In Christ. Husband. Father. Pastor. Counselor. Blogger.
Wooster, OH
Joined February 2012
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Whether they admit it or not, this is what every sincere pastor needs to hear from their church on the regular...and especially on Saturdays as they gear up for the overwhelming and with-eternal-implications task of preaching God's Word.
Here are a few reasons why it matters so much:
1) It reminds them that they don't have to compete with the celebrity preachers/content creators online; they just have to serve the real people in a way that is impossible without proximity.
2) It encourages them that the sermon is not a monologue for them to perform but a dialogue that the congregation is prayed up and ready to respond to.
3) It elevates what often feels like an exercise in futility that "nobody remembers anything I said" to a glorious duty that is savored/anticipated through changed lives.
I am grateful for so many who practice this @NorthLifeBC and encourage members everywhere to go and to likewise with yours TODAY!
Grateful for these precious memories with my son Landon...yes, even the ones made at the Big House 😉.
They have the bittersweet effect of:
1) Helping me incrementally grieve again to a lessor and lessor degree how much we have missed in recent years. (Oh how I miss that pain-free smirk/smile!)
2) Reaffirming that, by the same grace of God that provided them in the past, there are more of them to come.
#healthforlandon
Here's my heart on this election day 2026. God of all mercies, may your will be done so that your servants-including me, my family, our church-can freely, fully serve this world with your gospel?
2 Ti 2:1-4 "1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth."
New Blog Post:
"Do you realize how pervasive chronic disease is in our day? According to the CDC, 'Chronic diseases are defined broadly as conditions that last 1 year or more and require ongoing medical attention or limit activities of daily living or both. 6 in 10 Americans have at least one chronic disease, and 4 in 10 have two or more chronic diseases.' While some of these conditions are honestly self-inflicted, the only thing more prevalent than chronic disease is what is unhealthy in the rest of us that attempts to fills in the gaps with insensitive assumptions, short-sighted remedies, or even pious judgmentalism..."
harleysnode.com/2026/10/28/t…
And one of our 25 ton ground units that services our auditorium in getting replaced this morning as the sun rises @NorthLifeBC . Thank you to all who gave to our #anniversaryoffering a few weeks ago!
This picture captures so much. Just an undershepherd and Christ's local flock throughly savoring an "average Sunday."
I have continue to have the privilege of traveling/preaching a fair bit in other places, but there is no place like serving and worshipping in the local church provided personally to you and your family by God Himself.
Here are a few probably-overlooked-by-others praises from my Lord's day yesterday that just have to shared:
1) Tremendous vulnerability/encouragement in my small group over where we as men get stuck in our Bible study.
2) A thoughtful bag of homemade snacks on my desk from a family in our church for Landon.
3) Morning worship that "lifted the roof" and a room full of hands (and the hearts connected to them) afterwards that indicated God's powerful working through the preaching of His Word.
4) Dedicating to the Lord a precious little 6-year-old girl who just got adopted by one of our missional families.
5) Opportunity to witness at length in the lobby after the morning service to a dear young man who is truly searching. (Please pray he gets saved this week!)
6) Watching my dear wife facilitate as only she can a lunch out with one of our church families and new family who recently started visiting our church.
7) Our student pastor's wife sitting outside mentoring one of our young adults when I arrived back at church in the afternoon.
8) Three of our teen guys who sat on the front row with eager engagement in our PM service.
9) A very, very moving "Hymn Sing" that our worship leader put his whole heart into as we reviewed how the "Church has always sung."
10) Some shared tears and "I love you, man" swapped with a young man I have been discipling to close out the day.
There is nothing like it. For those holding out on the local church, you are missing out. For those persevering through a dry, difficult season in your church, it's worth it to stick with it when others are not.
#OTin2026 Takeaway for 10/25:
Unlike the capricious and manipulative gods of this world, my God is distinctively and persistently faithful...even when I am not.
Only with Him can both of the following statements be true:
1) "Though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of ISRAEL" (5b)
2) "For ISRAEL hath not been forsaken...of the Lord of hosts."
This God is committed and invested in His relationship with me like no other. Why would I not respond in like fashion again today?
~ Jer. 51
#OTin2026 Takeaway for 10/24:
All it takes to be a "lost sheep" wandering from the Lord's character/promises is to forget that He alone is to be my:
1) Heart/Body's Resting Place (6)
2) Soul's Satisfaction (19)
3) Sin's Pardon (20)
~ Jeremiah 50
#OTin2026 Takeaway for 10/23:
I serve the God who will ultimately fill all places with His glory and break anyone/anything/anywhere ("vessel") unwilling to yield to this agenda on their own.
Are my heart, home, and church places that will fully surrender to what PLEASES HIM again today?
~ Jeremiah 48:38
#OTin2026 Takeaway for 10/22:
Fear is always optional as a child of God. This is made possible-despite my present, looming circumstances-by His commitment to:
1) Save me no matter how far gone it feels.
2) Restore tangible peace and rest.
3) Deal with my haters.
~ Jeremiah 46:27-28
#OTin2026 Takeaway for 10/21:
There are no voids in the cosmos...including hearts, homes, and societies that refuse to let in God's authoritative Word.
To close off to God's Word (16) will inevitably open me and everyone I influence up to believing/doing whatever:
1) Comes out of my own mouth-egotism. (17a)
2) Aligns with the social norms of the day-relativism. (17b)
3) Gets me what I want out of life-pragmatism. (17c)
~ Jer 44:16-17
Rejoice with us wherever this finds you today...the nail/screw aisle at Lowes or elsewhere!
Here's the most recent #healthforlandon update:
harleysnode.com/2026/10/20/h…
#OTin2026 Takeaway for 10/20:
Why would I worry when I have a personal relationship with THE God who:
1) HELPS me as the One who is Lord and Creator of all. (1-2)
2) STEADIES me as the One who never slumbers. (3-4)
3) PROTECTS me as the One who provides shelter and shade. (5-6)
4) PRESERVES me as the One who is eternal. (7-8)
~ Psalm 121
For my fellow ministry leaders, who are entering into yet another Monday where you are navigating the tension of being both:
1. Depleted from the ministry of this past weekend.
2. Facing a deluge of tasks/initiatives that need nudged forward.
Hope this list of "guardrails" will help you start managing your Monday's more effectively/intentionally!
harleysnode.com/2021/05/03/1…
#OTin2026 Takeaway for 10/19:
During periods of upheaval in human history, God preserves those willing to keep faithfully living/proclaiming His Word.
With all that is swirling around me politically, economically, and religiously, I must stay on message to survive and thrive before Him.
~ Jer 39:11-12
