Walking The Walk

Pastor Todd and Valerie wishing you a happy and faith-filled New Year! I knew 2024 was going to be a year of change.  But I sure didn't expect that big a change!  Pretty much 2024 turned my life into a snow globe after a good shake.  I was ordained.  I retired from my professional career this year (just a couple months ago).  I was called as a full-time pastor--that started November 1st right before the busy holiday season at the church kicked off. So now the dust is settling and I'm finally catching my breath, and here I am like so many others planning the next year.  And I have all those questions pastors have.  Where is God leading me?  What should my focus be?  What would I like to see completed this year?  And how am I going to get there?   And I don't know the answers to some of these questions.  But God does.  So I'm going to be paying a lot of attention to where God is leading me as I have been.  He'...

" Lord , I know that people’s lives are not their own it is not for them to direct their steps." ~Jeremiah 10:23 I've been preaching a series over the last several weeks on God's Guidance. Seeking God's Guidance.  Trusting God's Guidance.  Testing God's Guidance.  You get the idea.  But it has me thinking a lot about this topic obviously. I'm new to preaching.  I've been at it about eighteen months in total.  I started on Sunday mornings once a quarter and "as needed" when our senior pastor was out of town.  The church approved for me to start a mid-week service, and I deliver a message every Wednesday night at what we call "The ReCharge."  We've been doing that weekly service for about nine months now.  Coming up soon, I'm going to be providing a Sunday message for a Chinese church ministry each month--this church wants to have one message in English each month.  I'm looking forward to that! I got the call to minis...

The Creasons enjoy a fun night watching the Nashville Sounds at First Horizon Park! I haven't been very good at posting regularly on the Walking the Walk blog.  I've just been too busy.  But that's recently changed.  Over the last few years, on top of a full time job, I've been working my way through the ministerial program offered by the American Baptist Church.  There are classes required from a seminary, and there are classes provided by the American Baptist Church, and then there's basically an internship with an experienced Baptist pastor.   I've finished all the classes provided by the American Baptist Church.  Two weeks ago I finished the last required seminary class at Urbana Theological Seminary, about the same time my pastor signed off on all the requirements of the internship.  So now I can just settle into preaching on Wednesday Nights at my church as I wait to see what God has planned for me next. I was pretty tired when I crossed th...

I read the devotions in "Our Daily Bread" almost every morning.   I think it was last week I read one that had a story about Glen.   He enjoyed being a blessing to others.   When he went through the drive through at the coffee shop, when he’d get up to the window, he would pay for his coffee, and then also pay for the order of the car behind him.  He'd ask the cashier to wish the car behind him a good day.   There’s more to the story than that, but I really liked that story, and I thought that was a wonderful way to bless somebody unexpectedly and build a little treasure in heaven at the same time.   And that’s what I was thinking about a few days later when I swung through the Starbucks drive through.   I decided I was going to do that thing Glen did.   I noticed there was a young couple in the car behind me, and I decided to pay for their coffee.   I get to the window, and I hand the cashier my card to pay for my coffee, and I ask her if...

I've been working at home for the last two years, and starting at the beginning of March, we've slowly been working our way back into the office with the goal of finally being back in the office three days a week.  For a month we worked one day in the office.  Then in April it was two days a week.  And now we're up to three days a week in May.   It wasn't going that well for me.  When we first started working from home, I didn't like.  But I've grown used to it.  My wife works.  My youngest goes to high school.  It's been just me and my dog, Daisy, for the majority of it--we added a puppy named Scooter a few months ago.  I've been pretty happy working from home.  Going back to the office has been a bigger adjustment than going home.  I dread going in on those three days.  Last week, I realized my attitude was the biggest problem, so I decided I was going to work on that.  I got up early.  I put on a nice tie...