Some Bullet Points!  November 5, 2026 

I’m back in the office as of Tuesday, 11/3.  I’ve written several blogs in my head over the time I was out, but for this first one…

  1. We are so blessed by the men leading this church, and I am so grateful to God for the kindness shown to me, and for the way they cared for everything during my absence!
  2. Speaking of my absence, which was really more of a medical leave than an academic sabbatical, I am better but not cured.  Perhaps it was having nothing pressing on me for weeks on end or the concentration of your prayer for the weeks on end?  I am thankful to have moved from being sick 24/7 (Nausea, dizziness, pain) to nagging daily headaches.  Huge improvement but I still wouldn’t wish this on anybody.
  3. The accident on Sunday, 10/25, may have been the biggest event in years.  Praise God that there was a support pole in the wall that stopped the truck; there could have been many more injuries. Praise God that the one woman who was severely injured has made a big turn for the better.  As to the building, the adjuster has been out, but it could be weeks before the adjustment hits our bank account and even longer before a contractor can start. We will do our best to keep the congregation informed as we go.
  4. I’m writing this on Wednesday 11/4, the morning after the election.  Congrats to the Democrats; condolences to the Republicans.  I’m praying that they will lead in such a way that we can lead quiet and peaceful lives with all dignity (1 Timothy 2:2).  And for all of us, whether our side lost or won, remember what God said through Peter when the church existed under a totally different form of state governance:

“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.  For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.  Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.” (1 Peter 2:13-17)

Prayerfully,

Pastor Scott

Sabbatical/Medical Leave

I will return to blogging sometime after November 1. In the meantime: please pray that God would be merciful regarding my headaches and please pray that He will continue to complete the Good Work He started in us! (Phil 1:6)

Pastor Scott

Familiar Verse – July 9, 2026

There is a saying amongst public speakers that “familiarity breeds contempt.”  The thinking is that if you repeat yourself too often, the audience will stop listening.  There is a contradictory proverb that says, “Repetition stresses importance.”  Hebrews 12:1-2 is just such a verse.  You’ve heard it so often that it’s easy to blow off because it’s overly familiar.  But today I heard it preached at the funeral of a young woman and it took on a deeper meaning! 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

  • Chapter 11 is the cloud of witness!
  • The “weight” is all the stuff that seems important but doesn’t help us run toward Jesus
  • The clinging “sin” isn’t hard to identify – but will take Christ’s help to tear away
  • “Running with endurance” implies a long race – in this case a life long race
  • Just remember that we look ahead to the same joy that was set before Christ!
  • If we do it wrong, I believe we will still cross the finish line (1 Cor 3:15)
    • But I suspect there will be far more joy involved if we do it right!
  • So let’s keep our eyes on Jesus and run toward Him and Him alone!

YBIC,

Pastor Scott

Rosemary’s Rag Doll – Third week of June, 2026

Rag doll with red yarn hair wearing a floral dress sitting on wooden bench
There is a natural, logical kind of loving that loves lovely things and lovely people. That’s logical. But there is another kind of loving that doesn’t look for value in what it loves, but that CREATES value in what it loves. Like Rosemary’s rag doll.
When Rosemary, my youngest child, was three, she was given a little rag doll, which quickly became an inseparable companion. She had other toys that were intrinsically far more valuable, but none that she loved like she loved the rag doll.
Soon the rag doll became more and more rag and less and less doll. It also became more and more dirty. If you tried to clean the rag doll, it became more ragged still. And if you didn’t try to clean the rag doll, it became dirtier still. The sensible thing to do was to trash the rag doll. But that was unthinkable for anyone who loved my child. If you loved Rosemary, you loved the rag doll—it was part of the package.
“If anyone says, ‘I love God’ yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar,” (I John 4:20) “Love me, love my rag dolls,” says God, “including the one you see when you look in the mirror. This is the first and greatest commandment.”
– Ian Pitt-Watson

YBIC,

Pastor Scott

Paul and the Gentiles – Jun 11, 2026

In 2027, I intend to do a sermon series about “Why We Believe What We Believe.”   I was talking to our Youth Pastor about the challenges to faith our students face, and he said that it’s not so much “Genesis isn’t real”, or “You can’t trust the manuscripts”, like it was when we were kids.  He said they are specifically going after 2 Peter,* for instance, as a way to discredit the canonicity of the entire Pauline corpus.  

Obviously I can’t defend the entirety of Paul in one article, but I was curious what the “kids” might be hearing.  So I went to YouTube and typed “Casting Doubt on the Apostle Paul.”  The second video I watched asserted that it was Paul, and Paul alone, who offered Christianity to the Gentiles. The rest of the New Testament, according to this presenter, was entirely to the Jews.  It was said so sincerely and so assertively, I would have believed it… had I not remembered the sheet dream!  Remember the sheet dream?  Who had that dream?  Was it Paul?  Was it Paul that met with Cornelius?  Was it Paul that led Cornelius to the Lord?  Was it Paul that baptized Cornelius’ household?  No, it was Peter!  The YouTubers whole point can be defeated with one passage, but when I’m watching on my phone, who is there to remind me?

Pray with me for God’s protection from these wolves!

Pastor Scott        

*2 Peter 3:15-16

Jael and the Peg – 06.04.2026

One of my weaknesses as a speaker is that I get so engaged in the one-way conversation I’m having with my audience (the congregation), I fail to look down at the papers I’ve prepared to share with them.  This week as I was filing Sunday’s sermon I found three “tent-peg quotes” I had intended to share…

  • Divine Security and Leadership: In the Old Testament, a secure tent peg symbolizes a firm leader who upholds a community or nation. For instance, the Messiah is prophesied as a leader who provides ultimate security, compared to a “peg in a sure place” (Isaiah 22:23). 
  • Expansion and Growth: Lengthening cords and strengthening “stakes” (or tent pegs) is used metaphorically to represent the expansion of God’s kingdom, urging believers to prepare their hearts for greater spiritual territory (Isaiah 54:2). 
  • Unexpected Deliverance: In the Book of Judges, a tent peg serves as an instrument of divine justice. A woman named Jael used an ordinary tent peg and a hammer to defeat Sisera, the oppressive commander of Israel’s enemies, demonstrating how God uses ordinary, humble means to achieve His purposes. 

May God always be expanding our minds to His Glory,

Pastor Scott

Real Forgiveness – May 28, 2026

Bruce Goodrich was being initiated into the cadet corps at Texas A & M University. One night, Bruce was forced to run until he dropped — but he never got up. Bruce Goodrich died before he even entered college.

A short time after the tragedy, Bruce’s father wrote this letter to the administration, faculty, student body, and the corps of cadets: “I would like to take this opportunity to express the appreciation of my family for the great outpouring of concern and sympathy from Texas A & M University and the college community over the loss of our son Bruce. We were deeply touched by the tribute paid to him in the battalion. We were particularly pleased to note that his Christian witness did not go unnoticed during his brief time on campus.”

Mr. Goodrich went on: “I hope it will be some comfort to know that we harbor no ill will in the matter. We know our God makes no mistakes. Bruce had an appointment with his Lord and is now secure in his celestial home. When the question is asked, ‘Why did this happen?’ perhaps one answer will be, ‘So that many will consider where they will spend eternity.'”

Our Daily Bread, March 22, 1994.

I was planning to write a totally different blog this week, but for some reason this story grabbed me.  I don’t know if it’s for all of us or for just one reader, but I trust God will use it according to the kind intentions of His will!

Yours, because I’m His,

Pastor Scott

True Faith – May 21, 2026

“It is not the strength of your faith but the object of your faith that actually saves you.” – Timothy Keller* 

 While most believers would objectively agree with Pastor Tim here; It’s been my observation that there are very sincere believers out there who often don’t speak that way in personal dialog.  Faith is often spoken of as effort “you have to really, really, really believe with your whole heart.”   I know those folks mean well, and I’m sure the added qualifiers are a result of having watched seeds get choked out by thorns and thistles, but it’s good to be reminded that Christ Himself compared saving faith to simply “looking” at the serpent in the wilderness (Numbers 21).  Paul calls it a “free gift” 3 times in Romans 5 and 6 and writes over and over that we can’t earn it, we are saved only by God’s Grace through the person and work of Jesus.  

This quotation reminds of an illustration I first heard attributed to F.B. Meyer.   Imagine that Noah, who preached to his contemporaries as he spent 100 years building the Ark (2 Peter 2:5), instructed them to hold on to pegs that he had affixed to the sides of the ark.  Imagine that his message was “If we can hold on tightly enough as the waves and wind buffet the ark, we will be saved.”  We of course know that Genesis 7:16 says, “Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the Lord closed it behind him.”  Their salvation was totally in the Lord’s hands – as is ours! 

YBIC,

Pastor Scott


*Pastor Keller was part of a group that I didn’t always agree with, but I wholeheartedly agree with this quotation.