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When hearing the name Samson, the casual observer would say his story is about strength and courage not vengeance and lust. But, after reading the story of Samson and hearing Pastor Chad talk about him, our Connect Group was so disgusted with this scoundrel that they did not even want to talk about him. Imagine, being dedicated to God, trained as a child in the ways of God, given special strength by God and a special mission to help free Israel from the oppression of the Philistines. And then, this self centered, egotistical self indulging rascal goes out of his

Yesterday was the first game of this year’s Major League Baseball World Series. One thing we know for sure already, the team wearing red will win. What we don’t know is if that is Red Sox red or Cardinal red. These are the two best teams in baseball this year, both with extremely talented players. From the power of David (Big Papi) Ortiz to the speed and cunning of Jacoby Ellsbury the players are picked for specific positions based on their talent and experience. As I think about it, I am sure glad that is NOT how God picks who

We recently spent a few days in Seaside, Oregon. Having once lived there we drove around to see what had changed. As we drove up “our” street, the houses looked familiar, most had been well maintained and there were some changes. “Our” house, which was old when we lived there, now is well over 100 years old, was still in good condition. The sun porch had been remodeled and had new windows, a good place for the children to play. Even though the beach was only about 200 feet away we were very cautious about letting them play there. That did not always deter our adventurous son

On Saturday, my wife and I returned from a week in Atlanta. I’m not one to spiritualize everything, but as I thought about what to write for this week’s post, a couple of thoughts came to me about church from the week that was. So, I want to share these thoughts and some pictures with you.

“Chad, Rachel needs to talk to you,” said Shannon1, a long time Christian and faithful attender of our church. I looked and saw Rachel standing teary eyed by the wall. “Ok, just give me one minute” I responded as I hurried to greet a couple of new people at our Sunday Gathering. A few minutes later I was standing in the back of the church with Shannon and Rachel…

[bra_blockquote align=”]It was a little after noon on Christmas Eve 2010. We were sitting in the hospital room with our daughter who, four days before had undergone heart surgery to replace her mitral value. Just one month earlier…[/bra_blockquote][bra_dropcaps style=’dropcap1′]I[/bra_dropcaps]t was a little after noon on Christmas Eve 2010. We were sitting in the hospital room with our daughter who, four days before had undergone heart surgery to replace her mitral value. Just one month earlier our son had a cancerous tumor removed. The initial surgery did not go well so two days later they tried again and by God’s grace

 “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” – Hebrews 11:1 (NASB) Last Sunday, Pastor Chad vividly recounted the story of Noah and the Ark. I was reminded that this is not just a nice kids’ story, this was a major event in human history. God was really upset. He wished He had never created man. But then He saw Noah, a man of faith who God used to change the course of history. This thought hit me right between the eyes—what would God have done if He was looking at me rather than Noah?

As I was paging through the newspaper this morning looking for my crossword puzzle, a large picture of an older couple jumped out at me. They were sitting on a couch surrounded by paintings, castings, figurines, etc. The caption noted that these were their most prized possessions from 60 years of marriage. Immediately my mind went back to last Sunday when Pastor Chad pointed out that God calls those that trust in Him, His Treasured Possessions. While many of the items pictured were nice, nothing I saw would have made my top ten list. But, it started me thinking again

Does God see you as a robber or a faithful worshipper? I had just turned 3 years old when my father was killed in a logging accident leaving my citified mother with me and my 3 month old sister alone with no income on a little farm 100 miles from her relatives. The daughter of a preacher, she believed God would take care of her and she felt strongly that her biggest responsibility was to raise her children. So, with the farm generating just enough income to pay its expenses and a meager stipend from Social Security, she began her

I was nine years old with an insatiable appetite for the dangers of weapons. I had collected pocket knives and had filled an entire briefcase with my many flea-market spoils. My parents eventually bought me my very own BB gun, which turned out to be as much a source of entertainment for my father as it was for me. My father and I would shoot at milk cartons filled with water in our backyard and watch as our shots left the carton to bleed water from its many holes. But there is one incident with my BB gun that stands out more than any other. It was family camp week for Ramona First Baptist, the church my father was pastoring at the time. We brought my BB gun. During camp I pleaded with my father to take me out to shoot it. Finally, he agreed to take me out with several other kids at the church. I would stick the gun between my legs to pump it up as many times as I could. We shot it out into the distance at really nothing in particular. When my dad took the gun to shoot a few himself, all the kids gathered closely to watch