Dear ACC Family, I miss gathering to worship on Sunday mornings. I miss greeting my church family, joining with others to sing God's praise, and meeting at the Lord's Table to celebrate our Savior's love. I am looking forward to the day we can do all this again. The ACC elders and staff are in on-going conversations about when, how, and at what pace to re-open weekly wors...
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In the traditional Christian calendar, this coming Sunday marks the celebration of Pentecost, the day we remember the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the early church as described in Acts 2. The disciples were gathered in a building in Jerusalem when suddenly they heard a sound that reminded them of rushing wind. They saw what appeared to be flames of fire resting on eac...
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Recently I ran a series of blog posts featuring selections from classic Christian writings on prayer. I would like to share a few more. Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955) was one of 17 children born to parents who were former slaves. As an educator and civil rights activist in the years surrounding World War II, Ms. Bethune became a tireless voice for justice, peace, and equ...
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Recently I ran a series of blog posts featuring selections from classic Christian writings on prayer. I would like to share a few more. The following selection comes from the writings of Jean-Nicholas Grou (1730-1803), a Jesuit priest who lived in France and Holland. Gou reminds us that, though it can be helpful to read what others have written about prayer, we only truly...
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Recently I ran a series of blog posts featuring selections from classic Christian writings on prayer. I would like to share a few more. John Newton (1725-1807) was an Anglican minister and abolitionist, known, among other things, for his dramatic conversion from a life as a slave trader and for writing the hymn "Amazing Grace." The following is an excerpt from a letter N...
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Recently I ran a series of blog posts featuring selections from classic Christian writings on prayer. I would like to share a few more. This selection comes from the opening chapter of Touch the World through Prayer, a book by missionary Wesley L. Duewel. Born in 1916, and still alive at age 103, Rev. Duewel has been an inspiration to many through his passion for global e...
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A hymn I really love is "If thou but suffer God to guide thee" by Georg Neumark (1621-1681). I first learned of this hymn in my early 20's, when I was facing personally challenging times. I often sing it during my morning prayers, especially on days when I want to encourage my heart to trust in the Lord. Unfortunately, this hymn is hard to sing. The lyrics (in its English...
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The New Testament teaches that church members need to pray for each other (Eph. 6:18; Col. 4:2; Jas. 5:16). What are some ways we can pray for our church during this time of coronavirus. Here are 21 ways to consider praying for our church: Pray for the sick, for healing and for patience in affliction. Pray for those who are lonely, that they will find ways to conn...
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On Saturday, May 2, Laura and I got the chance to deliver food to different households from Evangel Food Pantry. We had five households connected with our church, and were assigned five additional households from Evangel. When we arrived at the food pantry to pick up the parcels of food, it was extremely busy, with many volunteers sorting, packing, and distributing to pe...
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We have probably all heard conspiracy theories related to the present global health crisis. Here are a few alleged schemes I have run across: - COVID-19 is caused by 5G technology. - The coronavirus was developed in a lab either by the Chinese Communist Party or by the U.S. Military. - Big Pharma developed COVID-19 and took out patents so they can make billions selling ...
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