by John Avant | May 1, 2024 | Pastors & Leaders Content
“The only bird that dares to peck an eagle is the crow. The crow sits on the eagle’s back and bites its neck. The eagle does not respond or fight with the crow; it does not spend time or energy on the crow. Instead, it opens its wings and rises higher in the heavens....
by Donna Avant | Apr 24, 2024 | Women's Content
Do you want to be seen as a strong woman? Are you ready to take off your mask of perfection and be real? I do not like asking others for help. I was raised to be a “strong woman,” by a single mom during my teenage years. I had my first job at age 15, worked my way...
by Mark Hurlbut | Apr 24, 2024 | Pastors & Leaders Content
“All in” is a popular phrase today. It is a casual way to speak of commitment. We might say, “I’m all in on my favorite sports team.” Or, “I’m all in about my spiritual leadership role.” But what if we added three more words to that phrase? I’m all in, “all the way.”...
by Donna Avant | Apr 5, 2024 | Women's Content
Tomorrow Is a New Day Are you feeling discouraged, exhausted, or hopeless? Do you need a fresh start today? A do-over? Maybe just a pick-me-up for the day? Have you ever experienced a day you wished you could just do-over? Or maybe you feel that way about the last few...
by John Avant | Apr 5, 2024 | Pastors & Leaders Content, Uncategorized
Easter has been a beautiful frustration for me in my years of pastoring. I knew we would have a big crowd, which is always wonderful; but it always felt to me like Jesus’ rising from the dead should make more of a difference on the Monday after Easter than it did. I...
by Tim Grissom | Feb 28, 2024 | God's Kingdom First, Obedience, Say Yes to God
By our nature (our new nature, that is), believers are citizens of a not-yet world. Our focus and our affections are set “on things above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2 ESV). We live in one world while waiting for the new one to come. How then do we...
by John Avant | Feb 27, 2024 | Presidents Column
“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9 ESV). “Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor...
by John Avant | Jan 30, 2024 | Presidents Column
“Goodness, unless deeply rooted, diminishes with age” (François Fénelon). I have thought a lot about that quote as we move into the new year. It’s from a rather obscure theologian who lived more than 300 years ago, but it speaks right into my soul today. One of the...
by Tim Grissom | Jan 30, 2024 | Obedience, Say Yes to God
We like the idea of freedom, and we should. Freedom is a good thing. A truly wonderful thing. It is glorious to come out from under bondage, to be released from captivity, to enter a life that has no unjust restraints. In part of the letter he wrote to the believers...
by John Avant | Dec 29, 2023 | Presidents Column
More than twenty years ago, our little Boston terrier died at Christmas time. I grieved so much. And then I got the flu. It was not looking like a very good Christmas. I was lying there in my living room, sick, when Donna said that someone had come by to visit. I was...
