Article by Kevin L. DeWitt

How often do you receive an email, text message, voice mail, Facebook post, or some other message?  For the sender of these messages, they are most often urgent … and always important … to them.

But are they important to you?  Are they helping you achieve your important work goals, or, do they pull your focus away from what is important, forcing you to react to others all day, every day?

It seems that every second, more communications are being sent our way.  And our normal response is to try and stay current with all of the communications.  It’s human nature to want to respond quickly … to keep our “in box” free of clutter.  So we reply to the latest communications as quickly as possible, letting others control our work lives and our schedule. 

And since the flow of communication never ends, we find that we spend most of our life reacting to others instead of being proactive in working to achieve our own goals. Read More »

Article by Dr. Les Hollon, Pastor, Trinity Baptist Church

This past Sunday was Bright Sunday.  We wear bright clothes as a fun expression of living in the brightness of Christ’s resurrection.  The brightness also connects us to the historical practice for Christians to enjoy the humorous side of faith after we have experienced the seriousness of Holy Week.

God renews us by renewing people’s trust to be the “body of Christ.”  We are an Easter people.  We are a people of life transformation. So … what’s next? 

This article marks the beginning of a sermon series filled with God’s promises from the book of Acts. The answer to the question of ”What’s Next?” is “God’s 8 Transforming Promises.”  Through these promises, God reveals His truth, releases His power, and revitalizes us by His presence. Read More »

Article by Malcolm Marler

In my journey to live more simply is a desire to be radically generous to the poor or to those in need.  I don’t believe we can live a simplified life of faith without this foundation …

But man do I struggle with this.

So how do we exercise radical generosity with our resources, money, and everything we own materially?

One barrier that gets in the way for me is I think that … when I make a little more money, or when I get this month’s bills paid off … then I can be more generous to the poor.

Living with radical generosity seems difficult or impossible because we think of giving out of our abundance.  But this abundance never seems to be there. Read More »

Article by Kevin L. DeWitt

Most of us always seem to be in a hurry … rushing to get everything before the day is done.  And every so often, we see someone who never seems to be in a rush, is usually relaxed and not stressed … and yet always seems to accomplish all the things they need to do throughout the day.

This presents a question - Is it possible to never hurry, but to get everything done?

It seems at odds with our modern world, where everything is a rush, where we try to insert as much into every minute of the day as possible, where if we are not busy, we feel unproductive and guilty.

As a matter of fact, the busier we are, the more we tend to wear it as a badge of honor.  I have a five hundred resumes to review!  Really?  I have 2,000!  The winner is the person who has the most insane schedule, who rushes from one thing to the next … because obviously that means he’s the most successful or important.

Right? Read More »

Article by Dr. Les Hollon, Pastor, Trinity Baptist Church

Easter shows us God at work.  The miracle comes through the power of the One who created the heavens and the earth.  Touched by it, we sing - “Up from the grave He arose, With a mighty triumph over His foes.”

What’s at Stake?

With Christ’s resurrection comes our resurrection.  With Christ’s resurrection comes Satan’s ultimate defeat.  With Christ’s resurrection is the victory of heaven over hell; love over hate; hope over despair; forgiveness over sin. 

Like the early believers, we share the joy of Easter’s promise.  Christ is risen.  Christ is risen indeed!

What one believes about eternity is challenged when standing by an open grave of a loved one.  We do not play games or give false platitudes at the cemetery.  Is the gravesite the final resting place for a loved one whose casket is about to be lowered in the ground?  Or is the grave a historical location where we recall the person’s earthly life; grieve that the person no longer walks with us on earth; and then celebrate that our loved one now shares in the promise of Christ’s resurrection?

Easter makes clear that resurrection is the transforming work of God by which believers enter heaven. Read More »