Hello all! I know that not too many people read this blog, but I wanted to state something here for the record: Why is it that Pastors are always supposed to be "up"? Why is it we always have to be happy and upbeat? I'm not sure I think it's proper for that to be a part of the life of a pastor. I think it seems to be portraying an attitude that says, "Hey! Look at me! I've got it all together and there's nothing wrong in my life!" I have to say that that just isn't true!

Today I sit here and rehash the past 12-18 hours of my life. In it, I have seen people misunderstand, misquote, misjudge and flat out misrepresent. I'm frustrated because I know that the way things SHOULD BE is NEVER the way things ARE! And so I brood sometimes. I sit back and think and wonder, "Why? Why does it have to be this way? Why can't we just understand that the things that happen, happen for a reason and that God is still in control? Why do we have to be so manipulative and controling?"

I really wish I had the answer, but I don't. If you are reading this, you are probably interested in my life, and my ministry or both. And I thank you. But I would like to ask you to pray for me right now. I'm in desperate need of an uplift from my God. Thank you very much, and God bless you!

Christmas week. It's finally here, and we all have things that we need to do. Personally, I think we spend way too much time (not to mention money) on Christmas. We celebrate it as if it's the best holiday ever. To be honest with you, it's not. If Christmas is the only season we celebrate, then it really means nothing. All we have is a little baby...God, to be sure, but still just a baby. We give gifts because Jesus was the greatest gift. But the fact of the matter is that the greatness of the gift of Jesus is not found in the manger, or the stable (or cave) or the shepherds or angels or wise men. It's found some 33 years later at a place that no one likes to be.

We have our Christmas eve services and people come and sing carols and worship God and all is calm and all is bright, but if we never go the five miles from Bethlehem to Golgotha, we kind of miss the point, don't we? Jesus came to this world to save us from our sins. He came to this world as a baby so that He could relate to us, know what we feel and how we go through things. He came as a baby so that He could grow up and tell us that it's all going to be alright now that He's here and now that He's given His life as a ransom for many.

I don't know much, but I know that God is good and that Jesus is His Son and that the Spirit lives in me. What else is there? If you are reading this and you don't know Jesus, then click here for a chance to learn what it really means to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. But whatever you do this Christmas, take some time to focus on the Cross. It's the one thing that Christmas was all about!

As many of you already know, our beloved friend and brother, Wayne Frahm went home to be with the Lord this morning at around 7 AM. He was suffering from ALS and had been hospice for almost 22 months. He passed peacefully in his sleep at Lifespan Hospice Residence here in Battle Creek.

Many of our people knew Wayne and would visit him on a regular basis. For those who did not know Wayne, allow me to give you a brief overview of this man. He was diagnosed with ALS about three years ago. Over the last 21 months, he was in Lifespan Hospice Home. When he was taken there, many of our people began regular visits with him. He never once complained about his situation. He never once complained about having to be confined to a wheelchair. He never once complained about his diminishing capacity to speak. He was joyful. He was vibrant. And he taught us all a thing or two about how to handle hardships in our lives.

We used to visit Wayne on Tuesday mornings. He was always smiling when we came. It was so much fun to see him laugh at our jokes, and he even got a stinger or two in when we least expected it. One time, I was telling about a ministry of a man who had come to visit our church, and Wayne corrected everything I said, because I had gotten it horribly wrong! It was he who constantly challenged me to challenge all of you to memorize Scripture, and even once very adamantly. He was a good man and a good friend to all who knew him.

I will miss my visits with Wayne, but I will have another visit with him...and I can't wait!

Hello all! I know it's been way too long for me to post. I guess I just get caught up in a bunch of other things and don't get around to keeping in touch. The "Tyranny of the Urgent" I guess.

Things at Faith have been going well. We've been involved in some major spiritual warfare these past couple of months. Not coincidentally, we've been studying through the armor of God. It's funny how when we focus our minds on Spiritual Warfare that we begin to sense more Spiritual Warfare. And it seems that when we make a commitment to engage the enemy and become the people that God wants us to be, Satan steps up his attacks as well.

But God is faithful, is He not? He always has our best interests at heart, and will always keep us in the palm of His hand.

So be encouraged, beloved! God is good...ALL THE TIME!

This was a tough week for me. The Lord really didn't give me the sermon until late Saturday, and so I wasn't sure what was going to come of it. But I think God moved in some pretty significant ways, and I'm glad He did.

Worship was, once again, and as it always is, very good! God was moving and He used Gary and Norma and the rest of the team to lead us into His presence.

David Martin sang a wonderful redition of the song, Turn Your Heart Toward Home that moved everyone. It was a very good fit for what we were taking about.

Our series on Family Matters, is going well. This week we laid our foundational baseline for the rest of our discussions in this series and we're excited about where God is going to take us.

If you missed this week's message, you can hear it on our website, here.

Just another great Sunday back here at FBC. We began a new series, the worship was great, and we had a record number of people in our first service.

Our new series is entitled FAMILY MATTERS. We are looking at what God has to say about the family, and trying to scream it above the noise of our cultre that is telling us what family really is. We know that God's Word is the final authority on families (and everything else for that matter), and so we are exploring what God has to say about men and women, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters. Through it all we hope to find the truth.

Gary and Norma were back at the helm of the worship, and I know many were blessed! We thank God for these two who so faithfully lead us to the trone of grace.

We closed with "How Great Is Our God" and that song never ceases to make me stand in awe at the glory of our Creator and Lord!

If you missed the service, you can pick up the sermon here, and make sure you come next week if you missed! God bless!
-Jim

Hey everyone! It's been a long time since we've talked...or rather, a long time since I've blogged. Here we are now, home from vacation, and glad to be so. We had a great time as a family, reconnecting and just having an all-around great time!

We were able to spend some time at Gull Lake Ministries for their family camp. It was great, and I would highly recommend anyone to go there if they can. The attention of the staff to our kids especially touched our hearts and we loved every minute of it.

Friday of that week, we were able to be a part of the wedding ceremony of Grant and Jamie Drallette. It was a great time and I believe God was honored.

But, as great as it is to be gone, Dorothy was right when she said, "There's no place like home!" We were very excited to get back and back at it. We've actually been home for about a week, but I haven't posted in all of that time, because, as you know, it takes a while to get back into the swing of things.

Thanks to all how prayed for us while we were away. We had a great time and want to thank each and every one of you!

What a great service we had this week! God did some amazing things this week, and I'll try and highlight just a few.

First of all, we saw a number of people who had been absent for quite some time return! It was wonderful to see them again and we made sure to let them know! It's always great to see those who haven't been there for awhile come back and be with us again.

Secondly, God did some amazing things in MY OWN life yesterday as I remembered that it's all about HIS will. I had a dream the night before that prompted me to change my message at the last minute, but almost did not because I wasn't sure of what I was saying. God won, however (as He always does), and I am very thankful that He did...because it turned out to be a much better service.

And finally, we had an awesome commissioning service in which we commissioned our VBS workers for the upcoming week of work that they will be doing. We love them very much and look forward to what God is going to do in and through us this week.

In our evening service, we had over 70 people come even though our AC was out! It was quite hot, but God's Word guided us and we all were excited for what God taught us. He's still the Master of the Wind and Waves, the Master even of the demons, and He is the Master of all that is.

Those of you reading this who will be with us next week, please be in prayer that God will use our congregation to reach out to those who come to us and need a touch from Him. Thanks and have a great week!

Hello everyone. It's been a long couple of days and weeks for me. We just got back from a Pastors/Wives Retreat up in Rosscommon, MI at Bambi Lake Conference Center that really stretched me. But as with most time off, you need a vaccation to recover from vaccation.

Sunday services this week were awesome! We had Gary and Nroma back from sickness and they did a tremendous job of leading us to the throne of grace. We talked about what it means to be a Kingdom Person and how we must be about forgiving those who have hurt us, ministering to them sacrificially and then being obedinet to God's call when He asks us to do these two things. It's not an easy proposition, but it's God's way and we need to follow Him alone!

If you happened to miss the service, you can listen online by clicking here. Enjoy!

As I sit here in my office preparing for this morning's services, I'm struck once again with how fierce this battle we call the Christian life (or experience or walk or whatever you wish to call it) can be. Yesterday I had the unique opportunity to meet with several other Christian brothers and sisters and in my conversations with them, I discovered that Satan is at work around here. He is striving to get our eyes off of Him and onto ourselves.

So if you're struggling with that same thing today, allow me to pray for you:

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the way that you lead and guide us every day. We thank You for Your peace that passes all understanding, even in the midst of the battle. We pray today, Lord, that You would be with us, guide us, and help us to put aside the issues of the day so that we may better serve You today, and receive from Your hand that which You have for us. More than anything else, Lord, we want to honor You today. So please be with us, guide us, and help us to see Your face...so that we may be truly changed. Amen!