It’s been several months since I’ve posted anything to Between The Ditches, and I apologize. The months of October through January are what I’ve termed “the marathon” at my church. The marathon begins with our annual presentation of “Judgement House” at the end of October; which takes the whole month to prep for. Then we spend the first couple weeks of November doing follow-up on all those who made salvation and recommitment decisions at our Judgement House presentations. I’m so proud that we had 39 salvation decisions this year (!), as well as a number of other decisions recorded by our counselors! But we’re reminded every year that many more seeds are planted in people’s hearts than we can count. A young lady by the name of Kaylan came to our Judgement House presentation about ten years ago. She did not raise her hand to indicate that she’d made a decision for Christ, but later on she told her youth minister that she had come to know Jesus as Savior and Lord at Judgement House. Nobody suspected that just a few weeks after that fateful decision, Katelyn would be tragically killed in a car wreck. Her youth minister told me her story the following October when the group came to our presentation again. This ministry takes a lot of work by a lot of people, but I’m always encouraged by change we see the Gospel make in the lives of so many in our community.

After Judgement House season, we’re full-on into the holidays. First comes Thanksgiving, then all the musical Christmas celebrations that come with our Advent preparations. Our Pre-school Choir, our Children’s Choir, and our Sanctuary Choir all host programs during these weeks. And all our Sunday School classes and ministry groups host Christmas parties and special gatherings. And when our Advent expectations are complete, we always crown the season with our Christmas Eve Lord’s Supper Service. It’s an informal, but very special time where we solemnly gather together and worship on that night of nights. It’s certainly one of my favorite worship experiences of the year.

The New Year begins with our annual Winter Bible Study. We spend two hours together every Sunday night in January studying a particular book, or teaching, or aspect of the Scriptures. It is the culmination of many weeks of study. This year, we’re walking through The Sermon On The Mount and being challenged to have a lifestyle of authentic faith, and not just a faith that looks good on the surface. I hope to post some of my notes here to the blog in February.

In addition to all this, our son Duncan had some very extensive oral surgery on his upper and lower jaws at the end of December. It generally takes 4-6 weeks of healing after this kind of operation. Because of the prayers of many, his doctor says his healing has been remarkable. Hopefully he’ll be back to eating solid foods in the next couple of weeks. Thank you all for your prayers for his healing!

Needless to say, it’s been a marathon for sure. But things are beginning to settle down a little and I hope to be able to post more devotions, Bible study thoughts, and stories here Between The Ditches. God bless you in 2024!