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Where IS Everybody?

By garymcentire | August 3, 2023

I have. Many times. I’ve been in ministry for over 30 years. I have seen firsthand how attendance and participation have diminished over those years. I remember feeling frustrated by church people who placed too many things at a higher priority than attending church. I remember too many conversations with parents who were concerned that […]

Do I Have to Forgive?

By garymcentire | September 28, 2019

DO I HAVE TO FORGIVE? There’s a story in the Bible about Peter that makes me laugh every time I read it. Peter was a disciple of Jesus who had a brother named Andrew (who was also a disciple of Jesus). At one point, Peter asked Jesus a question: “Lord, how often will my brother […]

Real Love Risks Being Offensive

By garymcentire | July 29, 2019

“Just love everyone. I’ll sort ’em out later” – God That’s the message that keeps popping up on different church signs all over the place (at least if you believe my Facebook newsfeed). Recently a friend sent me a picture of such a sign and asked what I thought about it. I replied “Short version… […]

God Didn’t Have to Do Anything for Us

By garymcen | July 23, 2019

Right now, I’m engaged in a Blitz through the Bible campaign. Basically, I’ve challenged myself to read the whole Bible in 2 months. I do this occasionally because it helps me to see the bigger picture of the Bible. When I do this, I’m always amazed how I can read something in the Old Testament in […]

Pastors… Stay on Message

By garymcen | July 22, 2019

I’m going to get straight to it for once… I would never put this on my church sign: One pastor did, though and, if you can believe the reports, the church members staged a walkout the following Sunday because of it. Yes, this was in response to the political battle waging between the President and […]

If I Were the Savior…

By garymcen | July 21, 2019

I used to love reading a comic book called What If? This comic book would take something that happened in one of the Marvel comics stories and present a new story answering questions such as: What If Spider-Man Joined the Fantastic Four? What If the Hulk had the Brain of Bruce Banner? What If Jane Foster […]

Do Not Touch

By garymcen | July 19, 2019

I’ve done it. You’ve probably done it, too. Odds are good that neither of us likely would have done it except for that one thing that pretty much guaranteed that we would do it… The Do Not Touch sign. That one sign almost begs that something gets touched. For instance, when I go to the […]

If Paul Sinned, I Must Not be So Bad, Right?

By garymcen | July 13, 2019

When you think of Paul, it’s easy to believe he had this Christianity thing down. Perhaps not so much early on when he was trying to arrest and kill Christians. I’m talking about after he came face to face with the living Jesus and became perhaps the greatest voice for Jesus the world has ever […]

Maybe the Problem was Me…

By garymcen | October 11, 2010

It used to be that I could be outside at night and I could hear the Pope high school drum line as they practiced. I’ve noticed over the past couple of years that I can’t hear them anymore, even though I know they are out there practicing. I came to the conclusion that they just […]

And I Quote: “Girls Don’t Find Jesus Hot…”

By garymcen | July 29, 2010

About Vampires, Werewolves and True Love A few weeks ago I asked our students to tell me about this phenomenon sweeping the nation called “The Twilight Saga”. These are a series of books and movies about vampires, werewolves and love (and a very “hot” guy named Jacob if you believe some of the girls). Yeah, […]