Dear SHCKrista and I were elated to hear the news of your overwhelming support to welcome us into your church family. I am honored to serve you by stepping into the role of Teaching Pastor, and I look forward to getting to know you more intimately in the coming months.At present, Krista and I have sold our home in Illinois and are in the process of purchasing a home in Lebanon. If there aren’t any...  Read More

I can remember in 1993 listening on the radio to Billy Joel’s song River of Dreams as I went to eat lunch in a downtown café in Columbia, MO.  I thought the lyrics were intriguing.  You might want to get the song on YouTube and listen to it before reading on.  Here are a few of the words:In the middle of the night, I go walking in my sleep, from the mountains of faith, to the river so deep        ...  Read More

In the Bible, like all well written documents that tell a story, language techniques are used to communicate effectively.  Metaphors are used regularly, for example (a figure of speech where a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable).  “Put on the full armor of God” in Ephesians 6, speaking of how to guard our faith, is a metaphor.  Another language...  Read More

It’s been a while since my “Missions Walk,” articles about missions supported by Southern Heights.  However, mission work has continued and as in the case of “My Home,” to say it has intensified, is an understatement.  “My Home” is an orphan care program that partners with Master Provisions, a SHCC supported mission. In this article, I take all my information from a recent email update forwarded b...  Read More

While living in Moberly, MO for 20 years, a close friend was Richard Koffarnus, Professor of History and Theology at Central Christian College of the Bible.  He also taught their philosophy classes.  Mr. K (the students name for him) recently had an article in the Restoration Herold Magazine that I’ll try to glean from and summarize here.When we talk about Worldviews, it may seem a boring subject,...  Read More

In Part 1 we looked at how “the fear of the Lord” is a common reaction when people throughout history have encountered God’s messengers.  We cannot stand boldly before the Lord with face-to-face encounters, we cower in his presence, fall on our face, bow before him.  In the book Recovering Our Sanity by Michael Horton, he says “a sure disproof of someone reporting a vision of God or a message from...  Read More

There’s an old Jerry Seinfeld comedy routine that states the two biggest fears people face.  The number one fear, he says, is speaking in public, and the number two is fear is death.  “Does that sound right?” Seinfeld asks.  “That means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’d rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy!”  I can tell you about my early adult fear of speaking in publ...  Read More

You may remember the old hymn that goes: There is a new name written down in glory, and its mine, oh yes, it’s mine.  The white robed angels sing the story, ‘a sinner has come home’…   So, we might ask, what is this new name the song speaks about?If you are familiar with the Bible, you’ll know that on several occasions God changed a person’s name to show how he saw them in a new light, and hopeful...  Read More

How wonderful, how beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along!                                                It is like costly anointing oil flowing down head and beard, flowing down Aaron’s beard    Flowing down the collar of his priestly robes.  It is like the dew on Mount Hermon, flowing down the slope of Zion, where God commands the blessing, ordains eternal life.  Psalm 133We have arrive...  Read More

O, Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high;                                                      I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.                                        But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother;like a weaned child is my soul within me.  O Israel, hope in the Lord from this              ...  Read More

As we continue our ascent up the mountain toward the temple in Jerusalem figuratively, we come to Psalm 127.  This ascent to worship for the Jew has many parallels to our ascent into maturity as we actively perform discipleship, including our worship of Jesus.  This song, or Psalm, tells us something that is very practical but often neglected.Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it la...  Read More

A priest, a preacher and a rabbi met weekly to share stories about ministry.  One day one of them commented that preaching to people wasn’t hard, what if they tried to preach to a bear.  So, they made a bet about who would accomplish the most during the next week, each seeking a bear to preach to.Seven days later they met again.  The priest spoke first, his arm in a sling and with several bandages...  Read More