Couple’s Prayer Guide

We recently posted a prayer guide for leaders that’s a couple of years old. We’ve since started working on a prayer guide for married couples. This guide grows out of a desire for us to be more intentional about praying together and/or praying for one another. It’s a work-in-progress, which means it will probably go … Read more

Adventure Guides’ Prayer Map

A prayer guide for those who lead others on adventures. About a year and a half ago, two of the three churches I was leading at the time (Alexandria and Barree UMCs) united to form one new congregation (Hope UMC). During the two-year process leading up to the merger, the leadership team did a lot … Read more

Division

The desire to be recognized drives division in an organization. In preparation for last Sunday’s message, I briefly read 1 Corinthians 11. The chapter begins with a very interesting statement about division. I read it as something of a sarcastic statement by Paul, one of the Church’s premier leaders in the first century. “But, of … Read more

“Don’t write me off …”

Song from the movie “Music & Lyrics” makes a good prayer. Awhile back we watched the movie Music & Lyrics on DVD. It’s a romantic comedy that Joleen, particularly, wanted to watch. At first, it was just an okay movie, but overall, it was a good movie, especially if you like romantic comedies. Music & … Read more

Praying for Pastors

A few years ago, we came across a great weekly guide for praying for pastors. It comes from Dan Reiland’s book, Shoulder to Shoulder: Strengthening Your Church by Supporting Your Pastor. We encourage our parishioners to pray for us, and for everyone to pray for their pastors! Monday: Pray for your pastor’s family. God’s peace … Read more

Surrender or Persist?

In prayer, sometimes you need to surrender, sometimes you need to persist. In July 2005, we had a class with Drs. Jim & Molly Scott called, “The Transformation of the Church.” It was a very dynamic and incredible experience. One of the things that I remember most was a statement about prayer. Molly said that … Read more

Virginia Tech

We were on vacation in Maryland when the news broke from Virginia Tech. What a sad and tragic story. Our hearts and our prayers go out to the families of the victims and to all the students of VT. All tragedies have a lasting impact on the way we live. No doubt, there will be … Read more

Prayer: The Best Wireless Plan

Each year the Conference Council on Youth Ministries sponsors a weekend retreat for youth. This year’s theme was Prayer: The Best Wireless Plan. The two main speakers for the event were Stephen Handy and Quay Hanna. Quay shared of the story of how when he went to college he changed to fit the mold of … Read more