Bittersweet Farm

Bittersweet Farm

Positive Christianity

Filed Under: Current Thoughts

Dale Carnige said; “Give people a good reputation to live up to.” He was right. This is close to the the heart of ministry to people. We know that people are far from God and unable to help themselves, but we have to learn to see, with the eyes of faith, the potential of Christ in them.

Great pastors know this. They say Pastor Howard Sugden was such as man. Doris Seger was his secretary for over fifty years. She said of him; “Pastor Sugden is really a patient and scholarly man who loves people. He always knows people are going to be better with the Lord’s help. He is an optimist.” A long-time member recalls, “Pastor was positive, that was probably his most endearing trait. He thought so highly of us as a congregation. When he made a point of how we should act as God’s people, he implied that we were already that way.”

To put it simply, Howard was positive about people! He would often say, “Mark the man or woman who sees something good in everybody; there goes a magnificent soul.” -From; For the Love of Preaching by Don Denyes

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Sugden pastored South Bapitst in Lansing, Michigan for years.
This is South today.

Bluegrass Baptist

Filed Under: Current Thoughts

bluegrass.jpgI really hope my wife and daughters don’t find out about this. They love bluegrass so much they might want to move their membership… If you look closely you will see that this church has its entire doctrinal position printed on its sign.

Simple School

Filed Under: Fireside Academy

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Photo by Lois Pierpont

If places could talk I would ask this old schoolhouse to tell its stories. Does anyone know the history of this schoolhouse at the corner of Cedar Knoll and Willis Roads near Chelsea, Michigan? What was its name? When was it functional? When was the last time a class met there? Did it ever double as a chapel? Is there anyone around that could still tell stories of what it was like to go to school there?

No Attention

Filed Under: Faith and Family

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This morning I was looking at an old journal entry. Here is what it said;

“We are trying to teach Hope to sleep in her own bed. In April she will be five years old. She is used to sleeping with us. The other night we had her stay in her own bed in the girl’s room. She was not happy. She was crying so I went into her room and said; “Why are you crying, Hope?”

She said, ‘I don’t like sleeping in here. I don’t want to sleep in here. I don’t get any attention.'”

I know how she feels. I hate it when I don’t get any attention.

No matter what their age, paying attention to people is a powerful thing – it is a very powerful thing. Try it. People will love you for it.

Godward Nudges

Filed Under: Current Thoughts

I believe and I must believe in Godward nudges. Let me give you three examples of what I mean:

Tony told me that there was once a pastor who asked him a question. “If you were to die tonight and stand before God, and He were to ask you, “Why would I let you in my heaven, what would you say?” Tony acted as if the question had no effect on him and left the pastor’s house but years later, soul-searching in the middle of the night, he remembered the question, turned on the television and became a devoted follower of Christ. The pastor had asked him a question that nudged him Godward. [Read more…] about Godward Nudges

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