Posts with the tag “pastor-gene-beck”

This week we pause from the routines of life to give thanks as a nation for God’s bountiful blessings.  We have so much to be thankful for as a nation.  We have been blessed beyond anything we deserve...  Read More

Today, as you read this short devotional, I would like to encourage you to center your thoughts around one of the central themes of Christianity…forgiveness.  It is our privilege each week to gather f...  Read More

This past week I finished reading through the Gospel of John.  I was impressed at how many times Jesus made statements that He was doing what His Father does.  He declared to the religious leaders tha...  Read More

I often think back through the years to an event that took place the summer following my graduation from High School.  I was at a church summer camp up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains east of Oroville,...  Read More

As I go through life, I find that it is always important to express to the Lord my thankfulness and love for Him.  It is easy to take for granted the things God is doing.  Busyness often draws my atte...  Read More

There are times when I come to the end of my day, and I ask myself the question, “Where has all the time gone?”  Maybe some of you have experienced the same thing?  It seems like time is accelerating....  Read More

Lynette and I moved to Montana in 1980, when I became the pastor of a small Baptist church in a town of 100 people.  God was teaching me a lot about myself and my need to totally depend on His leaders...  Read More

One of the important things I have learned through many years of pastoral ministry is that what we believe to be true affects how we live.   People will either do what is good or bad depending on thei...  Read More

It is amazing to think of how much God has blessed us as His children.  The Scriptures tell us that He has blessed “us with every spiritual blessing.”  We have not been given some blessings, but “ever...  Read More

The more I study God’s Word, the more I learn about God’s love.  It is one of those truths in the Scriptures that we will never fully understand.  Our inability to totally understand the depth of God’...  Read More

This summer I passed another milestone marker in my life.  It seems it was just a few years ago and it was my 50th High School reunion.  Then it was my 50-year college reunion.  Next it was our 50th a...  Read More

Over the past days, I have been thinking about how fast time flies.  Have you ever found yourself saying, “Where has all the time gone?”  It seems like just yesterday that our girls were little childr...  Read More

I don’t know about you but I am tired of seeing how sin and evil are affecting our world today.  The Apostle Paul wrote that things will continue to get worse as the day of Christ’s return draws near....  Read More

When I began full time ministry, I served as a solo pastor in a country church near the towns of Susquehanna and Oakland in northern Pennsylvania.  I served there for 5-years. I had gone to this churc...  Read More

As I get older, I am realizing the importance of taking care of my heart.  Each day I exercise by walking one to three miles, depending on the amount of time I have.  This discipline helps me with my ...  Read More

Lynette and I enjoy camping.  In fact, as I write this devotional, we are over in El Chorro Campground near Morro Bay.  Any time I am out in nature, my thoughts turn to the God who made all the beauty...  Read More

I was privileged to be born into a Christian family.  My father was a farmer as was his father and this went back several generations.  His early years as a farmer were much simpler and different than...  Read More

The city of Jerusalem was awakened with the exclamation of Mary Magdalene, “I have seen the Lord.”  The electrifying news came only three days after the demands of the Jewish leaders that Jesus of Naz...  Read More

Most of you know that Lynette and I live in the foothills near Prather.  All around us are the signs of spring.  The winter rains have caused nature to come alive again.  The grass is green, the trees...  Read More

Over the past number of days, I have been thinking about how easy it is to lose focus on what is important.  There is so much that is crying out for our attention.  It is easy to set aside what should...  Read More

The pace of life can often be overwhelming.  We often require more and more from ourselves until we begin coming apart at the seams.  I know that I have found myself at that place at times in my life ...  Read More

Today, I have found myself thinking of how easy it is to become self-satisfied with our spiritual progress or lack of spiritual progress.  We might even say that our lives cannot be different this sid...  Read More

It is hard to believe that 2023 is past.  I just got used to writing 2023 on my checks and now the year is gone.  As the old year has passed, I would pray that you and your family will have a joyous N...  Read More

It is hard to imagine where this whole year has gone.  It doesn’t seem possible that this week we will celebrate Thanksgiving.  I am looking forward to spending time with family.  I am sure you have f...  Read More

This year as we come to the month of November, I want to set aside more time to reflect on God’s goodness in my life and to be thankful.  In the United States, we have set aside the fourth Thursday of...  Read More

One of the things I enjoy doing in the early morning is going out into our subdivision for a walk.  Now I will be honest, I started walking for exercise because I wanted to improve my physical health....  Read More

This past July, I had the privilege of traveling with Pastor Jim and Karon to Israel.  It was my first time to see and experience the Holy Land.  The time we spent at the Sea of Galilee impacted my li...  Read More

Through the years, I have traveled to many places where I was unfamiliar with the roads.  As in typical male fashion, I often would not ask for directions.  I figured we were close to our destination ...  Read More

All of us have gone through times when we have wondered where God was or if He had time to care for us.  With over 8 billion people on our planet, we might feel that we are rather insignificant to the...  Read More

The Psalms often remind us that we are to praise the Lord for He is actively at work all around us.  Sometimes He is working in very visible ways, and it is obvious what God is doing.  At other times ...  Read More

We live today in rather uncertain times.  There is a huge political divide, and it seems that the forces of evil are trying to destroy what is good.  People have ideas of how the problems we face shou...  Read More

The last five Psalms of the Book of Psalms are glorious worship hymns that exhort us to praise our God.  They bring into focus the reality that our lives are to bring glory to God, and that we should ...  Read More

Today we live in a world that is constantly changing.  Lynette’s grandfather would say, “Travel in my lifetime has gone from horse and buggy to cars, to airplanes, to landing a man on the moon.”  Havi...  Read More

Some of you know that I come from a farming background, and I grew up about 18 miles north of Chico, CA in the Sacramento Valley. Both sides of my family were farmers for a number of generations.  My ...  Read More

This morning, as I write this devotional, an old hymn from my childhood, keeps going through my mind.  “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing...  Read More

I am very thankful for God’s forgiveness of sins.  How many of us have needed God’s forgiveness this past month… week… or even today.  Without that forgiveness, past, present, and future, we would be ...  Read More

I have been thinking about how important it is that Jesus is seated at the Father’s right hand, continually interceding for us. Prayer was a key component of Jesus’ ministry to His disciples.  He cont...  Read More

In June of 1980, my family and I moved to Montana.  Little did we know what great adventure and ministry were waiting for us there.  After getting settled in, on a beautiful Montana summer day, we dro...  Read More

Through the years I have often quoted Philippians 3:10, agreeing with the Apostle Paul that I want to know the Lord on a deeper level.  Suffering and a full understanding of Christ’s death on our beha...  Read More

This past week we reflected on the sufferings of Christ and celebrated His resurrection that first Easter morning.  Now almost 2000 years removed from the events, I want to remind us of how significan...  Read More