From the Pastor "The Bible and Baseball" Back in 1986, Bob Brenly was playing third base for the San Francisco Giants.In the 4th inning of a game against the Atlanta Braves, Bob Brenly made an error on a routine ground ball.A few batters later, he kicked away another grounder.And then, scrambling to field the ball, he got up and threw wildly past home plate trying to g...

"A Time to Dance" Two weekends ago, I was in Charlotte, North Carolina for my son's wedding.Tim is my oldest child and will turn 28 later this month.He is a chiropractor and he met his bride, Amanda, at the Sherman College of Chiropractor in Spartanburg, South Carolina.It was a wonderful weekend of love, laughter, and joy, although the temperatures were in the 90's, which...

From the Pastor Our Men's Monday morning Bible study is reading a book by Bill Hybels, titled, "Holy Discontent."In it, he talks about finding something that fuels our passion for change.Something that annoys us or angers us to such a degree that we feel called to step forward and do something about it. You may work in a bureaucracy where you are treated like a number,...

From the Pastor This Sunday, May 19, ChestnutLevel Presbyterian Church is going to put hands and feet to our faith by engaging in what we are calling, "The Church Without Walls."Following our 10:30 am worship service, we are going to follow God's call to go into all the world to serve.The Church Without Walls 2019 is a vivid demonstration of missional theology, -- that Go...

From the Pastor Remembering is very important to mothers.For the longest time I struggled with how to please my mom.It's not like she ever told me that I wasn't, it's just a feeling that I had.You know, other things seemed more important, and honoring and pleasing your parents,and specifically, a mother, just wasn't on myradar.Years later, it struck me in a blaze of light...

From the Pastor There was once a strong young man who took a job as a woodcutter.He took on that job for all he was worth.The first week he turned 18 trees into firewood.The second week, he worked just as hard, but was surprised he chopped only 11 trees.The third week, he worked just as hard again, and despite working nonstop from dawn until dark, his number was 6.In desp...

From the Pastor When I was a child, Easter meant something other than"new life." Easter meant"new clothes."For whatever reason, the week or days before Easter was a time for my parents to take us shopping for clothes,"church clothes" to be precise.The shopping nightmare for school clothes came at the end of summer.Easter was the season for worship-wear,uncomfortable uncoo...

From the Pastor This Sunday is Palm Sunday.It is the day that Jesus rode triumphantly into Jerusalem, and we will wave our palm branches and sing our hosannas.Ever wonder, what happened?Our Lord Jesus went from hero to zero in five days.On Palm Sunday, we see Jesus at the pinnacle of his popularity.Sadly, it's all downhill from there.Why?What went wrong? Jesus would do...

From the Pastor The Christian author and pastor, Tony Campolo, tells about the time when he was seven years old, and he had just watched a cowboy western movie.He told his father he wanted to be a cowboy, just like Hopalong Cassidy.And so, he asked his father to help him become one.But, Campolo's just said, "Let's wait and see." Years later, when it was time to...

From the Pastor Back in 2014, a nine year old little boy from Atlanta named Willie Myrick got kidnapped right from in front of his home.Can you imagine the terror in a nine year old boy in being abducted and taken away from his family?Willie Myrick is part of the Mount Carmel Baptist Church outside of Atlanta, and he learned a worship song there called,"Every Praise is ...