“So, I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?” Nehemiah 6:3 A pastor was going to visit a church member when he saw the big-muscled bulldog walking toward him right down the middle of the sidewalk. It looked neither to the left or the right. When…Keep Reading

GOD BLESS AMERICA “God bless America” should be a solemn prayer, not the demand of an entitlement mindset or a political slogan. God has blessed America apart from personal salvation, but will he bless us apart from basic goodness? America is not God’s chosen nation, as was Israel. God’s holy nation is the church: As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of…Keep Reading

“…but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.” Luke 21:4 Her home reminded me of places and people that I have loved all my life. Her hair was snow white, and her face showed a life that had known years of hard work mixed with joy and sorrows. There was always a cup of coffee and plenty of talk and laughter, and sometimes tears. “Let me read…Keep Reading

“Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens…” Isaiah 40:26 I was a child (perhaps six or seven) when my parents took us to Pearisburg High School because something exciting was happening. A helicopter was going to land and the TV cowboy “The Cisco Kid” was going to be on it. A whirlybird landing in town during the mid-1950s was a big deal, and the Cisco Kid was right…Keep Reading

“…OUR COMMON FAITH…” Titus 1:4 The tired pastor boarded the plane. This flight meant time to relax and clear his crowded head and heart. He watched a young man board the plane. Talk about generational and cultural differences; the two of them were as opposite as night and day. “I sure hope his seat isn’t beside me,” he silently prayed. Pleased that the young man walked past him, he sighed,…Keep Reading

Yesterday, I heard the question . . . Is God big enough for your challenges? Big enough is not the question, but the answer is . . . God is Bigger than all our challenges. Jesus came as a Savior, not a conquerer. Through His Renewing and Redeeming, He calls us to obedience as the Lord looks out for us and is with us, to grant us His Mercy and…Keep Reading

“Doubt” is a dirty word in the Christian vocabulary. To be called a Doubting Thomas strikes fear in the hearts of conscientious Christians. There is a healthy side, to doubt. When dogmatism drives honest doubts from the arena, a self-righteous certitude holds sway. Trusting in themselves that they were righteous and despising all others, the Pharisees of Jesus’ day were sure that they were the only ones going to heaven….Keep Reading

Pastor Will Shewey, Shades of Grace United Methodist Church Link to YouTube Video – Mark 9:30-37 Mark 9:30-37 30 And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know it. 31 For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he…Keep Reading

Distracted driving is dangerous and illegal, yet the “It won’t happen to me” syndrome continues to wreck lives. The same can be true as we travel along the Way to Heaven, it is important to not become spiritually distracted drivers. Here are some driving trips from the Bible: STEER STRAIGHT: “Be careful to obey all the law… do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that…Keep Reading

DON’T NURTURE YOUR PAIN All of us have been wronged, and all of us have wronged others: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his…Keep Reading

“…they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.” Luke 2:46-47 The boy Jesus was found in the Temple listening and asking questions, and folks were astonished at his wisdom. The teachers around him were humble enough to include the young man that day. They had no idea that…Keep Reading

True Christianity is intolerant in the sense that it holds to the absolute that Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and none can be saved outside of him. True Christianity is, on the other hand, the most tolerant of all religions. The Christ-like refuse to use any form of persecution or coercion to advance the borders of the kingdom. When the world sees the preaching of the…Keep Reading