Jesus – DAVE GIPSON

Dear victims,

BlogOctober 20, 2022113Views 0Likes 0Comments

Dear victims, You need to understand something about the pain you are feeling. Someone has hurt you, misused you, or abused you. You are right to feel wounded, and I'm sincerely grieved for what has happened to you. However, there is great danger in those wounds you're nursing right now. Sometimes the pity and sympathy…

Broken or Bitter

BlogSeptember 3, 202249Views 0Likes 2Comments

One day recently, I was in my office at church when a ministry friend stopped by at the door to chat. As we talked through the joys and pains of ministry, she reminisced about a particularly tough time in her husband's pastorate. After decades of faithful service to a congregation, some power brokers within their…

Divine mistakes

BlogJuly 30, 202281Views 0Likes 0Comments

We pray for our lives to go smoothly. We beg God to stay with our plan and keep to our schedule. But sometimes God wants our plans to fall apart so His plan can go into action. When I lead a worship service, I plan every detail out specifically. I respect people’s time, so I…

Stubborn love

BlogJuly 28, 2022101Views 0Likes 0Comments

My mom has always been a source of gentle humor in our family. Whenever she got amazed or exasperated by something, Mom would try to say, “Well …” — probably meaning to eventually say “well, I never.” Instead, all that came out was a “wuh” noise. Then she would say it repeatedly, in a sort…

The Presence of My Enemies

beliefJanuary 24, 2022110Views 0Likes 0Comments

"You ask me if we will know each other in heaven. My friend, we will not really know each other UNTIL heaven!" So as the joke goes, “A baptist pastor dies and goes to heaven…” But inevitably the day finally came that I did. Right now, I’m standing by a roadside. But I don’t…

Broken

BlogDecember 17, 2021157Views 0Likes 3Comments

I was sitting in a sanctuary of around 1500 people that Sunday morning. But I felt completely alone. We had just been through a whirlwind of death and then disappointment the previous year. Now we were in-between where we had been and where we were going. And we had no idea where that was. …

In-Between

UncategorizedSeptember 8, 202139Views 0Likes 0Comments

It’s hard when you’re in-between. In-between jobs, in-between relationships - in "limbo". You feel like you’re drifting purposelessly on an endless sea, going nowhere. You’re not where you were, and that’s great. You prayed God would get you out of that situation, and He did. That trial is over, thank God! But you’re also not…

If you want to be more like Jesus…

UncategorizedAugust 31, 201669Views 0Likes 0Comments

Do you want to be more like Him? Really? Well... If you want to be more like Jesus, you need to think of yourself less and others more. If you want to be more like Jesus, you need to be less worried about your reputation and more about spreading His reputation throughout the world.…

Devil’s in the Details

UncategorizedApril 13, 2016104Views 0Likes 3Comments

When I served as a jail chaplain years ago, I often received requests for specific books from inmates. Mostly they were books on overcoming discouragement or self-improvement books you’d imagine an inmate would need in their position. That’s why a request for scholarly level theological books caught my attention. I was even more…

My Favorite Super Hero

UncategorizedMay 8, 201548Views 0Likes 0Comments

I loved the show "24,'' and Jack Bauer was the quintessential American hero. A loner often misunderstood, he avoids relationships because loved ones have a way of getting hurt around him. He wins using his well-honed skills, and then walks back into the darkness until the world needs him again. As a manly fantasy,…

“You ask me how I know He lives…”

UncategorizedApril 2, 201561Views 0Likes 0Comments

Growing up in a southern Baptist church, every Easter there were two hymns you had to sing…or you probably weren’t really Baptist. One was “Low in the Grave He Lay”. Most people don’t remember it by that title, but by the bouncy chorus that interrupts the sad, mournful verse. After lamenting the crucified Jesus,…

A Covering of Snow

UncategorizedJanuary 27, 201579Views 0Likes 2Comments

The gales of wind howled through the trees outside the old cabin. Smoke rose from the chimney as the old man ate his humble soup safely inside. His weathered hands were still steady, having stacked the wood by the cabin walls that would surely last the winter’s full duration. It’s a good thing he had.…

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