News/Blog

By Manny Keyser   Emotional responses can be a tricky thing to navigate. They can be triggered by real events that affect our lives and the people we love. Sometimes, they responses can be conjured up irrationally.  Humanity is unique in that our natural emotional state can be contrived by things that are unnatural and illogical. We can become...

By Emily Yi   We are more than a couple weeks into social distancing and only visiting businesses for essential matters. I’m in private practice for mental health counseling and, like most other therapists in Jacksonville, have moved all of my clients to telehealth. There are almost always visits from children or pets and occasional technology...

By Elijah Simmons   In these challenging times it is easy to lament the things we cannot do: gather together in person, participate in on-campus small groups, or lay hands on a member to pray for them.  We just experienced an Easter Sunday unlike any in the history of the church, a virtual one.  Many of us are expending a great deal of energy...

By Chris Bonts   Ed Stetzer shared a humorous line on Twitter last week: “Based on my vast and excellent research, either: (a) more than all America attended church this weekend or (b) many pastors are loving that Facebook “People Reached” number and confusing it with those actually watching the service. :-)” I have made the same...

By Chris Corum   Thirty days – thirty days is all it took to undo everything I thought I had learned in almost thirty years of church administration and finance experience.  In the space of 7 days we went from having services and encouraging our people not to shake hands or hug to a fully virtual platform. Eight years ago – I faced a cancer...

By David Tarkington   You have likely heard it. You may even have said it during these days of the pandemic “I can’t wait until things get back to normal.” This is just my opinion, but I don’t think whatever “normal” was for us prior to the coronavirus outbreak is the “normal” we will experience...

By Tim Maynard   On December 26, 2004 a 9.1 magnitude underwater earthquake created a tsunami that swept away almost 228,000 lives in Indonesia. Even those not directly affected by the impact of the flood waters have been impacted by the memory of the impact. Events like the Indonesian tsunami change the way we look at the world. Many nations...