ARC Blogs

I recently heard a story about a lumber jack who challenged another to an all-day wood chopping contest.  The challenger worked with all his might, stopping only for a brief lunch break.  The other man had a leisurely lunch and took several breaks throughout the day.  At the end of the day, the challenger was surprised and somewhat annoyed to find that the other fellow had chopped substantially  more wood than he had.  "I don’t get it," he said.  "Every time I checked, you were taking a rest, yet you chopped more wood than I did.  How did you do it." 

The unexpected happenings can really change things around.  Last week, I mentioned the “fear factor” as Mary was preparing for her wedding when she received the shocking news of her pregnancy.  In fact, I am taken back by all the fear that came about in this precious story of Christ’s birth.  Last week we saw this fear with Mary and then I think of the shepherds who were filled with fear when the angels showed up and started singing a tune.  They couldn’t believe this unbelievable sight and we read “they were filled with fear”.  Don’t you doubt it; Joseph was filled

It is hard to believe, but we are in the season of Advent.  It comes so quickly after Thanksgiving and in many ways we are just not ready for this time.  However, neither you nor I can stop the rushing time. Right after we give thanks to God for his many blessings, we come together to celebrate this wonderful time when God sent His one and only Son into the world.  Make sure you take the proper time this year to celebrate the special meaning of this season of joy.

There are times when I really don’t like to go to congregational meetings.  The same old thing takes place when everyone makes their reports and the budgets are presented.  We sing a song and hear some devotional thoughts and nothing really seems too exciting.  Well, that sure wasn’t the case on Monday evening for those who attended the congregational meeting.  What an uplifting time as so many reports were made and exciting things were shared.  As an outsider looking in, you are to be commended for your generous and faithful giving through this major building proje

It just is hard to believe we are at the beginning of November.  Soon we will all have our comments about the winter season.  But hey, we did get an extra hour of sleep as daylight savings time fell back to the “normal” time.  By the way, how do you define normal?  We all search for things to be “normal” in one way or another.  Yet at about the time we figure out what normal means, we hear God asking us to do things that may appear not to be normal to us.  Is ARC a “normal” church?  Well if “normal” means just going along the same way we have always done t

Today is a great day to again check in with all my friends at American Reformed.  I trust you enjoyed reading the article last week about being a “missional church”.  You can’t help but run into this concept almost every time you read an article about the church of today.  We have “missional worship services”, “missional committees” and “missional leaders”.  Today everyone wants to be “missional”.  But can you think of any pastor who would claim they were not missional in their thinking?  Your mission statement reveals a “missional” desire.  Read it again

My final Nectar article as your pastor. The end of this week, September 30 will be my final day. It is a bittersweet moment. I will miss my involvement with ARC, her people and her ministry. With the completion of the new worship center ARC enters a new and exciting chapter in her ministry. I am grieved that I will not be a part of the great and wonderful work that God is going to do through this majestic and grand facility. I know that you will use it for the glory of God and bring much praise to God through it.

Last Sunday the first point from my message on Proverbs 3 was “to cherish and value the Word and wisdom of God”. I do believe in the power and inspiration of God’s Word in the Bible. I was encouraged to read in Monday’s Argus-Leader newspaper the following two quotes.

The Zondervan publishing people sent the following article which struck a major chord with me in its talk about the ongoing battle with the sin nature that is oh so persistent in my life. I detest and despise it and seek to overcome it yet find myself doing that which I do not want to do and that which is displeasing to God and unhelpful to others.