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PASTOR'S ARTICLES
FROM A RELIGIOUS POINT OF VIEW...
Pastor Earley is the Religion Columnist for the Oldham Era. His articles have been published each week since 2003. Here are some recent articles Pastor Earley has written:
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May 15, 2017Humility: The Balloon Stomp Game
I think one of the most highly valued character traits listed in the Bible is humility. The Bible is consistent in proclaiming if you are arrogant or prideful there are many bad consequences. If you are humble before the Lord you earn the highest praise from God, and our humility opens doors in our lives for God to use us. However, the Bible does not have a lot of information about what humility is. We think we know it when we see it. So, as you read the following story think about what it teaches about humility.
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May 5, 2017Celebration of the Power of Love
Agape love is when we choose love even though to do so will come at a great sacrifice. Jesus defined this love best on the night He would be arrested.
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May 1, 2017My Personal Journey with Fasting
Jesus never demanded that His followers should fast. In the Old Testament, the Jews were commanded to fast on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:27-32). Since all of Jesus' disciples were Jewish, it was more noteworthy that they didn't fast when He was with them (Matthew 9:14-17). I remember when I first started thinking about fasting that there were many parts of scripture about fasting, but few people actually did it. Since I have a bit of a competitive streak I started trying to learn to fast so I could have a better faith than anyone else around me.
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Apr 24, 2017I Really Don't Like Fasting
In Minnesota, during the summer of 1876, there was a swarm of grasshoppers destroying the crops. It was the fourth year in a row that the wheat, corn, oat, and barley fields were destroyed across the state. There was a fear that the grasshoppers would return, so Governor John S. Pillsbury proclaimed a day of prayer and fasting on April 26, 1877 (that was 140 years ago this week!), urging every man, woman, and child to petition God's protection. When the appointed day arrived, schools and businesses were closed as people prayed for Divine intervention.
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Apr 17, 2017Resurrection Disciples Do You Love Me?
After Jesus is raised from the dead there is this wonderful scene on the beach in Galilee, where Jesus deals with his friend. They have breakfast together after a record breaking catch, and Jesus is alone with Peter (John 21). Jesus asks Peter, 'Do you love me?' The great power of this question is more obvious when we read it in Greek. The word for love Jesus uses is 'agape,' which means unconditional love. So, Jesus is asking Peter, 'Do you love me unconditionally?'
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Apr 10, 2017Resurrection Disciples Are Not Afraid of Death
When Peter was on the mountain where Jesus was transfigured he had the most amazing mountain top experience. His mountain top faith must have seemed a distant memory when he denied Jesus the third time, heard the rooster crow, and remembered that is exactly what Jesus predicted would happen.
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Apr 2, 2017Resurrection Disciples - Liar's Dice
My family likes to play a game called 'Liar's Dice. Everyone starts with five dice, and rolls them without anyone knowing what everyone else rolled. Then the bidding begins. The object of the bidding is to convince others, lying if you must, that you have made a good bid. When someone calls, 'Liar,' then everyone shows their dice, and count only the bid number. If you lied you lose a dice. If you are right the person who called you a liar loses a dice. Last one with dice wins.
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A MESSAGE FROM PASTOR EARLEY
Welcome to my short biography about myself. Since I can hardly believe anyone would actually spend a few minutes of their precious time reading about me I will try to make this interesting. I was born and raised in Louisville, KY. My parents are really cool, and still live in Louisville where they continue to worship at Harvey Browne Presbyterian Church. I graduated from Waggener High School in 1977, and went on to study at Southwestern At Memphis (Now Rhodes College), Memphis, TN. I graduated from Southwestern in 1981 with a B.A. in religion.
After college I married the most beautiful woman I have ever met, my high school sweetheart, Martha Shelburne. Eighteen months later we had our first child, Lee, during our first year at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. While in seminary I preached at Laconia and Rehoboth Presbyterian Churches. The city boy met the country church, and what could have been a disaster was a great experience. They loved Martha, Lee, and me, and I loved them, and they taught me so much about the church. I finished seminary with a Masters of Divinity degree in 1985, which makes me a pretty old guy (but well preserved). With formal schooling behind me the fun began in earnest.
I love working in the church, and the first place God sent me after seminary was Orchard Park Presbyterian Church, Indianapolis, IN, where I was an associate miniser. Brian and Catie were born there. The congregation was an amazing suburban congregation with so many gifts and talents. Senior minister, Bill Fogg, was a patient mentor and friend. I learned so much in Indianapolis, made some life long friends, and had a great time over those 4 1/2 years.
Next God sent the Earleys to Gallipolis, OH (pronounced gallop like the horse, and police like the security). This 200 member church in southeastern Ohio was a wonderful place for me to apply all that I had learned over the years in my first solo pastor position. I fell in love with the congregation at First Presbyterian Church as well. We had a terrific eight years as the church added 100 members, we traveled all over the country and Mexico on mission trips, and made more life long friends. We could have stayed in Gallipolis for the rest of my ministry, but God had other plans.
God’s next, and hopefully last call, was to help build up the New Church Development in LaGrange, KY. This was something I believe God had been preparing me for since Orchard Park. The congregration had worked so hard for eight years to become established, and they had seen the miraculous power of God many times, as God delivered them from their struggles. However, the congregation was struggling to keep the doors open with about 35 members.
We decided to develop a purpose for our church so that we would have direction, and set out on that new direction. Our purpose statement is “To equip Christians to become disciples to help Jesus Christ bring in the HARVEST.” That is, through the teaching of seven main spiritual disciplines (worship, Bible study, prayer, tithing, fellowship, mission, and evangelism), we help Christians grow and mature in their faith. As they do this they will help Jesus bring in a great HARVEST in LaGrange and around the world.
In February, 2005 we dedicated the Ministry Center after 18 months of hard work. The church members really stepped up, building everything that the state didn't require a certified contractor to do. It was amazing to see the interior of the building take shape and form, and also to see God provide all the finances we needed in many miraculous ways. A year later, in March, 2006 we celebrated becoming an official congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA). After 16 years God had led us to the point to become an official congregation, but we had been a strong and growing spiritual family long before our charter. Each year we grow a little more in numbers, and a lot more in spiritual strength. God is shaping us for the present and the future to serve in amazing missions and ministries around the world and in our community.
If you are looking for a quiet church where you can come each Sunday for an hour, and then return to your routine, satisfied that you can check church attendance off your do to list for the week, then we are not the church for you. If you want to be in a dynamic church where the Bible is preached with energy and excitement dealing with today’s issues, a high commitment church that will encourage and challenge (and sometimes prod) you to grow in your faith, a church where people take their faith seriously and believe Jesus is at the center of their lives, and a church that expects to see God continue to do amazing miracles then we are the church for you.
The faith journey at LaGrange Presbyterian Church is intense, as we have witnessed God’s transforming power over and over in the lives of people. God is calling you to just such a church for the journey of your life. I invite you to give your life to Jesus Christ, and express your faith through the ministries of our church. I promise you will never be the same again.