IBSA News

Illinois Baptist State Newspaper

Columns

SBC 2020: Put a lid on it

By

Remember The Year Without a Santa Claus? Santa woke up with a cold in the 1974 animated special, so he took his doctor’s advice to go on a December vacation. By the end of the show, however, Santa was back on the job in the nick of time, because no one could imagine a year […]

Pivoting

By

Recently I was talking with my wife, Beth, about a situation at work where we were heading in one direction, faced some major obstacles, and had to pivot to a new direction. Then we faced additional obstacles and had to pivot again. As I shared my frustration, I noticed Beth grinning, and asked why. “That […]

From managing a crisis, to charting a new course

By

I read that to say “nobody likes change” isn’t accurate. What nobody likes is change that someone else forces upon them. Most people like change that they get to choose for themselves. People like to change their furniture, change their hairstyle, or “change” out an old car for a new model. It’s the lack of […]

Sheltering place: Use closer quarters to renew family devotions

By

I once saw a cartoon that depicted a middle-aged man and an older woman sitting in a kitchen looking bored. Each had a cupcake in front of them, and the caption simply read, “Billy’s 25th homeschool reunion.” During this season of Coronavirus pandemic, many of us are spending much more time at home with our […]

Thinking about death—and life—and ministry in the middle

By

I find myself thinking about Jack Anders* right now. Jack was relatively a young man when he accepted the pastorate of a large established church in a popular oceanside community in Florida. The church was approaching 100 years old and so were many of its members. Jack lived not far from where I did. We […]