Category: From The Desk of Pastor Gene

For you. For me. For us. For Christ. In sports and in the military there is a level of camaraderie and esprit de corps that is immersed in the culture. These elements are part and parcel to a healthy and successful team or unit. And, for that matter, the same can be said concerning the...

Alignment I started officially playing the game of football in 3rd grade. I played around in the yard with friends and family before then but I became part of a team for the first time in 3rd grade. My football coach, until I went on to middle school, was a perfectionist when it came to fundamentals....

The Evidence If you talk to most law enforcement officers about their job, he or she can give you copious details about evidence. How to collect it, preserve it, requirements for its chain of custody and even rules on its presentation in a court of law. When a “good” detective works a case he or she...

Filled with the Spirit Pastor Tony and I recently attended, along with others from Heartland Church, “The PIVOT Conference” sponsored by the Heartland Church Network in Omaha, Nebraska.  In fact, Tony and I were privileged to present our journey and testimony of what we’ve learned and implemented as part of our discipleship system. In any case,...

Oh, God I Need You I got a text from my youngest sister recently giving me an update on her health. She has previously suffered from cancer 3 times and is currently needing to have a mass removed and tested. I pray for her and I try to encourage her but I think she encouraged me...

Forgiven As I was driving to the office this morning, the song “East to West” by Casting Crowns came on the radio. Even though I can’t carry a tune in a proverbial bucket I started singing along. I was in the car alone so I sang out making a joyful noise. As I was singing, the words of...

Restored As you likely already know, I was recently diagnosed with shingles. In case you don’t know, it is painful. And due to the fact that the shingles virus was in my left eye, I had two office visits each with my general practitioner and my optometrist. Do you know how they diagnosed the virus? In...

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...