May 10, 2023
In Celebrate Recovery, making amends is one of the final steps. This step demands a person seek forgiveness from anyone they’ve hurt or offended, as well as grant pardon to those who’ve hurt or offended them. I still had one last person to pardon . . . and she had hurt me most. It was my own mother. But to understand the end, let’s start from the beginning. . . .
May 8, 2023
Mother’s Day has a fascinating history. . . .
"Over time I have become more aware of the pain many women, and sometimes men, experience on Mother’s Day," our Preach columnist Chris Philbeck shares. "Here are some suggestions that might help us reframe Mother’s Day in a way that blesses everyone . . ."
May 1, 2021
Exactly What This Very Small Church Needed Advancing their technology has never been a top priority at Alvadore Christian Church, a congregation of about 65 people in the small, rural town of Junction City, Oregon. It’s not that senior pastor Marcus Omdahl is old-fashioned. Omdahl is a sharp young leader with a wife and school-age daughter. But until recently, he understood that livestreaming was not something the congregation or the community was likely to embrace. Of course, that all changed with the spread of COVID-19 early in 2020. Immediately, Alvadore Christian, like so many other churches, suspended in-person worship services
May 1, 2017
By Michael C. Mack Mother”s Day, and the weeks surrounding it, is a prime time to minister to the needs of moms in the community. Here are six ideas you can use: “¢ Teen Moms: Partner with a local teen or crisis pregnancy center to provide basic necessities such as nursing and newborn supplies, a rose, and a signed Mother”s Day card. “¢ Refugee Families: Contact a local organization that serves refugees to discover their needs, especially for moms in these families. Assemble care packages of gift certificates, groceries, and housewares, for instance, as well as a Bible and Mother”s
April 1, 2015
Did you know churches see the third-largest attendance of the year on Mother”s Day (see graph)? Do you know why? It”s not because more moms are there. No, attendance swells on Mother”s Day because family members who love the moms choose to show their love by attending on that special day. That means Mother”s Day is a great day to reach many unchurched people with the message of Christ. So instead of (or, perhaps, in addition to) doing the traditional Mother”s Day message and handing out roses to moms, it”s time to strategically love on those whom these moms love.
March 1, 2015
By Michael C. Mack Resurrection Sunday has been a big deal all over the world ever since the first one! But it”s what happens after Resurrection Sunday that can make the most impact. Here are four tips from Outreach magazine that you can use to keep the momentum going. 1. Celebrate. Capture all the stories and all the “wins” from Easter Sunday and celebrate them. Share the stories and successes with staff, volunteers, and the congregation on subsequent Sundays. Publicly champion all the people who stepped up to serve. Brag on all the behind-the-scenes people who rarely get much attention.
April 7, 2026
John B. Penrose Jr
April 7, 2026
David Faust
March 27, 2026
Rick Cherok