Category: From The Desk of Pastor Gene

The Place was Shaken Have you tried to think of all the things you shake on a daily basis? If you think about it, we shake things all the time. We shake things to mix them up, rattle them loose and to force them to come out. We shake things when we are preparing meals, when...

An Elephant Painted White with Zebra Stripes I was running errands with Cheri a few days ago and I saw a large billboard containing a distinctive outline or image of an elephant painted white with zebra stripes. This made me wonder what the sign was all about. But as I scanned the entire billboard, I...

Responding to Racism with a Biblical Worldview As we face the current circumstances of racial division and confront racism in our history as a nation, we must do so with a biblical worldview. What I mean by a biblical worldview is the development of a framework of ideas and beliefs about racism that are in...

Set Free JN 8:31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you...

In God I Trust PS 56:4 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? As we stare in the face of a virus that doesn’t seem to relent coupled with disturbing, okay shocking, acts of hatred, prejudice, violence and looting on full display...

The God of All Comfort 2 CO 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves...

The Man in the Pink Chair MT 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that...

The Lord requires . . . During the Civil War, a man asked President Abraham Lincoln, “Is God on our side?” Lincoln responded, “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” Do we share President Lincoln’s greatest concern? Are our thoughts and actions trained on doing things God’s...

Blessed are the Peacemakers MT 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” In these moments of political, racial and social discord grown from seeds of hatred, injustice and prejudice and provoked by media bias and extremism, I pray for peace that can only come from God to fall upon our...

But God … MT 19:26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” We have a rich history at Heartland Church filled with miracles. We’ve witnessed God meet our needs and much more. The following are just a few examples . . . In late 2004,...