to get up at 3:30 to have unbroken time at the office to prepare my sermons, read, and get done what needs done. I have chosen to read to the Kindergarten classes (5 total in two different schools) and now have taken on reading to a 3rd class Jon Gordon’s The Energy Bus for Kids once a week for 5 weeks. I have also chosen to take on reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to multiple 3rd grade classes in 2 different schools. (In one I designed it to be part of a rotation with the teacher and principal). And I have chosen to brainstorm with 14 other adults and teens about starting a Special Needs Ministry here at OVCF. Combine all of that with my regular visitation to the hospital and rehab centers, doctor visits, and other management stuff and it makes for a very busy schedule.
You know what is bad? I know I have done it to myself and actually like being busy. But there comes a point where I have to find a medium, a middle of the road spot. I can’t keep up this pace without it affecting my spirit, my health, my relationships, and my physical exercise time. The latter has been my “sanity” over the years, my go-to to keep me sharp and energetic. But my busy schedule is threatening to even push that out. I need to slow down on my own before God or my body or some life situation says, “You won’t slow down? Okay then, you won’t have any choice now.”
Years ago..and I mean many years ago…like in 1980 (yeah that long ago), the late Chuck Girard had an album called The Stand. (Chuck is the father of podcaster and former ZoeGirl singer, Alisa Childers. He passed away from cancer this year). One of the songs on the album was quirky, but pointed. Please give it a listen and see if applies to you or if I’m alone.
Posted in InTheShadow | 8 Responses »
Tags: Busy Day, Busyness, Choices, Christian Living, Lifestyle, Opinion, Reflection, Story
Thursday, October 30th, 2025
Names you may know:
- Alexander Graham Bell-telephone
- Thomas Edison- light bulb, phonograph, motion picture
- Wright Brothers-airplane
- Johannes Gutenberg- printing press
- Samuel Morse- telegraph
- Karl Benz- automobile
- Josephine Cochrane- dishwasher
- Isaac Newton-reflecting telescope
- Marie Curie- theory of radioactivity
Cleo McVicker. Say what? Say who? First, you may recognize the above names as inventors and their inventions. All of them have had some effect on us, even though we may not have a clue what the description is or how to use it (see last two). There are, of course, more. But who, pray tell, is that last one? Cleo McVicker. Here is his story:
In the early 1930s, Cleo McVicker came up with a product that could be used as wallpaper cleaner. Back then, most homes were heated by coal, and I don’t have to tell you what that was like. McVicker’s wallpaper cleaner never became popular, but decades later, a teacher used his product in her classes to create Christmas ornaments. From that was born a company-Rainbow Crafts-and the wallpaper cleaner was repurposed as a children’s toy. It was called “Play-Doh.” And now, as Paul Harvey used to say, “You know the rest of the story.” (Edited from story found in OurDailyBread devotional for October 30)
I think it is always interesting to read or hear stories like that. There is actually a site that has a list of accidental inventions: post-it-notes; x-ray; microwave ovens; coca-cola; pacemaker; superglue; potato chips; insulin; and a whole lot more.
In the case of Mcvicker’s invention, it was repurposed to become more popular and a child’s delight. God is in the repurposing business also. He takes our messy, broken lives and gives them meaning and purpose. The Bible is filled, as is history, with people whose lives were transformed by God and used for His purpose. D.L. Moody. Billy Sunday. Billy Graham. Blaise Pascal. Florence Nightingale. George Washington Carver. Samuel Morse. Many others. In the Bible, try Joseph on for size. Sold as a slave due to his brothers’ jealousy, accused of sexual harassment by Potiphar’s wife, forgotten in prison, elevated to 2nd in all of Egypt. A life repurposed by God.
Sin has written “failed” across all our foreheads. But God is in the transformation and repurposing business. “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation.” So go out and make a difference!
Posted in InTheShadow | 8 Responses »
Tags: Choices, Christian Living, God's Plan, Inventors and inventions, Lifestyle, Ministry, Opinion, Reflection, Salvation, Story
Wednesday, October 29th, 2025
I just started reading a book yesterday entitled Made to Tremble by Blair Linne. Looking at the title might get one to think it is on worship or something that has to do with awe of God. But that would be a wrong assumption. It is subtitled “How Anxiety Became The Best Thing That Ever Happened To My Faith.” I didn’t pick up the book to read because I have anxiety issues. Just the opposite. I KNOW people who struggle with this issue and have been at a loss to know what to say or how to help. I want to understand better. I know people who are anxiety-ridden and find their whole life dominated by anxiety and its tentacles. Blair has and still suffers from anxiety (not like she used to) and I’m looking forward to diving in deeper.
But she said a couple of things just in the Introduction that have caught my attention. I have noticed, as would any observer of culture and people, that one of the prevailing philosophies being taught is “you have the power within you to overcome anything. All you have to do is ‘will’ yourself powerful.” To put it more simply: meditate, do yoga, go outdoors, worship creation, etc. and you will conquer the waves of anxiety that invade your day. We are being taught “Here are 10 Steps to Overcoming Anxiety” or “Name and claim away anxiety” (that’s the faux religious one). It’s not that easy. We end up depending too much on ourselves and not enough on the ONE who calmed the waves and sea and brought healing to the blind, the lame, and others. When the disciples were anxious about feeding 5000+ people, Jesus put their fears to rest by multiplying the 5 loaves and 2 fish. If He can do that, He can do so much more! As Blair is so blunt to point out: “As it turns out, anxiety was not an obstacle that I needed to avoid; it was a portal to a person I needed to behold: Jesus Christ.” (p.2).
We often run away from fears and hangups we experience. Sometimes that is good (like leaving an addiction behind). But instead of running away, why not run to the One who is always there no matter what? Perhaps we need to see our fear or anxiety or weakness we experience as an opportunity to be more dependent and reliant on Jesus. We were never meant to live life alone. NEVER. And yet, so many try! “I don’t need anyone else. I’m the captain of my own ship.” That may be true in your own eyes, but it looks like your ship is taking on water and is sinking.
There is purpose in our pain. Let’s learn from it and use it to become dependent on Jesus and then ultimately to help someone else to find that same answer.
Posted in InTheShadow | 8 Responses »
Tags: Anxiety, Choices, Christian Living, Humility, Inner Peace, Jesus, Lifestyle, Ministry, Opinion, Reflection, Story
