THE NEXT THING Dear Friend in Christ: It’s hard to believe we’re already more than a full month into 2024. You’ve been in our hearts and prayers. What I’d like to do this month is to follow up on some thoughts we were developing in last month’s Pastoral Letter, “The One. [...]
December 2023 Prince of Peace Dear Friend in Christ: Grace and peace to you in the name of the Lord! Yes, grace and peace, even in days of turmoil, strife, and confusion; in fact, especially in these days. We just witnessed the memorial service for former First Lady of the. [...]
Dear Friend in Christ: What makes this time truly wonderful is not really all of the lights and decorations and parties … it is that each of us has the renewed opportunity to receive Jesus and His miraculous gifts of salvation, acceptance, and joy. In my life, I’ve been blessed. [...]
Dear Friend in Christ: Wisdom is a matter of life or death. I’m so thankful for parents, grandparents, pastors, and mentors who not only modeled wisdom, but taught me from an early age to pursue wisdom. Their foundation for wisdom was God’s Word and His Holy Spirit. Look at just. [...]
Dear Friend in Christ: We deeply appreciate your friendship to this ministry and pray all is well with you. Let’s look together at why worship is an essential part of our lives. We were created by God to worship Him and enjoy fellowship with Him forever (see Westminster Catechism, 1647).. [...]
Dear Friend in Christ: I pray you are well. Oftentimes, we are tested on the message we preach. And so it has been this month as I have been preparing this message. I will say, with great gratitude, that God has been faithful to bring us through “many dangers, toils,. [...]
Publication:Pastoral Letter, December 2020 Dear Friend in Christ: Grace and peace to you in the Name of the Lord! We are nearing the end of one of the most tumultuous and challenging years in recent history. Recently, I was thinking about 2020, and I said to myself, “This has been. [...]
Publication:Pastoral Letter, December 2019 Dear Friend in Christ: Let me begin this special pastoral letter with a true story about a man named Henry. In the mid nineteenth century, he lived with his wife, Frances, and their five children, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Tragedy struck this family in 1861, when an. [...]
Publication:Pastoral Letter, January 2018 Dear Friend in Christ: Happy New Year! I pray that you and your loved ones had a very blessed Christmas. Celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus reminds us of God’s promises and His faithfulness to keep His Word. How can we best position ourselves to. [...]
Publication:Pastoral Letter,January 2017 Dear Friend in Christ: Happy New Year from all of us at CSM! We pray you had a wonderful Christmas. As we enter 2017, I want to give a word of revelation that I hope will be an encouragement to you in these uncertain times. It starts. [...]
Publication: Pastoral Letter, February 2016 Dear Friend in Christ: What I want to say in this letter is, “Get over it.” Get over the fence of offense. If we fail to get over offenses, we will miss the truth that offense conceals. Let’s talk first about offense. “Offense” in sports. [...]
Publication: Pastoral Letter, July 2015 Dear Friend in Christ: Our annual CSM leadership conference in Gatlinburg was outstanding. The attendance was one of our highest ever, and the times of worshipping the Lord were strong. I was honored for 60 years in ministry by many kind friends, but more importantly,. [...]