The Pastor's Perspective

     Charlie Kirk 1993-2025   The news of Charlie Kirk's death was a sudden and profound shock to me as I opened up my Facebook app on my phone Wednesday afternoon. I saw as many others did, the immediate aftermath, social media feeds were flooded with posts, videos, and news reports. While many of these were well-intentioned I am sure, it was hard to shake the feeling that a race was on—a race to be the first to report, to get the most views, to be heard. A race that felt rushed. It felt like a rush to capitalize on a tragedy before we had even taken a moment to sit in the stillness of grief.       We seem to have lost the capacity to pause. I noticed this in many other tragic events like this, yet it seems like it is getting worse. In a world that demands instant reactions, there's little room for quiet sorrow anymore. I believe it's a disservice to the memory of a person and, more importantly, to the family left behind. Before we share, before...

      Have you ever had a  moment when something pushes your buttons, and you feel your blood begin to boil . Perhaps you’ve said something in a fit of rage you immediately regretted, or acted in a way you wished you could take back . Personally I think we have all had moments like that to one degree or another. Truth is a nger is a powerful, very real human emotion that we all encounter from time to time.      It might surprise you to learn that anger is an emotion attributed to both God and Jesus throughout scripture.   The Bible speaks of God's wrath and we read of moments where Jesus Himself expressed His anger .       However, there's a crucial distinction between righteous anger and what we  might call "unbridled anger" . As Aristotle wisely put it, "Anyone can become angry. That is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way—that is ...

   A missionary Group in China (not referenced in this blog)        Have you ever found yourself in a situation that felt utterly impossible? A problem too big, a need too great, a challenge that seemed to mock your every effort? It's in these moments that we need to be reminded of a profound truth: the God we serve is a God of power, and He is a God who answers prayer.     There was a  missionary team, small in number, facing an overwhelming obstacle on an island off the coast of China. The islanders were fiercely devoted to an idol named Ta-wang, convinced of its power because their annual parade, held in its honor, always brought perfect weather. It was their undeniable "proof" that their god was real and powerful. This caused them to be very resistant to these missionaries and there message. Many of them refused to even hear about Jesus Christ, because of their devotion to Ta-wang.       A young, sixteen-year-old boy ...

       Frodo and Sam Looking at Mt. Doom      If you have ever read the Lord of the Rings by J.R. Tolkien or watched the movies. You know about the story of Frodo and his dangerous trek through Morder. Just as Frodo faced the soul-crushing despair of Cirith Ungol, the betrayal of Gríma Wormtongue, or the sheer terror of Shelob's lair, we too encounter our own versions of these trials—moments of profound despair, unexpected betrayals, or overwhelming obstacles that threaten to consume us whole, testing the very limits of our endurance.       I think it is safe to say that we’ve all experinced a trial or two in our lives. It’s easy in those moments to wonder, “Why me? Why this hardship?”  We begin to look around and see what seems to us to be people living there best life and we are struggling. And often, the immediate conclusion to all of this is we say that the enemy is at work, unleashing every possible trouble our way. ...

     Missionary John G. Paton Ever feel like you're surrounded? Not by well-meaning friends bearing casserole dishes and well wishes. Instead you feel surrounded by a hostile force, a looming dread that threatens to consume everything you know or love? Yeah...me neither, well not in a literal since that is. However I have had moments in my life when I felt I could not breath, and life seemed overwhelming. I have been in some situations in my life that I did not know how I was ever going to make it.       But imagine this: you're a missionary, deep in the South Pacific, and a war party of angry locals has encircled your humble headquarters, torches flickering, intent on making you and your family a human bonfire.       That's exactly what John G. Paton faced. One night, the air thick with menace, he and his wife did the only thing they could: they prayed. Not a casual "bless this mess" kind of prayer, but a deep, desperate plea for d...

My Great Grandpa Roy Stonewall Johnson with his perpetual motion machine      My great-grandfather, Roy Stonewall Johnson, a man of many talents— served in both the Army and the Navy, and a serious tinkerer. He had a dream, a wild one at that: to build a perpetual motion machine. You know, the kind that runs forever without needing any extra juice. A machine that could power your car without gas, light your home without bills. Sounds like a sci-fi dream, right?      Humans have been chasing this dream since the Middle Ages. So my great-grandfather was not alone in his desire to make such a machine. Imagine, a device that defies the need for external energy! The possibilities are mind-boggling. But, as my great-grandfather likely discovered, there's a tiny, or rather, a huge problem: the laws of thermodynamics.      Those pesky laws, the first and second, tell us that in a closed system, energy inevitably dissipates. Kinetic energy, the energy...

          Imagine a world turned upside down. A leader, Jesus Christ, revered and followed, is brutally executed in the most brutal of ways. Hope seems extinguished. Fear grips those who were closest, his disciples, their dreams shattered. This isn't a fictional drama; it's a historical moment that forever altered the course of humanity.      Think about it: what if everything you believed, everything you placed your trust in, rested on a single, pivotal event? That's the core of the Christian faith, a belief system that has resonated through centuries. It's the idea that Jesus Christ, declared dead, defied the very laws of nature and returned to life—his resurrection.       Now, picture those closest to him, his disciples. They were terrified. They were convinced their own lives were in danger. They were broken and in great despair. They certainly weren't expecting a resurrection, even though Jesus had told them it would...

     Abraham Lincoln Praying There was a man who happened to have an appointment in the early hours of the morning with President Abraham Lincoln. He did not want to be late and so he decided he would arrive for this meeting 15 min early.       While waiting for the appointed time he heard in the next room a voice as if in grave conversation, and asked an attendant standing by, "Who is talking in the next room?       "It is the President, sir," replied the attendant.       "Is anybody with him?" the gentleman inquired.       "No; he is reading the Bible."       "Is that his habit so early in the morning?" the man asked.      "Yes, sir, he spends every morning from four o'clock to five in reading the Scriptures and praying." We live a life full of busyness and worry. Many times we have so  many things that need to get done and we feel like we have so litt...

              There  was once a Doctor who started working at a new hospital in a new town. On his first day at work this doctor meet a nurse. The two doctors really hit it off and over time became close friends.     These two guys had several things in common. When it came to football they both cheered on the Chicago bears football team. When it came to baseball however, they both refuse to support any team other than the St. Louis Cardinals. They enjoyed many of the same kind of foods and listened to many of the same bands. They both really enjoyed each others company.      There was just one thing that these two doctors did not quite see eye to eye on. That one thing was religion. The doctor was a devout believer in Christ and the nurse was a staunch atheist.      Over time the two would talk about religious matters. The Doctor really wanted his friend to come to Christ. Yet time and time again his f...

      It was Monday, Jan 20th at 7:30am. I woke up feeling glad that I did not have to get up at 5 o clock in the morning. It was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so being a national holiday the schools were closed which meant that I got a day off.      There was a lot going on in the news. Tik Toc a social media platform was just recently banned. Even though this day was a national holiday (and an important one at that I may add) President Trump was being sworn in to become the 47th President of the United States. However That was not what people were talking about when I grabbed my phone and got on Facebook.      I was shocked to see that in the last moments of Joe Biden's Presidency, Joe Biden had issued some last minute  pardons.      Many presidents in times past have used there last remaining moments in the white house to deliver certain pardons. This has been going on since George Washington was in office all the way to ...