“We lost our grocery store. We lost our bank. The only consistent business in town is the bar,” the pastor says. Sitting on the banks of the Ohio River, near the southern tip of Illinois, Brookport has seen brighter days. Drive through town and you’ll see evidence of the struggles. Like many small towns in […]
Discipleship requires firm foundation
When pastor’s wife and homeschooling mom Alyssa Caudill found herself teaching women’s Bible studies, she quickly felt the weight of the task. “I did not want to teach people ‘Alyssa Theology.’ I wanted to teach them the Bible.” This awareness led her down a path of sharpening her skills as a Bible teacher and disciple […]
Iowa planters partner with Illinois church to reach ISU campus
24,000. That’s the number of students on three college campuses in Bloomington-Normal who need to be reached for Jesus. Jonah Christiansen estimates that many students are not attending a local church. Christiansen is part of a team from Ankeny, Iowa that is planting Salt Church near the campus of Illinois State University (ISU) this fall. […]
Putting Covid’s communications lessons to work
Andy Stanley says in the church, the best communicator usually gets to be the leader. But that doesn’t mean the preacher is always the best communicator in other formats outside the pulpit, or that those of us who preach have nothing to learn about becoming more effective communicators. In fact, what our churches experienced during […]
Hope in the waiting
The details of the Christmas story can enthrall me, drawing my imagination into a cold night in Bethlehem. Mary and Joseph, road wearied and expecting, settled in a gritty stable. The sharp night air mixed with smells of straw and sheep. A million stars in the clear Middle Eastern sky. I love the idea of […]