Faith when the miracle doesn’t come the way you expected. I absolutely love a good testimony. You know those kinds… “I didn’t know how I was going to pay the bill…and then a check showed up!” kind. Those are faith building, exciting testimonies of how great our God is. We tell them to everyone we come across. We celebrate them. We even sometimes shout a little when we hear them. But there’s another kind of testimony we don't talk about nearly as much if at all and it

Expectation vs. Reality from a Small Church Pastor When God called me into ministry, I had a picture in my mind. I imagined spending my days in deep theological conversations over coffee. I pictured people eagerly asking profound questions, or having conversations like "Let's discuss the sovereignty of God versus free will." I envisioned preaching sermons that would shake heaven and earth. Leading revival services. Watching lives transformed every single week. I thought I

There are days in life that become bookmarks. You know the ones. You can remember exactly where you were, what you were doing, and how life was forever divided into "before" and "after." For me, that day was in April of 2017. I wasn't climbing Mount Everest. I wasn't on some great adventure. I was simply doing my job, delivering car batteries. Funny how ordinary days have a habit of becoming extraordinary without asking our permission. The weather changed. The roads became sl

There are very few things in life that create instant panic. Running out of gas on a lonely road. Realizing you've left your phone at home. Walking into a room and forgetting why you went there. But somewhere near the top of the list is discovering—just a little too late—that the toilet paper roll is empty. Now let's be honest. Every one of us checks to make sure there's toilet paper. Almost none of us are excited about replacing the roll. Somewhere between using the last squ

I don't know who first decided it was a good idea to eat something that looked like a rock with a bad attitude, but somewhere along the way, someone opened an oyster and found a pearl. Talk about an unexpected blessing. Here's something fascinating: a pearl doesn't begin as something beautiful. It begins as something irritating. A tiny grain of sand, a parasite, or some other foreign object finds its way inside the oyster. The oyster can't remove it. It can't ignore it. It ca

I had one of those moments the other day in a grocery store parking lot. You know the drill. You've finished shopping, loaded the groceries into the car, and now you're standing there with an empty shopping cart. The cart return is only a few rows away. It's hot outside. You're tired. Part of you thinks, "Someone gets paid to collect these anyway." But another part of you says, "Nah, I'll take it back." So you do. As I pushed that cart into its little corral, a strange though

Poor Thomas. Imagine having one bad week recorded in history and becoming known for it forever. Peter denied Jesus three times, yet we call him "the Rock." David committed adultery and murder, yet we remember him as "a man after God's own heart." Jonah ran from God, but we don't introduce him as "Running Jonah." But Thomas? Two thousand years later he's still "Doubting Thomas." Maybe that's not entirely fair. When we read the account in John 20, something interesting stands o

How God Grows What You Can’t Yet See You ever notice how the most astonishing things usually start out invisible? A seed sits in the dirt, and for a long, stubborn while it looks like… nothing. A few grains of hope and a lot of soil. Then one morning—surprise—the little green tip pokes through like someone finally figured out the Wi‑Fi password. Call it faith, call it patience, call it the universe doing plumbing work behind the scenes: the idea is the same. There’s oft

I’m convinced that if church potlucks disappear, a major section of Christian fellowship will have to be rewritten. There is just something sacred about a room full of folding tables, mismatched serving spoons, and enough casseroles to feed a small nation. If you've ever been to a church potluck, you know there are a few universal truths. First, everyone brings something different. There's always the lady who makes the famous potato salad that could probably solve internation

There are moments in my walk with God that don’t sound very spiritual. I know that this may come as a shock to you, me being a pastor and all. But there is just times that there is: No eloquent words. No powerful declarations. No perfectly structured prayers that could be written in a journal or shared from a pulpit. Just silence… and a sigh. You know the kind of moment I’m talking about. The kind where life has drained you. Where disappointment has piled up. Where yo

(And No One Talks About It) For most people, Sunday is the best day of the week. It’s a day of rest. A day to worship. A day to gather with family, sit in church, and be encouraged. You wake up, grab some coffee, maybe even make it to church on time (or at least before the second song—we see you 😄). But for a pastor…Sunday can be the hardest day of the week. And we don’t really talk about that. Sunday doesn’t start on Sunday. It starts earlier in the week when I am s

I don’t know who needs to hear this today, but… being constantly exhausted is not a spiritual gift. Somewhere along the line, we started wearing burnout like a badge of honor. “How are you doing?” “Oh man, just busy… tired… haven’t slept in three days… running on fumes… but blessed!” We say it like that last word cancels out everything before it. But let’s be honest—half the time we’re not “blessed and busy”… we’re just overcommitted and under-rested. Meanwhile, Jes

By: Pastor Doug Trudell Jr I think one of the funniest things about us as humans is how much we love control. We don’t just enjoy it—we cling to it like a toddler holding a cookie they definitely weren’t supposed to have. We make plans like we’re the CEO of the universe. “Alright God, here’s what I’m thinking for today…” (as if He’s sitting there with a clipboard like, “Wow, great input. Didn’t see that coming.”) We plan our days, our weeks, our five-year goals.We map

I don’t know who needs to hear this today… but just because your life doesn’t look like everyone else’s highlight reel doesn’t mean you’re behind. It just means you’re not on their timeline. And honestly? That might be a really good thing. There’s something about scrolling through life—whether it’s social media or just conversations—that can make you feel like you missed a meeting nobody told you about. People buying houses. Starting businesses. Announcing big opportuni

This morning I sat down to write a powerful, life – changing sermon. You know the kind – the one where heavens opens, angels harmonize, and someone in the back row finally stops checking their Facebook feed. I had my bible. I had my notebook. I even had a fresh cup of coffee… which, let’s be honest, is about 70% of my spiritual preparation. I opened my notes and wrote the title: “Walking in Faith.” Strong start. Very Pastoral. Then I took a sip of coffee and then everyt

Have you every prayed one of those bold faith filled prayers… and then… five minutes later you are stress – eating snacks, refreshing your bank app, and mentally planning 14 back up plans just in case God needs your help? Yep, Me To! We love the idea of Jesus taking the wheel until He actually starts driving somewhere we hadn’t planned on going. It’s not that we didn’t truly mean it at the time. We are in church, hands lifted, worship playing, feeling the Holy Spirit, and

You know that moment when someone asks, "How are you doing?" and you automatically respond, "I'm fine!" even though your car just broke down, your bank account is crying, and you're pretty sure you left the oven on at home? We've all been there. We've mastered the art of the automatic "fine" response. It's like a reflex—someone asks how we're doing, and before our brain even processes the question, our mouth says, "Fine, thanks!" But here's the thing: there's a massive diffe

What is happening out there? What is happening? The world around us seems to be changing at lightning speed—confusion, shifting morals, and uncertainty are everywhere. If you sometimes feel uneasy as you watch these changes unfold, know that you’re not alone. Take a moment, pause, breathe deeply, and look around. Despite the chaos, none of it has surprised God. He hasn’t been caught off guard or toppled from His throne. He remains sovereign, steady, and in control. In fact, t

I spent months planning this event. Flyers, phone calls, and a budget that many still do not fully know how much it cost me. I showed up early, worked my tale off. Prayed and hoped for a massive turn out. I waited. And waited. And only a handful of people came out. That's a lot of empty chairs — and trust me, when the room is that quiet, you notice every single one of them. Maybe your empty chairs looked different. Maybe it was a business idea nobody believed in, a project

"Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, 'Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, "The Lord has need of them," and immediately he will send them.' All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: 'Tell the daug