Gates of Eden

09/11/2026

Details for Rosh HaShanah....

Friday evening (tomorrow!) we're going to meet at our usual Pekin location at 6pm. We'll have a special kiddush, share dinner, blow shofars, and have a service.

Saturday the 12th everything will be at the usual time and location, and for our morning study (10am) we plan to read and discuss the festival readings. Service at 11, lunch and fellowship afterwards.

On Sunday morning the 13th we're going to meet along the river at Poplar Lane Park for a brief Tashlich service at 10am. We did this last year, and everyone thought it was an edifying experience.

Locals are welcome to join us for any of our meetings, feel free to contact us with any questions.

Details for Yom Kippur and Sukkot coming soon.

07/08/2026

This Shabbat we have a guest speaker! Daniel’s old friend Fred Collom has been serving as a missionary in Mexico for the last half-century, and he’s going to be sharing with us!
Saturday, 11am, 13895 First St, Pekin, IL.

07/03/2026

07/03/2026

Going through things recently, some photos from Gates of Eden gatherings in 1995 were unearthed. It was like a mini time capsule.
This is the dumpy little church building we rented for the first months as a congregation. It was in an industrial area of Peoria, and didn’t look much better in the inside than the outside. It was $25 rent each week.
Our current location (second picture) is much nicer in nearly every way. God has blessed and sustained us through many ups and downs over the years, and we look forward to seeing what the future holds.

06/17/2026

Daniel has been sharing from the Song of Songs for the last few Shabbats - here’s the YouTube playlist so you can catch up and follow along!

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04/16/2026

Getting ready to update the mailing list for the May-June issue of my magazine Gates of Eden. Articles included in this issue are: "Swift But Not Hasty"; "Communications 101 & Our Communication of Biblical Truth"; "The Jigsaw Puzzle Parable"; "The Greek Roots of Our Faith, Part 1"; "The Kingdom of God is Not Meat & Drink." And the usual Letters Page, a chapter from my book My Back Pages, and brand new zany "Rev. Twistruth" cartoons. No cost to get on the mailing list if you live in the USA. It's not sent by email, it's printed on paper and mailed to readers' homes, so if you want to be added to the mailing list, send your name & mailing address to [email protected]. (Do NOT send your address as a PM on FB, because I might not see it.)

04/13/2026

Gates of Eden is now meeting for Shabbat every Saturday at our new location, 13895 1st St., Pekin IL 61554. We are in the process of buying this building! You’re welcome to join us - 10 am Bible Study; 11 am Praise & Worship, Teaching, & Prayer Time; Lunch after the meeting.

12/29/2024

Our youngest daughter, Autumn Sunshine, 24, has Down syndrome and autism. People with Down syndrome are mentally re****ed. When used in a non-pejorative way, the word re****ed means “delayed.” Autumn’s language learning was delayed, but she learned to speak. She could count, recite the alphabe...

12/15/2024

There are two important aspects of our faith I want to discuss. First I want to discuss the importance of having a clear focus from the right position. Then I want to address the object of our faith, i.e., the question of which aspect of our faith deserves the most attention.AN UNCLEAR FOCUS FROM TH...

12/08/2024

IS IT REALLY PAGAN?Throughout Israel’s history, God’s people often mingled their worship of the one true God with customs and traditions borrowed from pagan religions. Whenever that happened, God spoke through His prophets to express His hatred of this mingling of the holy and the profane, the s...