Category: OVCF News

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #164

Hello and welcome to Midweek Message #164. After a week’s hiatus due to the holiday and other stuff (how’s that for an educational word?) I’m back. I know you missed me. If not, please don’t tell me. ☺

Our Military Person of the week to pray for is Robert Herrington. Robert is a 2nd LT and just graduated the infantry officer basic leadership course. His desire is to complete both ranger and airborne school before moving to Ft. Johnson, Louisiana in December, where he will be part of 1st battalion 509th infantry regiment Geronimo.

As most of you are aware, Pastor Ryan & Hope, and their children, Anna, Caleb and Rachel leave for a 7 week sabbatical this week. He will be incommunicado during this time. If you have any questions please direct them to Diana or me. I could say just Diana since she know a whole lot more than me about what is going on. ☺ We will try to answer any questions you may have. With that in mind, Pastor Ryan asked if I would include the following in my MM and I told him, “Sure.” So here is a “send-off note” from Ryan:

As you read this, it’s very likely that we are somewhere in the flatlands of Iowa, Nebraska or South Dakota making our way west in our grand “the Easts go West” road trip. Our anticipation at this stage is set on the sites of grandeur that await in the beautiful western national parks. I’m looking forward to Friday’s sunrise peeking over the pinnacles at the Badlands in SD.

Recently, one of our students, who is a football player, commented on how summer conditioning is going. It’s hard, hot work meant to yield mental toughness and physical strength and endurance. Its benefits compound, meaning the more regularly you do it – the greater the payoff over time. Conditioning done once yields little results, but conditioning done over time leads to great endurance and much gain.

Back to that SD sunrise… watching God doing something beautiful and AWEsome, majestic and wondrous – doing that once is great, but over time, done daily will yield a compounding kind of AWE and praise of God. It is to the soul of a Christ-follower what summer conditioning is to a football player. We are praying that God would condition our hearts to be AWED by Him and to love Him and praise Him and give thanks to Him – over and over as we repeatedly take in the majesty of what He’s created.

This leads me to a last thought. It is easy to praise God in such circumstances, natural even. But what about in the less-beautiful parts of life, in the daily grind, in the normal stuff, in the busy calendar, in the pile of dirty dishes and laundry to be done, when the uncut grass reminds you there’s still normal work to be done, responsibilities to be attended to? What about an attitude of praise and thanksgiving when the bills pile up, when others let you down, when prayers seem to go unanswered, even feel unheard. In those times, praise doesn’t come easy and thanksgiving feels unnatural. In all these circumstances, lean hard on the TRUTH: Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again rejoice. Does your heart need the kind of conditioning that only rejoicing can bring?  I want to practice this truth daily, regardless of circumstances. Will you join me in that practice? May God reveal his love and favor to you as the eyes of your heart search for him through praise and thanksgiving! May his abundant grace be yours!

We love you. We are grateful for this season. And we are praying for you! Thank you for your prayers, love and support. -Ryan

My guess is that it will seem a little different around here. In our Monday staff meetings, Ryan is the one who normally brings the Dry Bar Comedy video to make us laugh, or the scene from The Chosen to make us think, or the video to make us shed a tear. It will seem strange not seeing him on the drums. It will seem odd not hearing a foreign accent (British, Scottish, Australian, Russian, etc) not coming at random times. We were talking this past Saturday, when he stopped in at the office, about making memories. I can still remember the anniversaries spent at camp when I was a dean in Ohio, or Tami’s face when she found out she had been tricked and that we were going through Dyersville, Iowa to stop off at the Field of Dreams in 1993. (I can also remember Janna’s face and demeanor when she found out we were in Illinois and almost home on that same vacation. ☺ She is a homebody). And I can also still remember Janna’s hesitation and ultimate joy when she shared that she really wanted to go back to Lincoln Christian University for her Sophomore year and I said, “We will make it happen.” Memories are the building blocks of family life that last forever. Pray for Pastor Ryan and Hope and their children to make lasting memories…even when the “fun” of being in a van for what seems like forever becomes a chore. I told him I would pray they would all survive and still like each other at the end of their trip. ☺

As I stated this past Sunday, I have returned to the series on Revelation after the two month hiatus on Anxiety, Worry, Fear, and Depression. My sermon this week will be Here Comes Trouble from Revelation 6:9-17. My plan is to be in Revelation until the end of August and then do a series on The God We Worship.  I’ll give more details as I firm them in the future.

We have one camper this week: Trevor Floyd will be going to Hilltop for the first ever Paintball Camp. Yeah…I probably won’t make that visit. Trevor might decide to “welcome” me. ☺  Next week we have two campers: Julian Carson and Cooper Wood for the Junior II week.

Jacob and Mia McCall will be with us at both services on July 23rd to tell us about their work in the Dominican Republic. I will still be preaching that morning as well.

One more thing: Move-Up Sunday is the 30th. I will share more in upcoming MMs.

Have a great rest of the week. I hope you are enjoying your summer. I miss seeing some of you on Sundays but I hope you are watching our live stream. This past Sunday Christine Chambers texted to say that she had to work at the restaurant but, when it was time for church to start, Eliza (age 10) asked her to sign in so she could watch. That is so cool! One more thing: never forget you are loved.

Pastor Bill

MIDWEEK MESSAGE 163

Hello and welcome to Midweek Message #163. We have hit the longest-day-of-the-summer point (June 21) and if the previous month has been a harbinger of things to come, we are in for a doozy the next two months. But I’m not complaining. I enjoy the heat much more than I do the snow. Did I just say that nasty word? Forgive me and I hope you will still keep reading.

Remember to pray for Le’Von and Ashley Griffin. Ashley is Dawn Murphy’s daughter. She is an inspector for the University of Texas and Le’Von is a police officer for the city of Austin, TX. They have 4 children: Quinlan, Sterling, Jacyn, and Ilam.

This past Saturday was the Serving Owen County Together event. One word describes the day: H-O-T! But it was also very fulfilling.  Aaron LaGrange, the organizer of the event, sent out an email Saturday evening. All told there were 112 volunteers. We served 1054 people- 577 adults and 477 children. That is not including the food given to the Lions Club for their free lunch program; Backpack Buddies, which serves our S-OCS students with food to take home on the weekends; and the Spencer Food Bank (Mark Mission). I know others received the same comments Jo and I received of how grateful they were and thankful for the food and clothing they received. (Everything was provided free of charge). I truly feel we offered some hope and help to people who needed it.

“A pox upon me for a clumsy lout.”  Those words by George Bailey in It’s A Wonderful Life to Mary were strange to my ears. Still are. I think he meant “I really messed up.” Well, I have to say that as well if that is the meaning. When I was mentioning in last week’s MM the young people who were campers last week and this week, I left out some names. (Insert forehead slap here). Anyway, I failed to mention that Sophia Kropack was a camper at Day Camp II on the 22nd, and then Sophia and her friend, Loran Lewis, and Amelia Borders were campers on the 23rd at Wilderness Day Camp II.  I also failed to mention that Alli Anderson is a camper this week at the Sr High Wilderness Camp.  Abby and Anna Bales are also campers.  You know what is even more sad (or possibly scarier) is that I had their names written down with check marks (I wrote them a note) right in front of me! ☺

So…here are the campers at Hilltop this week: (Dorm side-Jr. Girls) Charli Wood and Bella Madorin.  (Wilderness) Mackenzie Adams, Alli Anderson, Abby and Anna Bales, Anna East, Caleb East, Meilynn Hess, Nolan Miller, and Hannah Pendleton.  Faculty: Pastor Ryan & Hope East (Deans), Macy Carlson, Brandon Chandler, Anna Katz, Westin & Cassie Linville, Linda St John, and Mollie Wainscott.

Your campers to pray for next week (HS week at the dorm side): Kathryn Anderson, Maddie Miller, Noah Pendleton, Evie Willen, and Keely Wills.

I missed all the action Sunday afternoon! Not that I’m complaining after getting back into town. I was visiting someone in Hendricks County Hospital (Danville) when on my way home I started getting phone calls and texts from Jo and also having my music interrupted by a voice telling me a thunderstorm warning or tornado warning was so many miles from my current location. As I drove home the sky looked really ominous. I had maybe 5 minutes of rain the whole trip. I kept looking at the sky and looking for places to possibly pull over if necessary but I didn’t have to. However, I saw some of the damage hail can cause when I got back into town.  I hope you were and are safe from this latest round of “weather events.” It sure has been a weird weather season hasn’t it?

This coming Sunday is my last in the series of Faith Over Fear.  Confession time: this has been an interesting series to study for and to preach. I have never done one like this before so, in total transparency, it was sort of daunting to start with. I realize I am not an expert and did feel somewhat inadequate, but just hope and pray it gave some help and some perspective to some folks. Sunday, July 9th, I will be back in Revelation, starting at chapter 6 with “Here Come the Horses!” I’ll fill you in more as it gets closer but at this point I do plan to go to the end of August with this series. That will by no means be the end of it, but I may take another break to focus on something else. I’m praying about that right now. Like I said, I will keep you updated.

This Sunday is considered to be a part of the Fourth of July celebration. While I won’t be preaching on politics (never), I do want to encourage you to celebrate the birth of our nation and the sacrifices that were made when those early colonists and their ragtag army took on the British army and secured our freedom. The price many of those early signers of the Declaration of Independence paid can never be minimized.  I could list what kind of sacrifices the signers of the DoI made, but here is a complete listing for you: https://www.nhccs.org/Destiny.html  It is worth your while to check it out.

With that being said, it leads me to this next thought: With July 4th being on Tuesday and the office closed, there will not be a MM next week.  I know you will miss me but try not to cry too much. ☺ Since there will not be a MM, please add Logan Cain to your prayer list. Logan will be our military person to pray for next week. Logan is a Lance Corporal in the USMC, working as a military police officer at Quantico, VA.

Remember to celebrate our nation’s freedom next week, but always keep in mind the greatest freedom of all was purchased on a cross over 2000 years ago by the perfect Son of God.  I love you all, but He loves you more and deeper. Have a great rest of the week.

Pastor Bill

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #162

Hello and welcome to Midweek Message #162! After surviving last week’s introduction of the MM (world famous, much-read and ever popular MM) I didn’t think I ought to try for another grand entrance. J  So, I’ll simply say, thanks for taking the time to read this edition of MM.

Please remember to pray for Nikk Wood as our Law Enforcement Officer of the week. Nikk serves with the Bloomington Police Department as well the Indiana National Guard so he gets double duty from time to time. He is father to Charli, Cooper, and Tanner.

By the time you get this, the Ice Breaker camp at Hilltop will be over. It started on Sunday and was over on Tuesday. It is the camper’s first foray into overnight camping. Campers this week were Cohen Frye, Oakley Groomer, and Tanner Wood. It is never too late to pray for their time at camp to have a lasting effect on them. Reports from last week’s Jr. High Wilderness Week were very positive. I believe that is not only due to the planning and work of the faculty, and the campers’ cooperation, but also the prayers made on their behalf.  Let me encourage you to never stop praying for a camper even though the week is finished.  The Bible is very clear about planting seeds and the harvest that comes as a result.

Jo and I are grateful to all of you who sent us cards celebrating our 50^th anniversary. We are very thankful for the thoughts expressed in each card and felt very loved, appreciated and celebrated. I understand there were some partners in crime I need to thank, primarily our daughter, Tami, and Diana, who sent out an email making doubly sure our names were deleted from the list. J We were able to take a few days and make a trip to Ohio to watch Mike, Janna’s significant other, play softball; then watch Braden play 3 ballgames. It was a wood-bat tournament. If you know anything about baseball these days, they normally use aluminum bats. This was “old school” in that they went back to wooden bats (the kind I used when I played oh-so-many-years-ago). His team lost by 1; came back to win the next game by 3 or 4; then lost by 1.  The good thing for us is that no game was cancelled because of rain. Last year, every game but one was rained out, and then it was so cold it froze my face off. We enjoyed our time with our family, but it is always good to get back home and sleep in your own bed.

Father’s Day 2023 is history. We had a good day with nine different men sharing their thoughts on the man in the Bible whom they most look up to. A big thank you goes to Wayne Akerson, Andy Wood, Scott Herrington, Terrie MacMorran, Joe Pavich, Jeff Carlson, Westin Linville, Ryan White, and Steve Pendleton. Tony Roberts was unable to take part due to a knee injury.

Father’s Day was also the official end to New Beginning Pregnancy Resource Center’s Change for Life fundraiser. If you were unable to bring your change-filled baby bottle to the church building, you may turn it in at OVCF or take it directly to the NB building on Main Street in Spencer.

I thought I would practice the old adage “The early bird catches the worm.” Due to the MM coming out midweek, camp is already underway, so I thought I’d be proactive and give you a heads up about the upcoming Sr. High Wilderness Week at Hilltop. There are…get this…40 campers! Add the faculty to that and it promises to be a whopper of a week!! Faculty is Pastor Ryan and Hope, Westin and Cassie Linville, Anna Katz, Brandon Chandler, Linda St. John, and Mollie Wainscott. Campers and friends of students from OVCF include McKenzie Adams, Anna and Caleb East, Meilynn Hess, Nolan Miller, and Hannah Pendleton.  To add to your prayers, there is also Jr High Girl’s Week on the dormitory camp side with Charli Wood and Bella Madorin taking part.  That is a lot of campers to pray for!!

This Saturday is Serving Owen County Together at the OVMS/OVHS parking lot. I’ve been sharing you with the past month or so the details, so at the risk of being overly repetitive, let me just say we can use your help. The event goes from 7:00-4:00. I’ve said this all along: it is a great way to serve our community.

I just finished reading The Church in Babylon by Erwin Lutzer. He tells the following story:

Bishop Samuel, who died in a hail of gunfire when Anwar Sadat was assassinated in Egypt in the early 1980s, told a friend of mine how Christianity conquered North Africa. Christians were marginalized, and, at best, were given the hardest jobs, such as working in the fields or collecting garbage. When the plagues came, dead bodies were stacked up and burned. Whenever possible, the Christians washed the bodies and buried them, arguing that in light of the resurrection, even the wicked have a right to a decent burial.

They didn’t have abortion like we do, but unwanted babies were left out on the streets or in alleys to starve, unless someone wanted them. The church organized “baby runs” to find these abandoned babies. Of course, there were no baby bottles in those days, so the babies were brought to nursing mothers to nurse them as if they were their own.

And the pagans asked, “Where is all that love coming from?”  (Pp.262-263)

He goes on to make this point: “It’s true the world can outnumber us, out-entertain us, and out-finance us, but let it never be said they can out-love us, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who was given unto us.” (p.263)

“They will know we are Christians by our love” the old chorus says. And may you always know you are loved.

Pastor Bill