Ron McClung |
November 29, 2019 |
Blog Inspiration
Bruce Thielemann told about a European monarch who, a couple of times a year, would take off his royal robes, dress as a peasant and go out among his people. His courtiers worried about this; they didn’t like the king putting himself in danger. But the king said, “I...
Michael Jordan |
November 28, 2019 |
Blog Featured Blog Inspiration
How did you learn that God loves you? Most of us could answer this on two different levels. There was the day we learned about God’s love, and then there was the day where it made sense, where we intuitively began to understand that God loved us and we started to live...
Josh Hawk |
October 31, 2019 |
Blog Inspiration
On May 26, 2018, I had an accident that would forever change my life. I attempted to ski from the summit of Mt. Hood (in Oregon) and ended up falling about 450 feet to what should have been my imminent death. A 10-hour rescue, involving about thirty individuals from...
Justine Tegen |
October 30, 2019 |
Blog Inspiration
We love personal pronouns. We iMessage people on our iPhones while setting up profiles to personalize our experience on Netflix, Amazon, Instagram and even the grocery store. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The language we use reveals what we value. And...
Sandy Emmett |
October 16, 2019 |
Blog Teaching
“Mom, are you listening to me?” My three kids were very good at parroting back to me my questions to them. I often would say loudly to them when they were toddlers, tweens or teens, “Hey, are you listening to me?” But sometimes they would ask it back. “Mom, are you...
Communication Team |
October 16, 2019 |
Blog Teaching
“Hi, I’m trying to master your language, and one of the ways I’m learning is by telling stories. Could I tell you a two-minute story that I learned recently, and maybe you can suggest how I could tell it better?” My family lives in a country where the population is...
Emily Vermilya |
September 30, 2019 |
Blog Teaching
My grandparents grew up during the Great Depression. My dad would remind me of this when, as a kid, my grandmother instructed my brother and me to wash and hang-dry the used tin foil in her kitchen when we were on clean up duty following a family dinner. Similarly, my...
Katie Long |
July 16, 2019 |
Blog Resources WPH
Mike Hilson has always loved writing. As his church, New Life Church in La Plata, Maryland, continued to grow, his desire to connect people with Scripture on a personal level collided with his love to write. By writing the Coffee with the Pastor series (books focusing...
Ron McClung |
July 10, 2019 |
Blog Inspiration
Ceramic floor tile is very unforgiving. Trying to find something in our pantry the other day, my wife nudged the spaghetti sauce just a little too far, and off the shelf it tumbled. The glass jar hit the tile and burst open, sending glass shards and bright red sauce...
Kay Holm |
June 3, 2019 |
Blog Inspiration
Growing up in the 1950s was a unique experience in itself. Add to that growing up in a large, rambunctious pastor’s family, in a three-story bright yellow home on Main Street, smack in the middle of a small town in Washington State, and you’ve got memories. Those days...
Kelly Yonce |
May 16, 2019 |
Blog Featured Blog Voices
Learn more About Voices Blogs Let me begin by saying I’m grossly unqualified to start this discussion, but it’s still my responsibility. I sat with fellow church staff questioning how seven teens from the same school could attempt suicide, one of them succeeding. We...
Tamiko Turner |
May 13, 2019 |
Blog Discipleship Inspiration
Lately, I’ve been really moved by the story of the woman who washes Jesus’ feet in Luke 7. Every time I read it, I feel a deeper sense of awe and grace about what is going on in this story. To recap, Jesus is invited over for dinner by a Pharisee named...
Jon Wiest |
May 13, 2019 |
Blog Discipleship Teaching
People relate to one another differently in different spaces. Gather 30 people together in a large worship center and the experience will feel disconnected and distant. Gather the same 30 people in a living room and the energy and connection will increase...
Justine Tegen |
May 1, 2019 |
Blog Teaching
I received bad news that day. The minute I got it, my thoughts started swirling. Everything seemed like it was in question: my future, my identity, my security. I knew I needed to talk to someone, so I made a phone call, sent a couple of texts, met up with those...
Mark O. Wilson |
April 25, 2019 |
Blog Inspiration
I have a sledgehammer in my shed, and I also have a small finishing hammer. They are both equally important to me. If I had to choose between the two, I suppose I’d pick the little guy. He’s been a real help to me over the years — but I’d rather not...
Nestor Gudino |
April 23, 2019 |
Blog Featured Blog Multiplication Teaching
English Matemáticas fue mi materia favorita en la escuela secundaria. Recuerdo lo ansioso que estaba porque llegara la hora de esa clase y correr a la pizarra cada vez que el profesor preguntaba quién sabía la respuesta a una ecuación. No me gustaba mucho historia y...
Shalom Liddick |
April 17, 2019 |
Blog Inspiration
Death and dying have been my point of contemplation lately, which makes sense since it was this week about 2,000 years ago that Jesus began his journey to the cross. There he would die to provide a way for renewed friendship with God. This was on my mind when my son,...
Ashley Jennings |
March 28, 2019 |
Blog Featured Blog Teaching
A couple of months ago, I was in Nashville, Tennessee, learning more about best practices for making disciples. In an off-handed comment, one of the pastors noted, “I wonder if there was something intentional about Jesus sending the disciples out two by two instead of...
Ed Rotz |
March 27, 2019 |
Blog Inspiration
Forty-eight hours following Jesus’ death, Luke draws out an incident involving Jesus that the other gospel writers do not mention (Luke 24:13-35). On the afternoon of the day of his resurrection, Jesus surreptitiously joins two people walking back to the Podunk...
Jim Dunn |
March 1, 2019 |
Blog Teaching
A lot of people give up something during the season of Lent. It is a long-standing tradition within Christianity when Jesus followers sacrifice something tangible in reflection and appreciation for the ultimate sacrifice he made for the sins of the world when he died...
Nestor Gudino |
February 13, 2019 |
Blog Featured Blog Multiplication Teaching
Español Math was my favorite subject in high school. I remember how excited I was to be in class and run to the board every time the teacher asked who knew the answer to an equation. I was terrible at history and geography, but numbers have been a passion since I was...
Zach Coffin |
February 11, 2019 |
Blog Featured Blog Inspiration
Every day “life happens,” and we are faced with choices on how we respond to those circumstances. The positive and/or negative attitude we allow multiples and we begin to dig a pit or build a mountain one scoop of dirt at a time. What do I mean? Every time we choose...
Estherlita Griffiths |
February 7, 2019 |
Blog Inspiration
“Whatever became of …?” Or “remember when …?” These were frequent questions over the course of a recent “mini reunion” of my parents and siblings in Barbados. As we gathered, made final preparations and celebrated our parents’ 50th wedding anniversary, outbursts of...
Gwen Jackson |
January 31, 2019 |
Blog Inspiration
It was an overcast, drizzly day in November when I sat in a local restaurant in Pristina, Kosovo, listening with increasing interest to a new, yet familiar, story. Entering the smoke-filled, pub-like restaurant, mostly made up of men sitting around small round tables,...
