They call these the Golden Years; but, instead, the name should be: The Years of Perseverance. Anyone over the age of 60 or 70 knows that these years must be “infused” with Gold. What is Golden? It’s finding God the first thing in the morning when one awakes to conscious breaths. When we praise Him because even though one might feel like rolling over and staying in bed, He is…Keep Reading

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope.” Psalm 130:5 “Sorry that I am late. I’ve been trying to get here for twenty-one days, but I was held up on another job.” We often hear someone talking about how frustrated they got while waiting on a repairman, or someone who promised to be there at a certain time, but who didn’t show up. Would…Keep Reading

My Redeemer Lives Isaiah catalogs a long list of evils in his day: extreme wealth of some and extreme poverty of others, corruption in government, rampant drunkenness and immorality, empty, compromising religion, and indifference to it all by those in power (Isaiah 1:21-23). Some were looking to the arm of man to save them, prompting Isaiah to write, “Stop trusting in mere humans, who have but a breath in their…Keep Reading

At Wednesday night Bible Study, we are studying the women of the Bible. The parallels between Sarah and Rebekah are remarkable. Then there is Leah . . . At first glance, one might think her life was grievously stricken. She was not the love of Jacob’s life but she bore his children and delighted with each one. She had chosen to be concent, and was content because she had a…Keep Reading

Keep Your Faith to Yourself Paul wrote, “The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God” (Romans 14:22, ESV). Paul is not urging us to be closet Christians, practicing our faith in secret. When the Jewish authorities demanded that the apostles keep quiet about the gospel of Christ, Peter replied, “We must obey God rather than me” (Acts 5:29). The context of Paul’s exhortation is disputable things—things about which…Keep Reading

“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.” Psalm 107:2-3 A boy made a little sail boat attached to a string. It was a beautiful piece of work. As he played with it in a stream one day it got away, and was lost. Days later he saw it in a store window for sale. He asked for it, but the store owner explained that he had bought it from…Keep Reading

“You have made summer and winter” Psalm 74:17b It is 22 degrees outside this morning. Here is a frosty devotional because wintertime has said, “Ready or not, here I come.” Snowmen always smile. One would wonder why considering the fact that they have to stand out in the cold so long. I have known Christians to lose their smile because it was a little cool in church. The birds are…Keep Reading

Each in Front of His Own House The prophet Haggai rebuked the apathy and indifference of those who said, “It is not time to build the Lord’s house,” while building fine houses for themselves. In Nehemiah’s day, the day of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, the people had a mind to work. Many Christians have a mind to work, leading some to commit their lives to preach the gospel, but…Keep Reading

God’s first order of creation was putting light in the darkness. After the light He brought order out of chaos. Light is easily taken for granted until it is gone, then we realize how important it is to us. We know that simple tasks become very difficult (if not impossible) in the dark. Nicodemus came to see Jesus in the darkness of night. He was complimented for it when Jesus…Keep Reading

“God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 While visiting a friend’s wildlife refuge he showed us a large cage of mice. He seemed to love them too. There must have been a hundred little rodents. He reached into some straw to get a baby mouse to show us. The mice…Keep Reading

Pastor Will Shewey, Shades of Grace United Methodist Church Link to YouTube Video – Matthew 3:13-17 From Pastor Will Shewey We did a thing today! We had a 2:30 p.m. worship service on Thursday afternoon with a 3 hour notice. I called all our worship participants and we ended up with about 35 worshippers. Since the forecast is strongly suggesting a heavy accumulation of snow Friday into Saturday, it was…Keep Reading

“Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.” 1 Corinthians 15:33 “You’ve got to accentuate the positive, Eliminate the negative, Latch on to the affirmative, don’t mess with Mister In-Between. You’ve got to spread joy up to the maximum, Bring gloom down to the minimum, Have faith or pandemonium’s liable to walk upon the scene…” That wasn’t a hymns of the church, yet it certainly wouldn’t hurt for it…Keep Reading