Pastor Chuck’s Blog

8-12-2026

Perhaps you’ve seen the movie, “The Pursuit of Happyness” starring Will Smith. It tells a great story – one that many people would learn from. See, one of the most common mistakes we make is, “When and then” thinking. “When and then” thinking looks like this:

When something happens that I want, then I’ll be happy.
When I get out of school ……
When I get a man or woman in my life ……
When I get a job ……
When I get a promotion ……
When I get to retire ……

In the Apostle Paul’s case: When I get out of prison ……

But the truth is: If you don’t know how to choose happiness right now, in spite of your circumstances, there will be pains, pressures, people, and problems to blame for your unhappiness. In the case of the Apostle Paul, he made three choices clear choices – three clear choices that you can also make because the reality is, you are only as happy as you choose to be. Here are Paul’s choices:

I can be happy no matter what happens, if I choose to:

1. Remember God can bring good out of anything.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28, NIV)

2. Trust God to always work things out.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6 & 7, NIV)

3. Know where my strength comes from.

I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13, NIV)

4. Stay focused on my purpose, not my problem.

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21, NIV)

Happiness doesn’t come from self-gratification. Happiness comes from self-sacrifice! Paul chose to be happy, not because of his possessions or convenience or his hobby or even his relationships. He determined that his happiness – lasting happiness came from knowing Jesus.

All of the other things may bring momentary happiness, but if you want eternal happiness, it only comes from Jesus!

8-5-2026

My friend, Lynn Wheeler, is an evangelist. He travels the country preaching the Gospel. Recently he posted something online that caught my attention………so I’m going to share it with you. It’s a question……but it’s also a challenge. Here’s what he wrote:

If everyone served the way YOU serve…….
if everyone gave the way YOU give………
if everyone loved the way YOU love……….
if everyone prayed the way YOU pray………
if everyone was as faithful as YOU are.………
what would the church look like?

I’ve let that roll around for awhile, and I’ve decided that I can……and will, do better.

And you?

8-3-2026

I’ve never seen it in person, but word on the street is that the Michelangelo’s painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City is stunningly beautiful and may be his finest work. For four years, between 1508 and 1512, Michelangelo lay on his back on a scaffold, creating one of the greatest artistic triumphs in history. This would be a massive undertaking today, but to tackle this over 500 years ago was unheard of. When it was finished, everyone who saw it found themselves with their jaws hanging open in wonder of the beauty of his work.

Unfortunately, the unique and magnificent work of art began to fade over time. Less than a century later, no one could remember what the original frescoes had looked like. The vibrancy of the colors seemed to pale and the nuances of the painting itself seemed to almost blur somewhat as time marched on. One person described it this way: “We see the colors of the Sistine ceiling as if through smoked glass.”

A proposal was made to “clean” and “restore” the ceiling to it’s original glory. There was uncertainty, however, regarding what the process might actually do to the painting itself. In 1981, two art-restorers carefully cleaned a small corner of the painting using a special solution. It was a slow process, and when finished, they invited experts to examine the work. The result was breathtaking. No one had imagined that such vibrant colors lay beneath the centuries of accumulated dust and dirt.

The success of this partial project prompted the approval to restore the entire ceiling, a task that was completed on December 31, 1989. It took twice as long to clean the ceiling as it had taken Michelangelo to paint it. But the result was breathtaking. For the first time in nearly 5 centuries, people were able to view this masterpiece the way it was intended, in all of its color and beauty.

You and I are a lot like the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Just when we feel like our work is finished, just when we take a deep breath and let it out, God goes to work restoring the parts of our lives that dust and dirt have dulled. We don’t always appreciate the restoration process, but the end result? WOW!

It may take longer than you expect, but the end result will be the same: Your life will be filled with the vibrant colors that He has planned for you from the very beginning. We read this reminder in the New Testament book of Revelation:

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:5a, NIV)

God is making everything new………including me and you. Embrace the process because the end result is out of this world!

7-22-2026

Jim Abbott grew up dreaming of playing baseball with his friends, even dreamed of someday playing in the major leagues, but the dream was considered all but impossible.

The reason? Jim was born with only one hand.

Still, every day he would practice throwing a rubber ball against against a brick wall, quickly shifting his glove to his hand to catch the rebound. In the process, he developed speed, strength, and accuracy. Soon, he was good enough to play Little League ball with his friends, in spite of his handicap. And then, good enough to stand out as a top level pitcher in high school. And good enough to lead the University of Michigan to two Big 10 championships, where he was also named the nation’s best amateur athlete.

Even good enough to be drafted by the California Angels in 1989.

A few years later, while playing for the Yankees, he experienced the highlight of his career: He pitched a no-hitter against the Indians during the ‘93 pennant race. In a post-game interview, he said…

“When the final out was made, a lot of things went through my mind. The only thing that I didn’t pay attention to was my handicap. It had nothing to do with anything.”

Today there may be so-called limitations in your life that you’ve let yourself believe are holding you back … but, ultimately, they have nothing to do with anything.

That’s because we serve a God whose power knows no limits, and whose grace can sustain us through whatever life brings our way. Even the circumstances that appear, on the surface, to be impossible — they have nothing to do with anything, because we serve a God whose power has everything to do with everything.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. (2 Corinthians 4:2)

7-8-2026

We just celebrated 250 years of freedom in the United States of America. I hope your celebration included family and friends and, of course, Jesus. But I want to address something that troubles me.

There are those who would say that it is inappropriate for a church, for a pastor, for a Christian to celebrate such a patriotic event. Without hesitation I say, “I stand for the flag, but I kneel at the cross.” And I am not embarrassed to celebrate the freedom we enjoy in the US.

To borrow from Josh Howerton:

I love my King of Kings more infinitely than any earthly ruler. And there is an Eternal Kingdom that has infinitely more allegiance from me than any earthly country.

In the Bible, God established 3 institutions for the good of the world:

– The Family
– The church
– The State (governments)

This means that a Christian man should seek to be…

– A family man
– A churchman
– A statesman

Last week, we celebrated the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, and part of being a “statesman” is loving your country.

– A family never gets better unless the father LOVES his family.
– A church never gets better unless people LOVE their church
– A nation cannot get better unless people LOVE their nation

So, to be clear, I unapologetically love my country, and I thank God for the historically unique way Christianity played a role in the founding of our nation. I will continue to celebrate moving forward, not IN SPITE of the fact that I’m a Christian, but BECAUSE I’m a Christian, who is grateful to God for what He has done in the past and imploring Him to pour out his Spirit in our culture for the good of its future.

In the words of the song by Carman, “We need God in America again!”

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord…… (Psalm 33:12a, NIV)