First Baptist Church in Hope Valley

06/25/2026

06/25/2026

He came to my desk with a quivering lip;
The lesson was done.
“Have you a new sheet for me, dear teacher?
I’ve spoiled this one.”
I took his sheet, all soiled and blotted,
And gave him a new one, all unspotted.
And into his tired heart I cried,
“Do better now, my child.”
I went to the throne with a trembling heart;
The day was done.
“Have you a new day for me, dear Master?
I’ve spoiled this one.”
He took my day, all soiled and blotted,
And gave me a new one, all unspotted.
And into my tired heart he cried,
“Do better now, my child.”
- A New Leaf, poem attributed to Carrie Shaw Rice

06/25/2026

“Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!” - Psalm 100:2

“Those who serve God with a sad countenance, because they do what is unpleasant to them, are not serving Him at all; they bring the form of loyalty, but the life is absent. Our God requires no slaves to grace His throne; He is the Lord of the empire of love, and would have His servants dressed in the uniform of joy.” – Charles Spurgeon

06/25/2026

“What value do you add to the place you’re in? The people you’re around? If you aren’t adding value, not only are you likely expendable to your employer but you’re also likely unhappy and not flourishing in general.”

Adding Value; Cottage Cheese Shortages; Dig Out Those Coupons; Muskrats in England; 50 Years of a River

06/24/2026

Blog post on C. S. Lewis' “Christian Apologetics” in "God in the Dock"

"Moderately Important?"

Every day we have things to do that are important. Waking up on time, getting the kids to school, getting to work, making that phone call, answering that email. Each one is significant and needs to be done today.

But every once in a while something comes along that is more than important. It’s crucial. Locating a child, getting the test results from the doctor, and paying the mortgage. While the other matters are important, you get a second chance. With these issues it’s all or nothing and nothing else matters.

In an essay entitled “Christian Apologetics,” C. S. Lewis discusses the importance of understanding Christianity in terms of true or false and not in terms that it might be good or beneficial. Christianity isn’t true because it is good, it is good because it is true. Lewis reminds readers,

“One must keep on pointing out that Christianity is a statement which, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important.”1

When thinking about Christianity, don’t think about how it may improve your life. Think that it will save your life.

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” – John 14:6.

1 C. S. Lewis. “Christian Apologetics” in God in the Dock (Grand Rapids: William B Eerdman Publishing Company, 1970), 101

06/24/2026

Here’s what changes when your congregation grasps truth: everything.

06/24/2026

“Before I experienced loss, I assumed healing was much like that of a broken bone; the limb is injured and immobile for a season, full of pain and agony, but eventually it returns to its full function. What I realize now is that losing a child is more like an amputation than a broken bone. The limb is gone and one must learn to function altogether differently.”

Had someone asked me 4 years ago, “how long do you think you could write about grief?” I imagine my answer would have been maybe for a year or two. I had no category for how long it tak…

06/24/2026

They didn’t mean to leave the church, but inadvertently allowed their lives and lifestyles to hinder their attendance. Church got displaced by other priorities until it became little more than an afterthought. They became unintentional deconstructionists.

It was one of those little pieces of information that helped clarify so much in my mind, that described through data what I had seen with my own eyes and experienced in my own ministry. It is a pie…