We have a lot of what I would call filler words and phrases in the English language. These are words and phrases we use for a variety of reasons in conversation. Often times, we use them because we really aren’t sure what we want to say so we fill the conversational space with these placeholders in order to buy ourselves time to figure out what we actually want to say. At other times, we use them...
Driving down any major highway in these United States of America, you will undoubtedly encounter more than a few billboards making you aware of crucial information for your current travels, or your life in general, and entreating you to respond in specific ways. There are moments when these billboards come in handy. For instance, when it is near a meal time and the family is devolving into...
I still clearly and distinctly remember the stress and anxiety associated with the first day of a new semester of school. Nothing inspires panic in a student’s heart quite like the first glimpse of the syllabus for the coming session of academic adventures. As one looks over the list of assignments, it is extremely difficult to differentiate one project from the next. Instead they all bleed...
December 26 is known as boxing day. For most of my life (until yesterday, actually), I believed this was a holiday created by all of the Scrooges, Grinches, and Cheer-Misers of the world to apply pressure to abruptly and immediately end the Christmas celebration the day after the holiday proper. It made perfect sense in my head. What could a day called Boxing Day be about, but dragging out all of...
Throughout the Christmas season, countless pastors will refer to Jesus’s journey from the cradle to the cross. I love it, myself. It has a great cadence, is easy to remember, and is alliterated (which is a pastoral win!). But, what I really love is that it makes the essential connection between the wonder of Christ’s birth and the somber purpose for which He was born. The baby in the manger, the...
My family and I are making our yearly trek through the plethora of classic Christmas movies. It would be an exceedingly difficult task for me to choose a single movie as my “favorite.” Each of them plays a part in helping me remember an important aspect or idea of the Christmas season and challenges or encourages me. One such movie is Disney’s animated adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas...
In 1984, Mark Lowry wrote the lyrics for the song “Mary Did You Know?” The music was composed by Buddy Greene in 1991. There is no way Mark could have known how popular and powerful that song would become. Almost forty years later, that song has been recorded by numerous artists of all styles and genres and will be played a countless number of times throughout the Christmas season. The song is a...
There’s something about the holiday season that makes us extra nostalgic. To clarify, when I say the holiday season, I am referring to the period of time beginning with Thanksgiving and ending with Christmas. There are many factors which I believe play a role in our propensity to look back at days gone by. Over the next several weeks we will be consistently reminded of precious moments from our...
Welcome to the proverbial calm before the storm! Or, perhaps it would be better said the squall before the tsunami… There are a great many amazing things about the holiday season. But there is also, without question, a great deal of stress and baggage it brings along with it. It occurred to me that Thanksgiving serves as a sort of “Last Supper” before the full flood of seasonal insanity ensues...
The Myers family is fond of venison. Unfortunately, the local grocery stores don’t tend to keep deer meat in stock. Therefore, if we are going to eat it, someone in the Myers family will be required to venture out into the great outdoors to harvest an animal. There was a period of my life, be it ever so brief, when I went hunting with a reasonable amount of regularity during hunting season. You...
Jeremy Myers is the Lead Pastor of First Baptist Church of Seymour, Indiana, where he has served since 2017. He has over 25 years of experience in local church ministry and not-for-profit leadership. He has a passion for helping emerging and existing generations learn to make space for each other and caring for the under-served and marginalized. In 2016, he earned his Doctor of Ministry degree from Palmer Theological Seminary, with his thesis focusing on developing connections between senior adults and youth in the church. He is a passionate and gifted communicator and is regularly invited to speak at retreats, camps, conferences, and other events. He lives in Seymour, Indiana with his wife Robyn, their two children, Mikayla and JJ, and their Golden Doodle, Evie.
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