From the Pastor Several years ago, the church I was serving in North Carolina was going through a major building renovation and expansion.During one of our Sunday services, the fire alarm went off.As you know, a fire alarm, by design, is painfully loud, and you really can't help but hear it clearly. What's funny is that instead of everyone heading for the exits a...

From the Pastor In his book,"Legacy of Sovereign Joy," John Piper writes that in 371 AD, at the age of 16, Augustine sneaked away from his mother in Carthage.During the night he sailed away to Rome, leaving her alone to her tears and her prayers. How were Monica's [Augustine's mother] prayers answered?They were not answered in what she hoped for at the time, that God wo...

From The Pastor Last month, Chestnut Level hosted the monthly Solanco Pastor's Fellowship luncheon in our Family Life Center.It has been a joy to meet, pray, eat, and share with other brothers and sisters in Christ who are serving the Lord in their respective churches and ministries.They have been very kind and welcoming of me, and I was glad to be able to host the group ...

"Church Without Walls" In our self-serving culture with its mefirst mentality, being a servant is not a popular notion. Jesus measured greatness in terms of service, and not status. God determines our greatness by the people we serve, not by the people who serve us. And yet, it is possible to serve in a church for a lifetime without ever being a servant. The reason I say ...

From the Pastor "Brokenness precedes busyness" Have you ever heard the expression, "Brokenness precedes busyness?" I believe that those who are broken before God can be used by God to change the world. We all see plenty in the world to weep over, but quite often, our tears are slow to come.And so we think, "Prayer is the answer!"I don't know about you, but I wish I were ...

From the Pastor I saw a post on the internet this week.It said,"An accountant is someone who knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing."That is probably unfair, because with April 15 coming this Sunday, accountants are very valuable.My sister,Karen, is an accountant.I know how hard she works and how valuable she is to her clients.As painful as taxes are, belie...

From the Pastor Frederick Buechner compels us to stand up and pay attention with these words: "It is absolutely crucial, therefore, to keep in constant touch with what is going on in your life's story and to pay close attention to what is going on in the stories of others' lives. IF God is present anywhere, it is in those stories that God is present. If God is NOT present...

"Stay Until the End" With the Miami Heattrailing 94-89 in a potentially decisive Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals, many Heat fans at American Airlines Arena decided they'd head out early. You know, beat the traffic, -- no need to stick around to watch the last 30 seconds of a tough loss for their hometown team.Guess what happened?A couple of missed free throws by the San Ant...

"Faith In Between" Holy Week is bracketed by shouting crowds. On the front end of Holy Week is Palm Sunday when we remember the day Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem.Luke tells us that the crowd that welcomed him that day "praised God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen" (19:37).Their shouts were grounded in past events that had shaped their expectations o...

From The Pastor There is a man who paints portraits on Plexiglas mirrors.He uses mirrors so that when people look at the painted image they will see that their own reflection has become part of the portrait. As we continue in this season of Lent, we remember some of Jesus' last words from the cross,"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."(Luke 23...