God's Fierce Love: A Prayer for Our Students
As school starts, we as parents and youth leaders will probably seek to share some words of encouragement and wisdom with our students. Maybe our words will include nuggets like these: "This is your year to make a mark!" "Make good choices" (cheesy but appropriate) "Study hard!" (a...
What Do We Mean by "Incarnational" Ministry?
I want to start of by asking you a simple question. What story of Jesus' earthly ministry is your favorite? Or which one do you recall most? Maybe you're thinking of multiple stories right now. Stories such as Jesus feeding the five thousand, Jesus interacting with Zacchaeus, Jesus calling...
How to Offer Comfort in Tragedy
I remember it vividly. The clock was counting down the final seconds. I was at a friend's house. A group of us was there. It was February 1, 2009. Super Bowl Sunday. The clock hit 0:00 and we were champs. For the first time in my lifetime, the Steelers won the Super Bowl! They'd beaten the...
Better? Or More Disciplined?
While watching the Olympics over the past few weeks, I have found myself marveling at how the athletes make the competition look so effortless and natural. It's easy to attribute their accomplishments or their abilities to their being blessed with a certain physique, or having natural...
Hiding from God
There was a time in my life when I tried to hide from God. It was a little more than 10 years ago, and I was just beginning to attend this church. My wife and I and our three kids had discovered The Bible Chapel, and it was great - my kids enjoyed the Student Ministry and my wife and I enjoyed...
Be a Fool.
This week while speaking with my eighth grade group (I volunteer in the Junior High Ministry), I got this heavy question from one of the girls: "How are we supposed to feel when a non-believer dies?" I've wrestled with this question in my own life - when I was in high...
Christ, Camaraderie, and Competition
It's that time of year again, fellas: time for bocce! For the last six years as summer turns toward fall, the men of The Bible Chapel host a Bocce Night filled with pizza (we get the good stuff), friendly competition (suitable for both the Type A's and Type B's among us), some crazy shirts...
Lessons on Christianity from..."Psych"
Recently my wife and I came across the cable television show Psych on Netflix. Maybe you've seen it. If so, chances are you're cracking a smile right now remembering the mass moments of funny that occurred over the eight seasons it aired. For those of you who haven't heard of the program...
You Won't Find What You're Looking For in Your Man-Cave
Pranks are not uncommon here at The Bible Chapel. Our Executive Director, Bill Harmon, recently came back from a trip to find his office converted into a cave! A few other staff members had decided it was the obvious thing to do with the leftover "Cave Quest" VBS decorations. We all thoroughly...
You're that big church
Often when I tell people that I attend The Bible Chapel, their response is, "Oh, you're that big church." Here in western Pennsylvania, multi-site churches are not very common. So "big church" means "unusual church," and they're not sure they want to give us a try. In my work with the...