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May 14

Wednesday, May 14th, 2025

How many times have you heard “Pride goes before the fall”?  A million. A zillion? If you have heard it only once you know it is very true.

I was struck this morning as I read the Scripture that was the focus of Everyday Gospel, reading how relevant that saying is. Here is what the Bible says: ‘“He (Uzziah) did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, just as his father, Amaziah, had done. Uzziah sought God during the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God. And as long as the king sought guidance from the Lord, God gave him success.” (2 Chronicles 26:4-5) Verse 15 says, “His fame spread far and wide, for the Lord gave him marvelous help, and he became very powerful.”

But then we hit verse 16 and the hammer falls: 

But when he had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall. He sinned against the Lord his God by entering the sanctuary of the Lord’s Temple and personally burning incense on the incense altar.

When confronted by the priest, Azariah, King Uzziah raised the incense burner to strike him and when he did leprosy broke out on the forehead. He lived in isolation the rest of his life.

I hate reading those words “But when he had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall.” His success contributed to his demise. I don’t think I need to ask how many times we have seen this in our day and age. A CEO gets too big for his/her britches. An entitled executive has an agenda. (Does Bud Light ring a bell?) A pastor gets too pompous in his “empire” and with all the “yes” people around him, he has no checks and balances. Embezzlement. Misuse of funds. Sexual charges (of all kinds). An entitled athlete finds himself mired in scandal or not so high on the leader board as he/she once thought they were.

Tragic events happen when pride rears its ugly head. I’m not saying there isn’t a good type of pride. A young man did a fine job giving the communion meditation this past Sunday. Rightfully so, his parents could be proud of their 17 year old son. But even something as beautiful as that can be turned into a moment of ungodly pride by the father of lies.

Let’s keep our feet on the ground, our head out of the clouds, and our heart beating for the Master. Pride is ugly; humility, although much harder to maintain, is the key.

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May 5

Monday, May 5th, 2025

During Spring Break about 15 of our people went to east Tennessee to help IDES (International Disaster Emergency Services) with cleanup and rebuilding homes caused by flooding from Hurricane Helene. They were supposed to give a presentation of their work on April 6th but ironically, we had to cancel services that morning due to extreme flooding in our area and a RED travel advisory (only emergency vehicles were to be out). So we rescheduled it for May 4th (yesterday). As the people spoke about the one item that stood out to them, I noticed what I thought was a theme that wove its way through each one: the opportunity to serve. There were variations of that to be sure, but several of them came right out and said it: “I wanted to be a Mary not a Martha. I wanted to listen to people.” “I wanted to serve in any way possible, even if it meant shoveling gravel” (said by a young lady who was not strong-looking by any stretch). Several others related how they simply wanted to serve these people. One even mentioned how the lady’s whose house they were building served them a hot meal every day.  I guess you could say, “The served being the server”?

In his May 5th devotion in Everyday Gospel, the author, Paul David Tripp, began his devotion with this little gambit: 

Grace transforms us from being those who live for our own glory to being those who find joy in living for the glory and fame of another.

In this case, it was David’s passion to build the Temple, but God in His wisdom told him that he was a man of war and a man of peace was to build the Temple. That man of peace was Solomon, his son.  David’s words to his son were, “MY son, I wanted to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord my God.” (I Chron. 22:7) David did his part in helping build the Temple by gathering materials needed for the building. He commissioned men to use their gifts to build the Temple. He solicited the help of others in getting the lumber for it.

Put plainly: David wanted a building that would show off the magnificence of God. It really wasn’t for him to have a lasting legacy of “Look what David built.” His sole purpose for building it was the honor and glory of God to be spread. What a great purpose for our lives!! What a great challenge for today, for every day. Live my life to bring honor and glory to God. And you?

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May 1

Thursday, May 1st, 2025

“Don’t send a boy to do a man’s job.” That is the phrase we use when something is challenging and it is going to take a little extra to get the job done. (or we jokingly use it when teasing someone about coming after us).

That is how I felt as I read I Chronicles 10-11 this morning. Chapter 10 is fairly benign-the death of Saul’s sons and the death of Saul himself (by suicide). But chapter 11 opens a whole new chapter as David takes over as king. What is interesting about this chapter is instead of lauding David’s feats, it spends time talking about David’s mighty warriors. He had the mightiest warriors called the Three. The leader of the Three was named Jashobeam the Hacmonite. It says he once used his spear to kill 300 enemy warriors in a single battle. Next in rank was Eleazer son of Dodai. He and David held their ground in the middle of a barley field and beat back the Philistines. This was after the rest of the Israelite Army had fled.

David was also surrounded by his 30 Mighty Men. One, Abishai, used his spear to kill 300 enemy warriors in a single battle. He was the commander of the 30. Another of the 30 was Benaiah son of Jehoida. He killed two champions of Moab (giants?). Another time, on a snowy day, he chased a lion down into a pit and killed it. Once, armed only with a club, he killed an Egyptian warrior who was 71/2′ tall and who was armed with a spear as thick as a weaver’s beam. He wrenched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with it.

Feats like this make us think Marvel-Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, etc. But these men were not armed with superpowers. No machine or pill or something that made Marvel comic book heroes was present in these men. No, in fact, they had nothing of the sort. What they did have is found in Psalm 89:13-14- “Powerful in your arm! Strong is your hand! Your right hand is lifted in glorious strength. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Unfailing love and truth walk before you as attendants.” (NLT)  There are multiple passages in Psalms where God’s strength is on full display. I’m reminded of a song I like to listen when I work out. It contains the following lyrics: “Evil is his name/Oh the Dragon’s rage!/Who can save us from his war flame?/ Knight in shining armor won’t do/Jesus, Lamb of God, is His name/Indeed He came to our rescue/We cry victory! Victory! The Dragon’s lost this war!” (“Victory” from Ashes of War by Shining Light Music-2025) (You can find the song on YouTube and Spotify. Be forewarned: it is not tame).  🙂

God has not promised an easy life. He has promised HIS strength to get through every battle of this life. May you experience His Victory today.

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April 28

Monday, April 28th, 2025

I will be out of town for the next few days (back Wednesday) watching our grandson play high school baseball and also visiting with Janna and the clan. I’m posting this today but unless something happens where I feel I can post easily, I won’t be back until Thursday.

In my last post I wrote about Prince Thomas and the feeling that he had of being called to something, but he wasn’t sure what it was. His Uncle David told him to “bide his time, that if God was calling him, he would be tracked down in God’s time, not his own.” As the book (Dancing Prince) shows, his calling was to become the next king after his father, King Michael, relinquished the throne. I also mentioned that I would share my own journey about being called.

My mother told me once that as far as she could remember, I always talked about being a preacher. I remember it differently. 🙂 I always wanted to play professional baseball and then when I grew so quickly between my 8th & 9th grade, I took up basketball. I was so bad that I could not dribble and walk at the same time. The coach had me learn on the sidelines while the team was practicing. Eventually I got so I could do both and learned to love basketball. So much so, that when I was in an awkward age to play baseball (there was no team for my age), basketball took over. I soon wanted to get good enough to play college then professional ball. Well, several things stacked up against me on that. I was 6’3″; I wasn’t a good ball handler; and I sat the bench. Even as a Senior my coach decided to play underclassmen preparing for the next year or two. (It backfired. They did terribly).

Between my Freshman and Sophomore year in college, I made a solid commitment to Christ and to follow Him where ever. If that meant, the ministry then so be it.  I played basketball and studied… hard since nothing came easy to me. I decided not to play ball my senior year because I wanted better grades, was preaching on the weekends, and…oh yeah…got married. 🙂 I preached at a little country church for almost two years and then became a youth pastor closer to the school. After graduation, I was an Associate Pastor in Akron, OH where I was officially ordained on April 13, 1975. But I always wanted to preach and so the next church was a five-year preaching ministry in a small town (not even a stop light) in Ohio. In my 50 years of ministry I have been to Ohio, Indiana, back to Ohio, back to Indiana, back to Ohio and now back to Indiana for the past 19 years.  (The 19 best years of my ministry life).

There have been a lot of ups and downs, mistakes, foot-in-mouth disease, victories, losses, joy, sadness, but in all of it I know God was there. I have absolutely no doubt I am doing exactly what God designed me to do: Preach His Word and love His people. I wouldn’t trade one moment of His pleasure for all the money in the world.

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April 24

Thursday, April 24th, 2025

Have you ever felt called to do something? Sometimes you knew what it was and sometimes you were clueless and had to sit back and wait. (Don’t you just love waiting?) In Book #5 of the Dancing Priest series by Glynn Young, the issue of calling was huge. Prince Thomas, the youngest child of Michael and Sarah Kent-Hughes, struggled with his calling. Compounding the questions and the whole situation was his relationship with his father. During his early years, while King Michael was engulfed in Government he became close to his mother, Queen Sarah.  He was also a very bright and “feeling” boy/young man. When Angus McLin, an autistic boy, needed a friend, Thomas was that friend and they remained friends through adulthood. Angus flourished because of Thomas’ friendship and insight. But his closeness to his mother caused a rift between father and son. Michael’s jealousy and anger were always the elephant in the room. Prince Thomas also chafed against being a royal. 

Once, in a conversation with his oldest brother, Hank, and his wife, Hannah, the issue of calling came up. Hank was in line to be the next king and had even gone through the ceremony. In their conversation, Hank asks Thomas if he remember the story of Samuel’s anointing of David.  {Note: Samuel is impressed with David’s brothers but after each one he is reminded that God does not see as we see because while we look at the outside, God looks at the heart}.  Hank goes on to say, “I may have looked and acted the role, Tommy, but I don’t think I ever really had the heart for it…I was going through the motions; this wasn’t me. I wasn’t comfortable in this Prince of Wales skin. My head and heart were in the City; what set me on fire was how to harness investment and wealth to help people flourish.”

He paused. “But you do have a heart for it. Even when you were a boy, you seemed like you’d been called to it. You were always the serious one, the wise one. You understood things long before the rest of us did.” When Hank apologized to Thomas for handing this ball and chain to him, Thomas said he didn’t see it as that.  He then clarifies what he means. When he graduated from ICS (a Christian high school), he said, “I had a distinct impression that I was being called to do something. I thought I was being called to the priesthood, but that seemed off.”  Through his wrestling he spoke with his Uncle David (Sarah’s brother) who told him to bide his time, “that if God was calling me, I’d be tracked down in God’s time.”  Hank summed it up: “You were being called, but it wasn’t to the priesthood.”   (Edited from pages 334-336)

If you read Dancing Prince you will find the answer to that question and how that sense of calling was fulfilled. My next post will also give my personal testimony on that issue and I’ll tell you what happened to Thomas. 

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April 23

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2025

In my post yesterday, I repeated a discussion from Glynn Young’s Book #4 in the Dancing King series.  I’ll repeat it here:

King Michael and Queen Sarah were talking about when life was simpler and that it seemed like it was just yesterday when he studying and preaching  and she was expecting their first biological child. Michael laments that it seems so far away. The following is Sarah’s reply:

Sarah replies: “It was another life. Even if we don’t know what we’re doing, Mike, or what we should do, God does. The stuff that’s horrible or appalling or perplexing, He knows it. He has us both here for a reason, if we can’t fathom it and even if we want to be anywhere else but here. Mike, He’s ripping the lid off the sewer; it’s just hard to be one of the workers He sends in to clean out the pipes.” (p.222)

I wanted to comment more on what she said but word count put a limit on what I said. So I thought I would make a comment or two today. First, what prompted Michael and Sarah’s musing has been, unfortunately, headline true. The Church of England, of which Michael was an ordained priest, was having the lid blown off its sex abuse scandal-the coverup and moving around of pedophile priests who maimed over a thousand boys mentally and spiritually. That is a heavy weight for any to carry, especially a fictitious king and queen whose God-inspired and God-involved life had been radically interrupted, first by becoming king and queen of England; second, by the government’s inability to function; and third, by the exploding scandal involving the church. 

God places people where He wants and needs them. Sometimes it is often unexpected. I know I have used the phrase “Who da thunk it?” when referring to circumstances that defy logic. A person who seems to be out of their element performing a feat that defies explanation. Sort of the like the unexpected athlete who becomes a superstar or a gold medal winner. God does not make mistakes at any time, and that is especially true when placing people where He needs them. Some are shepherds of people and some, like Sarah says, are used to clean out the filth. I am old enough to remember the Christian singer, the late Keith Green, who was vilified and misunderstood because he dared talk, write and sing about hypocrisy and deadness in the life of the church and individual followers of Christ. Some used the term “prophet” which I hesitate using. He was fiery like a prophet of the Old Testament and his “take no prisoners” approach sure was in your face, but there was no compromise acceptable to Keith. Nor should there be for us.

God has placed you; He has placed me, exactly where He wants us to be. And while we may not understand it all, He is not asking us to. He is simply asking us to trust His way and work and be obedient. 

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April 15

Tuesday, April 15th, 2025

“You talk at an audience, but you talk with people.”  (Quote from The Dancing King by Glynn Young-p.131). I’m going to continue with my thoughts that The Dancing King spurred within me as I finished my reread of Book #3 in the series of 5. 

Interviewing for a job with the king, Jay said the preceding quote to King Michael.  Previous to that quote, Jay said this: “What struck me (after listening to Michael preach) about all of this is that you’re not a brand, but a person, a breathing, living person, and that comes through clearly in the videos and interview, but especially in the sermons. And from what I could tell, you want to talk with people, not communicate at them. Most communications people think of everyone as an audience, and I hate that. You talk at an audience, but you talk with people. And it seems to me that everything I’ve seen and read about you suggests that you want to talk  with people.” (pp.130-131) 

As a pastor, as a speaker, that statement hit the nail on the head. I honestly don’t care about branding (whatever that is and entails). I sincerely pray each Sunday that I am not in the pulpit to impress people or to WOW people. (I surely fail in that).  What I do want to do is plainly and clearly present the truth of the Gospel of Jesus and His love for each and every one of us. To borrow another quote from the book: “God does not ask me to campaign for social justice. He does not ask me to promote cultural pluralism. He does not tell me to promote inclusiveness as the only virtue left in a country that seems to have been stripped bare of its moral virtues (Note: he was speaking of the UK in the book but…). And he does not ask me to promote tolerance, because he knows that my efforts to promote tolerance will actually create intolerance.” (p.330).  And then the coup de grace: “He simply says, find the lost. Serve my people. Preach the gospel. Feed my sheep. Tend to my lambs. Disciple my flock. Watch over my people. Love them as you would love yourself. Love me with all your heart, and soul, and mind. Worship me, your Lord God, and not the false idols you have set up on the altars of your heart.” (p.330)

I was strangely challenged to take stock of my preaching and my love for the people of the church God has asked me to pastor after I read that. I wore a t-shirt Sunday that said, “This Pastor has an awesome congregation.”  I firmly believe that.  I want to be nowhere else and have no desire to be a mega church pastor.  My heart is here.  I am blessed with people who love me and have loved me for over 19 years.  And I thank God He has allowed me to love them back.

So ends my comments on Book #3. I suggest you read the books for yourself. 🙂

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April 14

Monday, April 14th, 2025

Start With Why. That is the name of a book by Simon Sinek that sits on my desk saying, “Read me! Read me!” 🙂 After reading multiple books on leadership for the first two months of the year, I needed to take a break. Sinek’s book was one that hit the “put off till later” batch.  From the back cover are the following words: “Any person or organization can explain what they do; some can explain how they are different or better; but very few can clearly articulate why. WHY is not about money or profit-those are the results. WHY is the thing that inspires us and inspires those around us.” 

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am rereading Glynn Young’s Dancing Priest series. I just finished Book #3 and have started #4. In Book #3 (known as the Dancing King) Michael Kent-Hughes has assumed the throne of England. But not before efforts were made by adversaries to thwart that happening. In Book #2 an almost successful attempt was made upon Michael’s life, as well as his pregnant wife, Sarah, and their unborn baby. We were introduced to Michael’s brother, Henry in Book #1 and saw him take a more active role in Michael’s life in Book #2. As part of what was known as The Violence where the attempt was made on Michael’s and Sarah’s lives, Henry life was also affected. In his effort to know more about his brother, Michael found out Henry had been a practicing homosexual but had taken part in a church’s Exodus Ministry. As Michael learned more, the priest of St. Margaret’s church said this to Michael: “The struggle became worse once the two of you had met. He found that, far from rejecting him, you had opened your arms to him. He described it something like this, that all of his adult life he had people who wanted him for his wealth, for his position, for what they thought they could get from him, or for his body, but that you, the brother he had forced away so many years ago, you wanted him simply for himself. At first, he found it hard to believe. Then you invited him to stay with you in San Francisco. And he discovered that you loved him with a heartfelt, brotherly love, and asked nothing of him other than to be with him.” (p.120) 

All that to say: people know when we are with them to get something or to just be with them for them. The WHY question is huge. I guess I can’t really stop people from wanting something from me, but I can make sure my motives are pure when I am with others. It should not be for what can they give me or what I can get from them, but to simply enjoy their friendship and presence.  I love being with people who want nothing from me but to my friend and visa versa.

How about you?

{There is more coming from Book #3 but you really ought to read the whole series} 🙂

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Burning Hearts – April 13

Friday, April 11th, 2025

I talked a little bit about the life of David last week. This week I’m going to take a deeper dive into his life. In fact, last week I compared Saul to David-the arrogance of Saul vs the humility of David. (You can catch that sermon on YouTube). Last week was a really strange week due to having to cancel in person services because of the flooding in our area and the county commissioners putting us on a RED travel alert. A RED meant only emergency personnel were to be on the roads.  Since I live 2 miles from the church building and it is all highway, I was able to come to the office and prepare for a live stream. But we chose to err on the side of caution and ask people to stay home.

This week will different. Not only will be meeting in person-Lord willing- my main focus will be on David. I’ll start by looking at Psalm 139 (a fantastic passage that blows the abortion advocates out of the water that the baby is just a blob of tissue), then move onto specific actions in David’s life. I’ve titled the sermon Hero and Zero because David was both. Specific actions in his life show him as a hero; specific actions show him as a zero (not worthless but a mistake-maker).

One of the things I like about the Bible is that it paints people as people-warts and all. No whitewashing. No skipping over the bad parts. David is no different from me. I’d like to invite you to join us in person at 9:00 and 10:45 AM. If you are unable to, please join us via our live stream via our Facebook or YouTube channel. You can send a request to join our Facebook Group at Owen Valley Christian Fellowship or view our public page at Owen Valley Christian Fellowship-Spencer, In. Or you can watch via YouTube at Owen Valley Christian Fellowship. I look forward to seeing you or hearing from you online. And let me ask you to do me a favor: please let us know you are watching and then feel free to comment-yay or nay. If you have any questions, please ask and I will get back to you. Thanks. And thanks for praying for us.

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April 10

Thursday, April 10th, 2025

“God doesn’t really care.” If I have heard that once, I’ve heard it a thousand times. (It may or may not have slipped from my lips a time or two in the past. Just sayin’) 🙂

Last night during my Wednesday Night Conversation class, this was the topic of discussion. Everyone there acknowledged what I just said: they had heard (or used) it before.  We also came to realize that much of the belief in that lie is too many think that God is just like we are. He has failures, limitation, and weaknesses…just like us. We sometimes give off the idea that God is prone to doubt, questioning His actions, and even prone to regrets that He could/should start all over again. Here’s truth: God is not like me. God is not like you. He is God, and I am not, neither are you (even though we act like it sometimes).

With that in mind, let’s take a look at what God is like. I called these 3 non-negotiables + one:

God is Omnipotent. God is all-powerful. He can do everything-possible or impossible. He is not limited. He never gets tired. He never forgets. Take a moment to pick up a Bible and read Psalm 115:3 or Isaiah 40:28.

God is Omnipresent. This is an easy word to figure out. God is all-present and everywhere present. He cannot be confined, either in heaven or on earth. He is not confined to a building, nor is He removed from our lives. Wherever you are He is there. Psalm 139:7-12 will blow your socks off.

God is Omniscient. He is all-knowing. He knows all that can be known. He knows all thoughts, all desires, every unuttered secret (hence my mom’s words: “You can’t hide, Bill. God knows what you are thinking.” (Thanks mom for keeping my “guilt alarm” on high alert!)

God is Omnibenevolent.  Yeah…I know it isn’t a word. God is all-loving. He loves perfectly and is full of love.  His love never runs out and never lessens. He doesn’t need us to feel satisfied, but we need Him to be fulfilled.  “For anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (I John 4:8 NLT)

So what does this all mean to me, to us?  Four things:

  1. God has proven Himself.  He has nothing more to prove to anyone.
  2. God always keeps His promises. Take that to the bank.  What He says, He will do.
  3. God has come and will come again. The first time He came as a baby; the next time He will come as conquering King.
  4. God’s presence always brings a presence of peace. In spite of the circumstances, His presence will being peace and calm.

I hope this encourages you today.

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