If you follow my Today’s Daily Promise devotionals you have likely noticed that I have recently been using the New International Version, having recently switched from using the English Standard Version. In this post I want to explain why I have been using the NIV again. This story has to begin in 1980 when I became a born again believer in Jesus Christ, (you can read about my miraculous conversion at my Adopted by God … Continue reading →
We are about a month away from our 10-year anniversary as a church fellowship, which we’ll be celebrating on January 3, 2021 at the Chapel in west Mobile. Please mark your calendar to attend or if it looks like you may not be able to attend, please consider sending us a note to be read on that day to your friends and family at CrossHope Chapel. In some ways it doesn’t seem like we are … Continue reading →
I’ve been thinking about Revelation 1:10 lately and how it relates to CrossHope Chapel. I probably need to mention that with this pandemic I’ve been thinking a lot about CrossHope Chapel, where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re heading. This coming January 2, 2021 when we gather we’ll be celebrating our 10th consecutive year of fellowship as a body of Christ, known as CrossHope Chapel. It has been a very rewarding pastoral ministry … Continue reading →
I was reminded this morning by a friend still living in my home town of Rossford, Ohio that it was 40 years ago today that we graduated from High School in the class of 1980. After the shock wore off that it was 40 years already, it occurred to me that Payton is graduating from High School on this very date as well. 40 years ago I would never have thought that I would have … Continue reading →
The church I serve as pastor, CrossHope Chapel, does not have an official sign on the dotted line type of local membership. You can’t sign anything that says you want to be a member of CrossHope Chapel or you can’t sign any commitment to be a member of CrossHope Chapel. One becomes a member of CrossHope Chapel by being a member of the larger universal body of Christ, by being in Christ in faith and … Continue reading →
The coronavirus is challenging many of the ways we do life in America. Some businesses are discovering that employees can work from home, families are adjusting to actually spending more time together, and church members are realizing that a weekly formal program may not be as necessary to their personal spiritual growth as they once thought. I am guessing that a lot of us are really missing weekly fellowship with like-minded believers in Christ. I … Continue reading →
This morning was a great time together in prayer, worship, and God’s Word. I enjoy every week when we gather together, but this morning was just a sweet time of fellowship. There was a song that came to my mind too, called, “Sweet, Sweet, Spirit.” If you don’t recognize that song, it’s one that goes, “There’s a sweet, sweet Spirit in this place, And I know that it’s the Spirit of the Lord…” Maybe this … Continue reading →
Our church fellowship began on January 6, 2011, meeting on Sunday morning at a community room of a Ryan’s Restaurant on Rangeline Road near I-10 in Tillman’s Corner, Alabama. The manager allowed us to use the room at no cost if we ordered their buffet breakfast, which we did and enjoyed, but after several weeks we all seemed to have gotten our fill of that buffet. We moved our meetings to my house in West Mobile, … Continue reading →
Mornings in our home are usually filled with the sounds from a Christian radio station. This morning a caller asked one of the disc jockey’s “What is the reason for Ash Wednesday?” The disc jockey said something to the jest of, “Christians have Ash Wednesday because by placing the ashes on their forehead they are proclaiming the sacrifice of Jesus.” I thought, that’s not biblically correct and that is not even what it means to … Continue reading →
Dear Church Friend in Mobile, Alabama, Have you ever invited the guy you work with or the lady at that office or the couple in your neighborhood to attend your church but they just haven’t? Maybe you have great Bible conversations with someone who doesn’t attend church anywhere. Maybe you’ve heard the same excuses as I have for not attending – burned-out, hypocrites, politics, clicks, personality conflicts, boring, bla bla bla.. However, there really are … Continue reading →
In the morning, thousands of people will wake up and get ready to attend a church of their choice. Some will put on their best clothing, some will happily re-wear something from the day before, and some will be more concerned over their toddlers and children keeping their cloths clean at least until they are checked into their Sunday School programs within a secluded room away from the adults. They will make their way to … Continue reading →
Since our first Christmas together in 2011 we have not met over the Christmas holiday, some years we took three weeks off and some years we took two weeks off, depending on the calendar. Typically, our last gathering of the year has been our evening Christmas party and then we’ve seen each other again the first Sunday of the year. I am not opposed to meeting through the Christmas holidays, it has just worked out that … Continue reading →
Last Saturday evening’s CrossHope Chapel’s Christmas Party was such a blessing! I have to admit that my knee was starting to really ache and just before everyone arrived I was beginning to feel like I would rather curl up in the corner with a pain pill and a nap. Of course, I am glad I didn’t and I am glad we were able to gather and enjoy fellowship together. It still amazes me that we … Continue reading →
I wanted to share a thought with you about where we have been in 2018, as a church in the Scriptures. We have been in 3 John, 1 Corinthians, and 2 Corinthians. We have systematically and intentionally journeyed through 3 books of the Bible, a total of 30 chapters, and 2 writers…which is not a whole lot in the big scheme of 66 books in the Bible, a total of 1189 chapters, and 40 writers. … Continue reading →
