“And God remembered Noah and every living thing…” Genesis 8:1 The storm seemed like it would never end, days were dreary, and the confinement to the inside of the ark was about more than they could stand. Those amateur seafarers must have wondered if they had been forgotten. When they could not endure anymore, “God remembered;” and God remembers you in your storms also. In life’s troubles we are remembered:…Keep Reading

Paul wrote: “I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints…Keep Reading

Life has many things that are not sinful in themselves but can lead to sin because they distract us from the goal of the prize of the upward call. Fastidiousness caused Martha to be distracted from the eternal by the ephemeral. It was fear that caused Peter to take his eyes off Jesus and focus on the wind and the waves. The problems accompanying church growth threatened to distract the…Keep Reading

D. L. Moody said that on the banks of the Adriatic Sea the wives of the fishermen, whose husbands had gone out upon the deep, would gather on the shore at night. There they would sing, and their voices would carry the first verse of some beautiful hymn across the water. Then they would listen until they would hear the second verse sung by their husbands as they fished away…Keep Reading

“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