Text: 2 Peter 3 cf Genesis 6-9 Foundational Truth: Cataclysmic changes during man's early history altered much of the created world, but the essential truths about man himself remain unchanged. Introduction On Friday we commemorated 19 years since the terrorist attacks on our country claimed the lives of 2,977 people. Some of the younger people … Continue reading After the Flood
Author: nsbeal
I am a pastor (Immanuel Baptist Church), husband, father, and lighting rep. So I have lots of time to spare! I'm interested in lots of things, like home remodeling, literature, gardening, and writing.
What You See in Ministry
The human eye is one of the greatest wonders of all of God's creation. Think about how superior vision is to photography. It takes a really skilled photographer to capture a landscape, and a large part of that is deciding what to leave out. The human eye is capable of taking in so much more, … Continue reading What You See in Ministry
Invest in a Poet and Support the Free Market at the Same time: A Review of the poetry of Enoch Warnke (and the longest blog post title ever)
How many published poets do I personally know? It turns out one. Which is a larger number than I would have thought until I discovered that my old pal, my chum, my bro Enoch writes poetry and has published his first collection, Sweet Death I Feel Most Sharply When I feel Nothing At All, and … Continue reading Invest in a Poet and Support the Free Market at the Same time: A Review of the poetry of Enoch Warnke (and the longest blog post title ever)
Refocus: A Fresh 2020 Vision for the Church
What the New Testament describes as a church is often very different from the concept of a church that we have today. I think one confusion that has existed for a long time is that church is a place that you go to. People think of a church as a building. But the New Testament … Continue reading Refocus: A Fresh 2020 Vision for the Church
Smoked Brisket and Roasted Summer Vegetable Soup
It's Labor Day, so we should all act like Americans and smoke a brisket, am I right? Well, this is my first brisket (or firsket, for short) and it was stunningly delicious. But first, the soup. Yellow Tomato Soup We are not canning or otherwise preserving any of our garden vegetables this year so I've … Continue reading Smoked Brisket and Roasted Summer Vegetable Soup
Choose Your Stick: On Critics of the Church
It has been said that any stick is good enough to hit the church with, and I believe it. If critics are a dime a dozen, then critics of the church are a dime a baker's dozen. If your church patiently disciples a couple through a difficult marriage, someone who witnesses a less than cordial … Continue reading Choose Your Stick: On Critics of the Church
God’s Grace to Noah
Sermon Text: Genesis 6-9 Foundation #4 - God will not allow the corruption of the wicked to overflow His plan of redemption. In 1953, Martians invaded planet earth and wiped out a large portion of the population. In 1959, a nuclear war wipes out the majority of mankind leaving only a few, who are soon … Continue reading God’s Grace to Noah
The Most Powerful Woman in Springfield
"Do you want to know who the most powerful woman in Springfield is?" he asked me over the counter. I can't remember his name, but he was a contractor. I wondered if there had been some 417 Magazine article about up and coming women in our town. Or maybe there had been a write-up in … Continue reading The Most Powerful Woman in Springfield
Sin is Crouching at the Door
Text: Genesis 4 Foundation #3 - Adam fell and now all humanity lives under the curse of sin. Introduction On Thursday we had an opportunity to take our little camper out for the first time. We went down to Roaring River State Park and had a great time with the kids. As night descended and … Continue reading Sin is Crouching at the Door
Francis Schaeffer – Happy Soldier of the Cross
Francis Shaeffer entered my world through the film series How Should We Then Live sometime during my late teen years, or possibly early twenties. Schaeffer (1912-1984) was a Presbyterian pastor, theologian, apologist, and co-founder of the renowned L'Abri community in Switzerland. This quote from The God Who Is There recently jumped out at me: The … Continue reading Francis Schaeffer – Happy Soldier of the Cross
Nathan Writes 