Something shifted in me last week. Not the complete spiritual overhaul I’d been seeking, but more like finding a key to a locked room I’d pretended wasn’t there for over forty years. The nightmares have followed me home from Vietnam since ’69. Faces, sounds, smells …
My doctor has said that I am truly one of one. At 11 and 13 years old, I had severe curvature of the spine (a 60-degree S-shaped curve), for which I received painful corrective surgeries with rods and screws placed up and down my spine …
Romans 5:14 says that Adam was a “type of Him who was to come.” Thus, Adam is, in part, a picture of Jesus. First, both Adam and Jesus were divinely created. Dirt doesn’t make humans on its own, and virgins don’t give birth. Second, in …
Community doesn’t start with big plans or perfect conditions. It starts with common unity: the simple recognition that, beneath our differences, we want many of the same things. A neighborhood can’t come together until people see the values, hopes, and needs they share. Without that …
This past year, Flourish Girls hosted twenty gatherings each for 6th and 7th grade girls at Pipkin Middle School. These students were referred by school staff because of behavioral struggles or difficult circumstances outside of school, challenges that go well beyond most of our own …
How do you describe God? First John tells us that God is love. Certainly, that’s true. I sign all my letters to the church with the line, “God is faithful,” which is also true. In the Bible, one of the primary words used to describe …
The building process has begun! Our church will soon expand, providing much-needed space for the growing number of people drawn to Jesus. But a different construction project began thousands of years ago—the creation of a “holy temple for the Lord.” This “temple” is a body, …
God created us for connection! Connection with Him and with others. The drive to emotionally attach, to find someone to whom we can turn and say, “Hold me tight,” is wired into our mind, soul, and spirit. Love drives us to bond emotionally with precious …
I was diagnosed with ALS in 2023. I was devastated, anxious about my future, and honestly, I was mad at God. My conversations with God started with the question, “Why me?” Gradually, over time, this changed to “God, what do you want me to do …
Schweitzer Foundation Receives Another Significant Gift Recently, Schweitzer Church received an email from an online worshiper asking about providing a legacy gift. Schweitzer Foundation Director, Jim Mason, and Schweitzer Church’s Chief Operating Officer, Colette Freeman, concluded that the donor was unknown to us at that …
“Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.” (Luke 24:27) In John 5:46, Jesus chided the Jewish leaders, “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me.” Really? Moses …
Do you remember your baptism? This is a question I frequently ask the wonderful people I talk with in many of my visits. Some remember being immersed as a young person, or even an adult. Others don’t remember because they were baptized as an infant. …
My father, mother, and two brothers moved to Springfield in 1962 and immediately joined Schweitzer Church. Sixty-four years later, this church is still very important to my family and me. Schweitzer made us feel very welcome, and we have made many lifelong friends. When we …
Diplomas in hand, tassels turned, caps in the air, and suddenly, a whole new world of options. One worth adding to the list is Schweitzer’s Young Adults group, where faith-building, fellowship, and fun all show up in the same room. This summer, the group has …