Focus on Faith – Is certainty a sin?
Recently I took the time to watch one of the Oscar contenders for best motion picture, “Conclave”. I had heard a little bit about the movie and the...
Pastor Catherine Burnette
Focus on Faith – Make your faith come alive
What does it mean to have faith in God? That is a question that I often ask myself. And it is a question that all Christians should wrestle with on a...
Focus on Faith – Called to truly love our neighbor
As we draw closer to Christmas and the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I find myself thinking about what impact the birth...
Focus on Faith – Hospitality is showing love
How good are we at welcoming someone into our midst who is different than we are? Here in Beardstown, where we have so many different nationalities...
Focus on Faith – Lies vs little white lies
When was the last time that you told a lie? A lie is when you say something that you know to be untrue. When was the last time that you told a little...
Focus on Faith – Loving the way God loves
While I was on vacation I came across a church whose sign read, “God loves you when no one else will.” To many, these words on this church sign would...
Focus on Faith – How do you handle anger?
Have you ever noticed how angry so many people seem to be today? They are angry because the cart they are using at Wal-Mart won’t roll right. They get angry because they got mustard on their hamburger when they didn’t ask for any.
Focus on Faith – Fragile; handle with care
Have you ever received a package in the mail that had the words “Fragile: Handle with Care” written on them. These words are put on a shipment to protect the contents of a package. In an ideal world such boxes would be gently moved from place to place and nothing would ever be damaged. However, in the real world “Fragile: Handle with Care” means nothing to some package carriers. These words often seemed to often be overlooked by delivery services and packages often thrown or carelessly dropped.
Focus on Faith – Who is your neighbor?
Have you ever noticed that stories about people doing good or being kind are usually saved for the very end of most evening newscasts? You know the kind of stories I am talking about, like when a community helps out a family in need or a serviceman or woman returns from overseas to be reunited with the family. On the other hand, what leads off the news each evening isn’t that uplifting. Stories about murder, terrorism, vandalism, fires, political drama and other not so nice news starts off the evening news. We live in a pretty rough world. And that may be why the news ends with a positive story to make us all smile.
Focus on Faith – Being different is a gift
Growing up in Central Illinois I became part of a feud that is prevalent here. I am not talking about the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s, although maybe there are feuds between families in this part of the world. I am talking about the Cubs verses the Cardinals. Baseball season is upon us and the rivalry is out there in full force. I happen to be a Cub fan, which does not necessarily have the biggest fan base around here. With St. Louis being closer than Chicago, the Cardinals manage to gain the most support amongst my fellow Central Illinoisans. But I grew up a Cub fan with my Grandmother and Dad watching the Cubs faithfully.