Grace Baptist Church

On a recent cold and clear night, I happened to notice just how brilliant and beautiful the stars were. A comet streaked all the way across the sky and I just had to marvel at God’s amazing creation! Then I thought of the shepherds looking up into the night sky and how amazed they must have been when the night sky suddenly filled with angels proclaiming the birth of Christ! I also thought of how much the wisemen must have searched the sky each night to follow a special star for months, maybe even years to find Jesus so that they could honor and worship him. Why do I so often miss the beauty of the night’s sky? Read More

God knows that we are frail and that we are weak. So God holds us up, he protects us, and he provides for us. This doesn't mean that we won't suffer, but it does mean that all our greatest needs will be taken care of. We think that we know what will make us happy, but what we want is often not what we truly need or what will truly satisfy us.  Read More

This is a question that I think all kids at some point ask, and most parents dread to answer. Amidst fanciful tales of flying reindeer and abominable snow monsters (or elves that want to be dentists) I wanted to dig deeper to see if I could find any shreds of truth behind our culture’s favorite Christmas icon. Read More

We hear the term “Fake News” a lot these days, typically in regards to some news report that makes one political group look worse than another. Wikipedia describes “Fake news” as “propaganda that consists of deliberate disinformation,” often “used to cast doubt upon legitimate news from an opposing political standpoint, …” Though the term “Fake News” may just recently have come in vogue in American culture, “Fake News” is not a new phenomenon. Read More

In our living room hangs a picture of a log cabin in a snow-swept landscape against the backdrop of majestic mountains beside a gentle brook. It is one of my "happy places," the picture of serenity and nostalgic winter beauty, and I sometimes gaze at it in all of its contrasts to life in a smoggy Central Asian mega-city and think what a pleasant place it would be to spend an afternoon. Remote, self-sufficient kinds of settings have always held a certain "homey" attraction for me, reminders of the rural stomping-grounds of my childhood. This time of year in particular, a large part of our hearts yearns to be near the familiar, pleasant, and comforting; to be "home for Christmas," whatever home means for each of us. As we connect with gathered family over the internet, there is an ache experienced in us and them. Read More

I called home from work recently to see how my wife and our kids were doing. My wife’s reply was “I think I have the plague!” I guess I should not have been surprised, because the weekend before, after my son’s band concert, our family along with a bunch of relatives had met for a late night dinner a Denny’s restaurant. While the waitress was taking our order, our three year old daughter, without prior warning, turned to my wife, said her belly did not feel good, and then immediately proceeded to vomit all over my wife (profuse and seemingly unending)!  Read More

As I write this, I am looking around my undecorated home wondering when our family is going to find the time to get our Christmas tree and the rest of the holiday décor out. As December is now upon us, I am ashamed that I have waited so long. You see, I am one of those annoying people that loves the sights and sounds of the holidays. The 24-hour Christmas music station has been blasting since the day after Halloween.  It’s the most wonderful time of the year and I feel like Buddy the Elf most days. Read More

At the mention of Halloween, most people think of kids having fun dressing up and collecting as much candy as they can. It is a time to have some extra fun with hay rides and haunted houses. Dusk comes early and there is ample opportunity to enjoy being scared of what is imagined to be in the dark. Yet, is there more to Halloween than just fun, games, and wild imaginations? Is there really something lurking in the shadows that we can’t see? Read More

Seventeen years ago, on a picture perfect September morning, four planes took off into the beautiful blue morning sky never to return to an airport again. Nineteen men aboard these planes were set on a suicide mission to use these jets, full of passengers, as weapons of mass destruction against innocent civilians. Three planes hit their mark, one into each tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, NY, completely destroying the towers, and one into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. The fourth plane crashed into the Western Pennsylvania countryside. Almost 3000 people lost their lives that fateful day in September, in one of the most egregious acts of aggression our country has ever seen. It seemed as if we all suffered loss that infamous day, if not the loss of a friend or loved one, then the loss of naivety and a sense of security. Though terrorism was nothing new around the world, that day it became real to those of us who call the United States home. Shortly thereafter, a new phase arose in our nation’s vocabulary- “The War on Terror;” a war that has continued for seventeen years and still seems to have no end in sight.

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By Rob Wilson

Every Christmas Eve the whole Wilson Clan gathers at Grandma’s house for our Christmas celebration...This year, however, is going to be a little different, because for the first time, Grandma is not going to be there. You see on December 13^th the Lord suddenly took her home to be with him. She was 101 years old, but still in good health, still living at home, and still blessing & spoiling us in so many ways.  Read More