Category: Ministry

9/30/2023 1 Comment

How Could I Hinder God?

There may come a time when God asks you to do something that takes you out of your comfort zone and violates your religious beliefs. For example, what if you are a pro-life conservative, and God calls you to minister to abortion advocates? Or, perhaps you are a pacifist and democrat, and God leads you to present the gospel to Marines, a group trained and willing to take lives. What will you do? How will you explain to all your friends or those like-minded believers you fellowship with about your actions?

1 Comment

3/17/2023 1 Comment

Pickleball

Last week I decided to learn how to play the fastest-growing sport in the nation—pickleball. So far, I have played five times in three locations and met over forty people. The game is described as a marriage between ping pong and badminton, or as I like to say, ping pong on steroids. It is a ton of fun, and I’m amazed at how friendly and welcoming the community is.

1 Comment

12/6/2022 2 Comments

The Best Message Never Preached

Dan with Ralph Holland

Ralph was invited to preach by pastors who had seen his television program broadcast throughout Latin America. Two pastors met him at the airport and took him to the venue—an auditorium full of worshipers. As the service progressed, the host pastor asked Ralph to be finished preaching by 9:00 p.m. so people who required public transportation could make the last bus. Two groups provided music and even played some of the same songs. An offering was taken, and the person facilitating it decided to preach a short message and then had one of the bands come up and play yet another song. By the time Ralph was introduced to speak it was 8:55!

2 Comments

5/21/2022 0 Comments

Kingdom of God

Pastor Mike tells the story of how as a child, he and his siblings would eat through an entire large box of Kellogg’s Pep cereal to get the prize—a submarine. Mike’s goal was to get the prize; he didn’t care for the product.

0 Comments

7/18/2021 0 Comments

Moving Past Crisis

Meditation
Matthew 14:12-14—Then his disciples came, removed the corpse, buried it, and went and reported to Jesus. When Jesus heard about it, He withdrew from there by boat to a remote place to be alone. When the crowds heard this, they followed Him on foot from the towns. As He stepped ashore, He saw a huge crowd, felt compassion for them, and healed their sick.

0 Comments

6/15/2021 0 Comments

Suubi House

West Point classmate Bill Bowman shared his story with the Long Eternal Line team who gather each Tuesday night for prayer. Bill suffered a bad car accident that crushed his back and should have left him permanently paralyzed. While in the hospital Bill shared how Jesus held him and comforted him. Bill apologized for not walking the right path and the Lord shared with him that his story was not over yet. Miraculously, Bill and his wife were able to have a baby girl they named Sarah. Bill nicknamed her Suubi—a name that stuck.

0 Comments

3/14/2021 0 Comments

Separated Ones

A group of people determined to separate themselves in the pursuit of holiness. They gave themselves a name—Perushim, which means separated ones. Over time as they concentrated on holy living, they became proud and self-righteous. On the outside they looked great but on the inside they rotted.[1]

0 Comments

2/14/2021 0 Comments

Competition

Competition is one of my signature strengths. I don’t like losing or being wrong. By God’s grace I am mellowing with age. So, I can somewhat identify with John when he and his buddies were bothered that someone they didn’t know was taking on demons in the power of Jesus’ name yet wasn’t part of their signature team. I’m sure he felt that that it was completely inappropriate for one who was not spending time at the feet of the Master to minister as a supposed follower. But John and his fellow disciples were misguided in their thinking.

0 Comments

2/8/2021 1 Comment

No Regrets

Started in 1994, the No Regrets Men’s Conference is an annual event whose purpose is to challenge men in their relationship with God at home, at work and in their ministry. Hosted in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the organizers seek to create an environment over about a four-hour period that ministers in a great variety of host sites around the world. Spiritual growth is set in motion when men and boys come together to worship and to hear challenging messages. What is also encouraging is the effort by the leaders to provide ongoing Bible Studies and messages designed to stimulate men spiritually so they don’t just experience a “one and done” but have impetus to keep maturing.

1 Comment

9/21/2020 0 Comments

Graduation

Barbara Jo was born on January 14, 1929 in Kellogg, Idaho. Trapped in a nursing home by Covid-19, depressed and unable to leave her room for months, she wasted away to a mere 75 pounds before finally reaching earth’s finish line at the age of 91. Fortunately, her life was not defined by her death.

0 Comments

8/23/2020 1 Comment

Marking People With Grace

Ron and Joyce York

At the age of 88, my dad is walking the final chapters of his life on earth still on fire to share the gospel with any and every person he can. Mark Cahill wrote the book One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven and that one thing is evangelism. Dad is making sure he maximizes now what he won’t be able to do once he is home.
I’m working on writing a biography of his life and was challenged by an entry in his journal on October 10, 1983 while he was serving as the country leader for the Navigators in the Philippines.

1 Comment

4/10/2019 1 Comment

Confirmation

My good friend Dan moved from Tigard to Albany Oregon to work with Dana, another mutual friend. Unfortunately, Dana’s business experienced a downturn and he had to let Dan go. In 2012 Dan felt led to stay in Albany and serve as an Associate Pastor in a Calvary Chapel.

1 Comment

1/9/2018 0 Comments

He Picked You

Meditation
Acts 9:13-15—“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And he has authority here from the chief priests to arrest all who call on Your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go! For this man is My chosen instrument to take My name to Gentiles, kings, and the Israelites.”

0 Comments

8/30/2015 0 Comments

Two Dimensional Thinkers

“Charles Clark cleans toilets at Trinity High School in Euless, Texas. But he also helps kids turn their lives around — not because it was his job, but because it needed to be done . . .”[1] You can watch him in action at http://omeleto.com/215307/. Charles is committed to excellence. This janitor takes pride in sweeping away dirt, mopping floors and sanitizing rooms because he takes his job seriously. When he is not cleaning or repairing, he pours his life into mentoring teenagers who need guidance and the reassurance that someone loves and cares about them. Mr. Clark understands that the students who populate Trinity High School are the greater investment. So in the natural flow of work, he makes time to listen, to encourage and to touch the hearts of students.

0 Comments

1/14/2012 0 Comments

Getting Away

Matthew 14:13—When Jesus heard about it, He withdrew from there by boat to a remote place to be alone. When the crowds heard this, they followed Him on foot from the towns.

0 Comments

6/26/2010 0 Comments

Doors

Sandra, the leader of Jennifer’s home Bible Study, informed the women of her job promotion with Key Bank. As a result, she would be moving to another state. While the women cheered her good fortune, immediately they wondered what would happen to their group when she left. At first, there was quite a bit of discouragement. Jennifer was personally going through a rough time in her life as a parent and Sandra’s advice was often invaluable and encouraging.

0 Comments

3/24/2010 0 Comments

Redeemers

Recently I had the opportunity to speak to a group of Army officers and noncommissioned officers. I asked the question, “How many of you grew up with a mom and a dad?” Almost all of them raised their hands. I then asked, “How many of your cadets (college students) come from homes with a mom and a dad?” The crowd guesstimated that about 50% came from two-parent homes. They underscored a point I hoped to make which is that today there is a huge need for mentors. Too many of those exiting high schools across our land have had insufficient parenting and manifest a great craving for meaningful relationships.

0 Comments

10/21/2008 0 Comments

The Lost Art of Training

Meditation
Ephesians 4:11-13—And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God's Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ's fullness.

0 Comments

11/30/2007

Oasis

We’ve tried hard to sell our house in Tigard but to no avail. For over a year it sat vacant. Have you ever had times when a nagging notion persistently sits in your heart? I’ve had that notion—I believe God wants our house to be used for ministry. So, with hesitant concurrence from my wife, we decided to deepen our risk factor. 12350 SW Tiedeman became a spiritual oasis, a shelter for the homeless and refuge for the hurting.

6/14/2007 0 Comments

Available

Kathy’s birthday was last Sunday. I’m sure she resigned herself to a lonely day, after all, her husband was in Minnesota and none of her children live close. Cissy, Charlie, Brian, Chad, Roger, Sharil and Paula bought a cake, wrote her a poem, gave her a plaque and took time to come to her apartment and spring a wonderful surprise. She cried so hard they cried!

John and Denise had to leave their home and find a place to store their stuff until they could get into another rental. Charlie and Cis, Will, John, Kevin and Kendy sacrificed their time to help make the move happen.

0 Comments