It is an unavoidable fact of life. We will all, at various times and ways, be mistreated and misused by others. As a pastor, a good portion of my week is spent trying to help people navigate the hurt and heartache in their lives resulting from these realities. There is a shocking shortage of civility, compassion, and grace in our communities and our culture at large these days. Division and...
At what point can we push the proverbial panic button? Just when it seems we’re beginning to turn a corner and things seem like they are getting a little bit better, a brand new anxiety inducing issue emerges. Watching, listening to, or reading the news has become an extremely dangerous adventure. Good news seems exceedingly sparse these days. And, when we do find some good news, it is often...
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...
Our son, JJ, just recently turned 15 years old. Like many young people of his age, his mind is consumed with the very quickly approaching, and seemingly unavoidable, eventuality of operating a motor vehicle. Unlike many of his peers, however, JJ is not all that interested in the latest and greatest shiny new cars that are rolling onto local car lots. As a matter of fact, JJ is rather unconcerned...
The Elkhart County Fair was one of the highlights of my summer every year as I was growing up. Much like our Jackson County Fair, my hometown fair is exceptionally large and includes a substantial midway with a large number of rides. Again, much like Jackson County, there were various times and days when one could purchase a wristband to ride the rides ad nauseam (at the time it was only $5 a...
Many people, myself included, have taken to calling our shutdown in the spring “The Great Pause.” As we have moved through the summer, efforts have been made to reintroduce greater levels of activity into society at a variety of levels. There is no denying, however, that the world isn’t quite as busy as it was before the muddy mess of 2020. The constant state of wait-and-see has greatly limited...
Movies tend to be somewhat therapeutic for me. They provide my overactive, hyper-analytical mind with something outside of my everyday, real-life struggles to focus my attention and energy on. I often find myself looking for myself in the movie. I try to figure out who best represents the point of view I would hold were I to find myself in the same situations, with the same options, and with the...
2020 has been a banner year, and the hits just keep coming. I mean, there have seriously been overly dramatic movies that have contained more realistic and tempered plot-lines than what we have experienced thus far. Much like many of you, I am trying to keep it positive. I am doing my best to see the proverbial “silver lining.” I’m working hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but at...
One of my favorite movie series’ of all time is Pirates of the Caribbean. I watch the original trilogy at least once a year, all of which are currently available on the Disney+ app. The reasons I love these movies are legion, but not the least is the relevant themes that persist throughout the course of the story. At first blush, the movies appear to be about an absent-minded captain seeking...
Last week, I had to make my bi-yearly visit to the doctor’s office. I got my CDL (Commercial Driver’s License) several years ago so that I could drive our church bus when necessary, and in order to maintain it, the Department of Transportation requires that I have a physical done once every two years. I had time last Friday morning and the deadline for getting the paperwork in was fast...
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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