Single-Issue Voters & Single-Issue Christians

In the spirit of the upcoming presidential election here is an idea that I’ve been thinking through and its potential ramifications: Single-issue voters? Abortion. Economy. Health Care. Immigration. Single-issue voters are those known to either give their support or remove their support because of a strongly held belief on a specific issue. Personally, I can [...]

A Thought on Church Planting

Pastor has regularly encouraged to pray about Bethel having an active role in planting churches in Allentown and Bethlehem. Consider this church planting thought from Charles H. Spurgeon, Baptist preacher of the mid-1800′s: “It is with cheerfulness that we dismiss our twelves, our twenties, our fifties to form other churches. We encourage our members to [...]

Ideas on Becoming a Servant

I am struck with shallowness that I think, meditate and apply specific texts of Scripture. One such passage is Mark 10:43-44 But whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. What does that look like? Does it simply mean I [...]

LYNW: What to Look For?

We have called this Love Your Neighbor Week (LYNW), but what are we looking for? If you serve the bruised and hurting you will never lack an audience. Whether they are “down & out” or “up & in” everybody has a past of some kind. Some are transparent about their past, others are illusive. Jesus’ [...]

What’s the Big Deal about Transparency?

It seems as if the words authentic, genuine, transparency are simply buzz words for a younger generation that love their “reality” TV shows. Is the idea of transparency merely a buzz word or is there something deeper, meaningful or even biblical in the word transparency? God is transparent. God in His kindness has given us [...]

Why I Love the Church

Some believers do not like church. I can understand negative experiences. I understand that local churches many times are not all they should be. I can’t understand having a complete either disdain for the church or an opinion that the local church is irrelevant. Jesus, the founder of the church stated, “I will build my [...]

What is the Ministry Summit?

On Sunday night, February 13, we have our first Ministry Summit at Bethel. Some have asked what exactly is the Ministry Summit? It’s going to be a great night of multiple ministry equipping sessions. You will be able to choose from the following sessions:

Extreme Makeover “Ain’t Got Nothin” on the Local Church

Let me say upfront I’ve been a slow convert to the TV show Extreme Makeover Home Edition. For a couple of reasons: it’s always on when Sunday Night Football is on and, the stories are so emotional and the thought of crying on a weekly basis just hasn’t been appealing to me. But I must [...]

Thoughts from First Time Guests

The following thoughts are based upon follow-up conversations with real, first-time guests (using fictitious names): ~ Dave & Rachel: married, early 30′s with newborn I know the bathroom was clearly marked but when I walked in there were so many walking around knowing where they were going. Some smiled at me, other stopped to ask [...]

Using Your Natural Gifts for Spiritual Ministry

Do you find it difficult to find your niche in ministry at church? Sometimes if we don’t sing in the choir, serve in the nursery, usher or teach Sunday School we think we don’t the ability to minister within the local church. But I’d like to give a few suggestions of using your natural gifts [...]