Posts by Andy Bratton (Page 4)
How Great is Our God?
Monday we started on the roofing project for Manistee Church of Christ. I was told by the recon team (Jeff Badgero) that we were going to have to strip the old shingles off. The job then became bigger in my head. He suggested we have a plan to start stripping shingles so that we could re-shingle on Saturday. The project became overwhelming in my head. I had quite a few people tell me they couldn’t get on the roof due How COVID has affected us
The Kids of Summer
Monday night before the Root Beer Bar Bible study at church (which was awesome by the way), I ventured over to the baseball fields to take in a little tee ball. I thought maybe I could do some scouting for the Tigers and discover the next Miggy. While there I walked up to the third base side fence and watched with some friends an inning or so. I don’t know if there is anything much cuter than a 4-5 year How COVID has affected us
Do vs. Done or Done now Do?
A church I once belonged to was doing some training on how to evangelize. And the material we were using used an illustration in trying to explain religion vs. Christianity. The book described religion as something people do. Most people think of religion as something you are supposed to be a part of and do in order to obtain salvation. They referred to it as a works based faith. Meaning, that you can’t get to Heaven without working to get How COVID has affected us
Reflections of a soon-to-be empty nester
My youngest son’s graduation from college is about two weeks away. Looking forward to that has given me time to reflect on raising our sons as one is in the workforce and the other is about to enter the workforce. I was reading a book recently a guy wrote about his 50 years in ministry. In the book, he identifies ten things he would have done differently and ten things he would have done the same. Given we are in How COVID has affected us
Baseball For Believers
Last fall I was able to attend a conference in southern Indiana for preachers. There were only nine of us. I have shared bits of the story on stage and probably in an Enews article in previous months. As part of the trip, they usually take the group to the Louisville Slugger Museum in downtown Louisville, KY. However, because of riots and protests taking place at the time, the museum was not open for visitors. Hearing from other guys that How COVID has affected us
Light It Up
Driving into my neighborhood recently I noticed that some of my neighbors still have their Christmas lights up and some of them still turn them on at night even though we are now into March. I chalk it up to the fact that there is snow on the ground and getting to the decorations is probably challenging. It doesn’t bother me. It’s just an observation. I bring it up because of a story I read online. It’s a story of How COVID has affected us
Tough Messages
Difficult messages are difficult to deliver. Whether you have to call someone to give them news you are sure will disappoint them or you have to call someone to tell them you were hurt by words they said or if you have to meet with someone to tell them they were just outright wrong in the information they shared. Difficult messages are difficult to deliver. From a minister’s standpoint, difficult messages become difficult to deliver when you think some may How COVID has affected us
Dream Big
If there was one thing I could erase about our nation’s history it would be the slave years. It is hard to believe that once upon a time there were people in our world that looked at another person’s skin and considered that person to be something other than human. Once the Emancipation Proclamation was passed, you would have thought that things would change. Not overnight, but you thought gradually race relations would improve. However, definitely into the ’60s and How COVID has affected us
What really Matters?
Well, what goals do you have for 2021? If you were going to narrow down your list to three things you wanted to do differently or to be different once 2021 was over, how would your list read? Weight loss, more books read, finish a degree, stronger marriage, more time with family, a vacation? Not to cast judgment or to make anyone feel guilty, but do you think Paul had New Year’s resolutions? On the Morning Dive, we have been How COVID has affected us
Unspeakable Joy
So what are the things that overshadow the true meaning of Christmas for you? As a kid, I am sure the gifts under the tree started to overshadow Jesus at times. The rush of getting things purchased and wrapped and making Christmas plans and writing Christmas letters, all at times seem to overshadow the joy and excitement we should have for the Christ child being born into this world. Herod allowed power to overshadow the birth of Jesus by making How COVID has affected us