Resting in the Psalms

As many of you know, the COVID-19 numbers in our county are rising again. The Shawnee County Health Department issued an emergency order that goes into effect today, Friday, November 13th that reduces the mass gathering limit to 10 people and large events not to exceed 100 people.
What do these numbers mean? The language is confusing in the order, but here is how it breaks down.  Groups of 10 or more people must wear masks and be social distanced.  Large gatherings must not exceed 100 people (with social distancing guidelines) in the same space.
What does all of this mean for Western Hills?
It means we are still going to have services on Thursday night at 6:30pm and on Sunday morning at 10:00 AM for the foreseeable future.
Both of these services take place in rooms (sanctuary and gym) that are set up for less than 100 people, and our spacing exceeds the minimum requirements of social distancing. If necessary, we could use either room as an overflow area to stream our services if necessary. All of our children’s ministry areas have less than 10 people, and we require masks.
We will continue to stream our services online for those who prefer to stay at home.
We are still helping families through COVID-19. You can financially help us continue to meet the needs of famili
es in our community by giving directly to the COVID-19 (Missions) fund here.
I know staying encouraged during this time is tough. It seems this year has just been one wave of discouragement after another. And then right when we get our feet underneath us, another wave comes in and knocks us down.
I want to encourage you to invest 10 minutes today in Psalm 103.  Here are the first two verses:
Praise the Lord, my soul. All my inmost being, praise His holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul. And forget not all his benefits –
The rest of the Psalm is listing those benefits. Now sit down with the rest of the Psalm and let those benefits wash over your soul. Repeat them out loud. Gather your family around and have every single person read one. Thank God for each of them. Write them on notecards and put them on the refrigerator.
Allow the Lord to get the last word over your soul, not our circumstances.
Grant

Church Council Affirmation

Hello WHC!

All the way back in January and February of this year, the Church Council started interviewing potential candidates for new elders. We believed God was bringing two more people onto our Council and were about to go public with this when COVID-19 chaos occurred.

Last month, we introduced these two candidates at LEAD Night to be affirmed as elders – Gary Manford and Cathy Norris.  For those who are not familiar with these two, be sure to watch the video below to see an extended interview with each of them. This coming Sunday we are asking for congregation affirmation as the final step in this journey.

For those who are not familiar with our process, candidates are nominated to the Council in December and January.  They are given an extensive application to fill out and then invited to a series of conversations with Pastoral staff and current Council members on the qualifications of an elder.

In February and March, they are invited around the table to observe how we meet and make decisions and to participate in individual appointments with every current Council member.

When we – Council and Pastors – have a unanimous decision as to who we would like to invite to the Council, we go to the Congregation for affirmation. Typically this whole process takes 3 months. This year has been anything BUT typical. At any rate, we – pastors and council – are incredibly humbled to present these two for congregational affirmation this Sunday.

These are great additions to our team! Thank you for your consideration.

– Western Hills Church Council
Grant English, Lead Pastor
David Manner, Council Chair
Chuck Stones, Vice-Chair
Jennifer Norton
Levi Perkins
Cullen Swearingen
Stacy Zeigler

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A Word from Parker

WH Family,
First of all, let me say “Thank You!” from both Kandace and I. We have been so incredibly blessed by your love and support all these years and specifically over the last few days. It wasn’t easy to share the news that we will be moving, but nonetheless, you’ve been so encouraging as we pursue God’s call on our lives! We can’t wait to see what happens with the Wichita church plant and the relationship between that congregation and this one that we love so much!
Secondly, we want to invite you to a special event on August 23rd where we will share more information about our journey, our vision for church planting, and our specific call to the city of Wichita! We truly want our Western Hills family to be a part of this with us. So, we invite you to come learn, ask questions, and be encouraged by our amazing God! We will meet in the WH Gym at 6:30p that evening and plan to also record it for anyone who’d like to view it online.
With that in mind, as today’s devotional I want to ask you a question that might make you a little uncomfortable. But don’t worry, it’s made me uncomfortable for the last 15 months as Kandace and I’ve been praying about this big adventure.
Here we go…
Have you ever told God, “No!”?
Boom! That’s a biggie!
There’s so much in that little question. Our answers to it truly have long-lasting consequences for both us and those around us. Yet, we ask it all the time. Moreover, we wonder, “Maybe everything will be fine if I just ignore what God is telling me to do?” We become those little kids playing hide-and-go-seek that simply put their heads under a blanket though the rest of their body is in clear sight. We think that if we just avoid God it will be easier for Him to receive our “No” or that He’ll eventually give up asking. Trust me, I’ve been there!
So why do I ask this question? Because last year I told God “No!” Let me explain…
In the Spring of last year, after Kandace left her administrative job to start her photography business, we both started thinking that maybe it was the right time to start praying about our future in ministry. As many of you know, since 2017 I’ve felt that God was preparing me to be a Lead Pastor some day. But when Kandace left her job to pursue what we believe God had uniquely equipped her for, we began giving my pastoral call a little more thought. So we started praying, “God, if you want us to start a new chapter and for Parker to become a Lead Pastor, guide us and make it clear.” And then we waited.
After a couple months we had a few interviews with some awesome churches, but it still didn’t seem like the right time or the right fit. But interestingly enough, two of those churches, at two separate times, in two separate states, in consecutive months, asked me if I’d ever considered church planting. I guess they saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself, and they were interested in getting me connected with their network of churches that planted all across the Midwest.
When those churches asked me if I was interested in that sort of thing, I said, “Nope, not at all!” You see, I hadn’t really had the best experience with church plants in the past. Having a front row seat to two different plants before moving to Kansas, it seemed like a grueling, time-consuming and sometimes hurtful process. I’d seen a leader experience burnout after trying to start a church from scratch and another church plant close after only a year because some folks that joined didn’t have the best of intentions. So as you can imagine, that kind of thing didn’t exactly bring about the “warm fuzzies” for me. So I told those churches, and ultimately told God, “No.” And then, I became the child that hid his head under the blanket. Kind of sounds like Jonah, huh?
But when I told Kandace about these two churches and the question they asked me about planting, she said, “Well, maybe you should pray about it and not tell God ‘No’ before speaking to Him? Maybe He is trying to tell you something?” Then she reminded me of something I encouraged her to do before she left her job last April. She said, “Maybe you should pray an ‘open-handed prayer’ to God and see if church planting is exactly what He wants you to pursue?”
Man oh man, do I have an amazing wife?!? I’m so thankful for that reality check and the encouraging words she gave me in those moments! She is truly out of my league and a blessing each and every day. I love her so much!
So, with the support and encouragement I received from Kandace, we started praying. More than that, I felt like I should meet with godly mentors to better discern God’s voice. I didn’t want to be the kid with his head under the blanket.
And what’s crazy is that the more I prayed, the more God spoke! It was unbelievable how He used His Word, His people, and His Spirit to change my heart from being completely opposed to the idea of starting a church from scratch to realizing that it was precisely what He’d been preparing me for! He wanted to use my passions for vision-casting, preaching, coaching, and leadership for His glory!
Specifically, when it comes to His Word, I can’t tell you how many times He brought to my attention Matthew 16:18 that says, “on this rock I will build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.” Was Jesus talking about a literal rock that He saw on the side of the road? No. He was actually talking about Peter who had just confessed that Jesus was the Christ! The moment Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” Jesus prophesied that a movement of redemption, the likes of which the world had never seen, would start with Peter; he was the original “Rock!”
Then, last November when the WH Staff went to Texas for the RightNow Media Conference, God emphatically confirmed His call on Kandace and I to plant a church! That same passage in Matthew 16 was read left and right by several speakers, and it was like God was literally screaming, “Come on son! Join me as I build my Church!” It was incredible the moment Kandace and I looked at each other and said, “Ok, I’m in…Are you in?… Yep, I’m in!…Let’s do this!” And if you’re able to join us on August 23rd, you’ll hear more about what happened from that point until now!
So, I return to my original question. Have you ever told God “No!”? What if ultimate fulfillment, purpose, and joy actually lies behind a “Yes” instead? What if lives can be changed with a simple “Yes!”? And as Grant has said before, “What if your ‘No!’ prevents someone else’s ‘Yes!’?
Let’s be real. Saying “Yes” to God is uncomfortable, scary, and sometimes weird. But it’s also where we find life! It’s also where others find life! It’s the beginning of something new and can be the first chapter of someone’s redemption story.
So what is God asking you to do? Where is He asking you to go? Who is He calling you to share His love with?
In closing, I’d like to challenge and encourage us with Romans 10:13-15, “For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News!”
Let’s say “Yes!” together as we go be the Church.

-Parker and Kandace

Time For A Perspective Check

We’ve covered over 2,300 miles in the last few weeks. Spent some time at the lake with the family, helped my dad build a gazebo, moved my son to Austin, Texas and read/listened to 5 books and countless podcasts. (I’m now an expert on the point-shaving scandal of Boston College basketball if you are interested.)

The next few weeks will include getting one daughter ready to go back to college and getting the other ready for her senior year of high school. I’ve been most concerned about my senior in high school. This is not shaping up to be exactly the senior year that every kid dreams of having. We are not excited about having another season of disappointment and unmet expectations.

My daughter showed me once again, I have much to learn.

She’s made a decision about her senior year. In her opinion, “I’ve got some options. I’m going to explore them and see which ones will work for me. I’m excited about it. Most of it, anyway. No – it wasn’t what I thought my senior year was going to be like, but this is not devastating.”

“This is NOT devastating.” What a perspective.

This is hard. Disappointing. Frustrating. Upsetting. But not devastating. It’s not going to crush me. It’s not going to send me into a dark pit of despair.

_____________________

January 2015.
Rick and I go to the Philippines with Trash Mountain Project. 56 hours of traveling on 8 hours of sleep. Missed flights, 10 hour van rides in the mountains to a new church plant in a trash dump community. The church building was a 50 square foot concrete pad with a recycled tin roof and no walls. Flea-ridden, malnourished dogs roamed the grounds along with chickens and flies. Millions of flies.

It was 90 degrees with 90% humidity, unless there was a breeze… that would bring in the stench from the trash dump 80 yards away which housed up to 2 square miles of trash. Dirty, half-naked children playing in the filth. Moms nursing babies, dads absent because they were working the trash dumps as new trash trucks would come in every 10-13 minutes.

I remember two distinct moments about that trip. Moment 1: After being on the site for 15 minutes, one of the guys went back to the van, climbed in, closed the door and just wept. He wept like a grown man. Not one of us judged him for it either. Eyes red, face wet with his tears, he looked up at me and said, “To think I complained about the food on the flight over here.”

Moment 2: The worship service. What a challenge. Outside venue. Two translators. Neither one of them had ever translated in front of an audience before. One translated from English to Tagalog. The other translated from Tagalog to the local dialect. Long. Inconvenient. Tiring. Lots of hand motions and questions.

Children crying. Trucks honking. Flies buzzing.

Place was packed. The smiles were fierce. The hugs and handshakes strong. We stayed three days. They were so thankful and appreciative of us that they had a feast for us the day we left. It was rice, noodles, and beans served from steel pots on open flames.
________________________________

I’m not always appreciative when Jesus works to gets my attention. Particularly when He uses my kids to do it. But He does. And let’s face it, I need it. I’m guessing you do, too.

This is not devastating. What a perspective from my daughter, and one I desperately needed to hear.

Might Be Time For A Reset

What a time we live in.

I can’t remember a time in our country’s history being this divided over so many things:

Mask/No mask
Real/Hoax
Red/Blue
Black/white
School/No school

Every single issue has become this no holds barred, fight to the death that seems impossible to make sense of.  Every single person has been pushed to their limit. Tension is at all-time high.  It appears that nuance and civil conversation has become extinct.

Every institution, organization, business, and school has been forced to rethink and reimagine why they exist and how they operate.

And the church has not been immune to any of this.

Barna Research has been studying the church through this whole pandemic, and the numbers are pretty depressing. The average percentage of in person attendance is 20% of normal. 2 out 3 active churchgoers have told polls that they will probably not return to the building until a vaccine is discovered. 82% of churches across the nation are reporting a decrease in people engaging in church – both online and physical.

Is this a hopeless situation?
Are we now just supposed to huddle up, study the end times, and just wait on Jesus?
Are we supposed to work twice as hard to get church ‘back to normal?’

Here’s both a freeing and a terrifying thought… Maybe ‘normal’ wasn’t quite right to begin with. Maybe what this pandemic exposed are the weak places where we – and the church – need to reset. This could be the time for a reimagining and rebooting of our faith, our reason for existence, how we should live and how we engage the combative culture around us.

These are deep, foundational questions that we need to answer again. And we don’t need hot takes or ‘expert analysis’ on these. We need to hear from the very heart of God.

The church in Philippi had to navigate all of this… and Paul says they did it well. Paul lays out all of this in his letter to the Philippians. What is the Gospel? Why do we need a gospel? What does it mean to be a saint? What’s the point of the church? As a Christ-follower, how am I to interact with my culture? What is my model for behavior? How is the church supposed to navigate the complicated waters of a highly combative culture?

Let me invite you to hit the pause button and gather around this book of Philippians. Let’s allow God to hit the reset button in our life.

Finding Unity in the Church

Hey there Western Hills family!

Being at our first in-person service this past Sunday brought sort of a mixture of feelings for me. On one hand it was a little surreal being back in the same room, simply because these last four to five months have felt more like a whole year’s worth of time. Actually being in the same room to worship together seemed like it was always a long ways off. There was also just all of the emotions and thoughts that we all bring with us into those places from everything going on in the world. On the other hand, it was so good to start seeing each other face-to-face, even if it was through masks. Any nerves that I had going into the service about how it would FEEL awkward or that it would FEEL sad being unable to give each other hugs or handshakes or to sit right next to good friends were quickly pushed aside when folks started showing up, chit chatting from a distance, laughing together, and worshiping together. No, it was not the same as it was just five months ago. I won’t try and convince you that it was, but it became clear that God does indeed use incredibly hard times and unexpected circumstances to bring about good. God’s goodness will shine through any circumstances if we allow ourselves to look for it.

I hope that many of you who joined us in-person had a similar experience as we worshiped together. For those of our church family that joined us online and will continue to join us online for some time, we want to make sure that you know that you are just as much a part of our worship experience as we continue meeting in-person. So if you still have hesitations and fears about venturing back into the church building, please continue to join us online and continue connecting with our WHC family via Connect Groups. Those things are not going away!

We hope that during these last few months you have gotten a glimpse of the reality that God’s presence is not contained to any building but will be worshiped and praised no matter where we find ourselves. Whether you find yourself online, at a driveway with a Connect Group, at an in-person worship service, or going about your daily routine, remember that God goes with us, and if we will allow ourselves to be aware of that reality we will be able to see God’s goodness outshine all of the uncertainty, fear, anger, fighting and disunity in the world.

As we approach this coming Sunday, a few reminders. If you plan to join us again or for the first time in-person this coming Sunday, click here to reserve your seats so that we can know how many people to plan for. If you plan to continue joining us online, we will be at the usual place and times.

I’ll close with this. I don’t know when things with the virus will calm down. I don’t know if or when the social and political unrest that is on display right now will diminish. What I do know is that for those who put their trust and their faith wholly in Jesus and the path that He paves for us, unity is possible. Unity between people who are gathering for worship in-person AND online. Unity between people from different sides of a political isle. Unity between people who look different from one another. Unity between generations. Unity between nationalities. Unity between any other lines by which the world seeks to divide itself into “Us” and “Them.” I am excited to see how the church at large can be an example of unity in these challenging times as we seek earnestly after Jesus as our one true King.

I am praying for you all and looking forward to seeing you, whether in person or online!

Blessings,

Cullen

Not In Sharpie, But In Pencil

I’ll let Cooper tell this in his own words:

I completed chemotherapy a few weeks ago (ring ring) and the PET scan results came back this morning! Everything is looking good and my lymph nodes have returned to their normal size, mass free! I have a follow up scan in 3 months to ensure, but I’m on the fast track to being healthy again!

They don’t really use the term cancer-free with my type of cancer but we can still use that term in pencil, just maybe not sharpie until after a few more follow up scans.

I’ve also graduated from K-State with a dual major in both Marketing and Sales with a minor in Spanish. I will always be so thankful for the community and family I have in Manhattan, how it helped strengthen my faith, and the man it’s shaped me into.

I have accepted a job with Dell and will be moving to Austin, Texas… someday soon. I start work with them next week virtually as an Inside Sales Associate.

Big thanks to mom and dad and sibs for all the drives to Manhattan, weird food requests, and time spent in a mask to help me get better.

I love you guys big time, thanks for all the support and prayer in the last few months. It means so much and it has been so appreciated.

 

Allow me to fill in a few more details. His blood work looked great, his counts are improving, his energy is returning, and no lumps, masses, or inflammations. That’s a good day, kids. They will keep scanning – every 3 months, every 6 months – just to keep an eye on the situation. The doctor was very happy with the report.

More good news (for Cooper at least) – Austin, Texas (where his job is located) is still under work from home orders. So he probably will be working from home until September, maybe even later. That means more time for his immune system to rebound.

When we first got the cancer diagnosis… I jotted down a journal entry. I intended to keep it private, but over the last few months, God has prompted me to share it with friends who perhaps needed it as much I did. Here’s an excerpt of it…

 

Amy and I are obviously praying for healing for Cooper.  I mean, we’re his parents. Of course we want to see him healed.

But I am finding that my prayers are changing. It’s not the only thing we are praying for. For him or his sisters. Or even for us.  

I’m praying for a deepened, rooted faith in Jesus for Cooper. For us all, actually. A faith that is impervious to our environments and surroundings, a faith grounded in the reality of the person of Jesus who loves us and promises us rest IN Him.  I’m praying that our family will find our identity in Him, be conformed to His character, that we would anchor our hope in Jesus.

If Cooper is cured of this, and his faith doesn’t change… or deepen… If we all emerge from this nightmare as the same people, then cancer was wasted on us.

A wimpy, selfish faith that is not rooted in Christ has the same death sentence as cancer.  If my family walks through this and our faith hasn’t moved beyond ‘ATM’ or “911” prayers, what a waste of a trauma.

The blessing of God isn’t the healing or the cancer. The blessing isn’t physical health or security. The blessing isn’t job security or good behaving kids or a nice house or a great family.

The blessing of God is Himself.

That’s where I want our faith to be. So help us get there, Jesus.

 

I am thankful for the great diagnosis and the positive report. So grateful.  But I am still praying this other, deeper prayer, as well.  For Cooper.  For Amy.  For Camber.  For Cayden.

For me.  To know that the blessing of God is Himself.  That everything else is a pale substitute.  It exists to point us to the real blessing. And to miss that – to live this life without that blessing – would be the greatest tragedy of all.

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  Apostle Paul, Philippians 3:8

Celebrating America In The Middle of 2020

July 4th is our family’s second favorite holiday of the year. (Christmas is first, if you were wondering.)  We love the fireworks, being outside, cornhole, brats, burgers, friends, staying up late, and the occasional close call with a firework or two… or three.  Here’s a dirty family secret… We even have some family photos with those USA shirts they sold at Old Navy stores.  Remember those?  We’ve got multiple summers of those pictures.

Our family has a heritage of service for our country, in the military and as first-responders.  Amy has multiple generations of her family who were in the Corp at Texas A&M and served in the military.  Both of my dads served in the military, one of them a career fire-fighter. My grandfather was a World War 2 veteran.  I served 10 years in the Army. 

For whatever reason, the word “served” has stuck out to me this year.  

When I think about my time in the military, the word “serving my country” doesn’t immediately come to mind.  This is what comes to mind:  We woke up when it was dark.  We didn’t stop until way past dark again.  We trained in the snow and the rain and the blazing heat.  In fact, the only acceptable time to train was when the weather was miserable.  We got yelled at when we did it right.  Got yelled at when we did it wrong.  Hurried everywhere.  We were reminded that we were never fast enough.  Waited forever once we got there.  Waited some more. Hurried some more.  Got orders that didn’t make sense and we didn’t like.  Always tired.  Terrible food.  Awful accommodations.

So why do it?  What is the value of serving like that?  Why have a holiday for it?  

The answer is a little complicated.  I haven’t met a soldier yet that doesn’t complain.  As James Garner said in The Great Escape, “It’s a soldier’s right to complain.”

But every soldier also knows that freedom isn’t free.  Somebody has to get up in the dark, go to bed way after dark, train in miserable weather, withstand constant yelling, get pushed to the limit, obey orders they don’t like or understand, be constantly tired, eat terrible food, and sleep in awful accommodations so that others can enjoy freedom.

The fastest way to lose freedom is to focus on the freedom and not the responsibility and the cost of it.  Soldiers know somebody has to stand at the gate to protect those freedoms from those who wish tyranny on all.  Soldiers know somebody has to put themselves between those who want to oppress and take away those freedoms and those who enjoy them.

Soldiers know somebody has to give up their freedom so that others can experience theirs.  

There’s more than a few parallels here for the Christ-follower.  Our citizenship in God’s Kingdom comes with the most important freedom in history – the freedom from sin and death.  That freedom wasn’t free.  Nor was that freedom given to us to do what we want to do when we want to do it.  Humanity tried that kind of freedom, and it failed miserably.

It was such an expensive failure that it cost the King His own son.  Jesus’ death and resurrection paves the way for us to experience grace, forgiveness, redemption, purpose, and unconditional love.

For others to enjoy this freedom, someone else has to serve.  Some have to stand in the gap and give up their freedom so that others can experience it.  We consider others before ourselves so that some will accept the gospel.

On July 4th, I celebrate the freedom I have as a citizen in the United States.  I celebrate it remembering that I and many others purposely give up some of those freedoms so that others may enjoy it.  

I remember my other citizenship that has given me the best kind of freedom.  And how I have chosen to serve in that Kingdom, to give up some of my freedoms, so that others would know Jesus.  There is much more at stake in this Kingdom.

Paul said it best in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23:

Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.  To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.  I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

For The King,

Grant

A Forgiveness Culture

So a new phrase has popped up over the last few weeks that expresses the nature of the world we now live in. It’s based on the premise that if someone does something, says something, or thinks something that is contradictory to what we think is acceptable, we move to shut them down and cast our vote of eternal damnation quicker than Twitter can post 140 characters or less. The phrase that describes this movement is, “cancel culture”.
Unfortunately, “cancel culture” is a phenomenon that happens on all sides of an argument. It has spread its tentacles through almost every aspect of society and there’s no one that hasn’t seen its effects. When someone posts an opinion that contradicts the vocal majority…cancelled. When an organization missteps in their treatment of a certain issue…cancelled. When an athlete takes a stand against something that others don’t agree with…cancelled.
Businesses have suffered its wrath. Individuals have succumbed to its power. Leaders have crippled under its weight. And the next generation has been inundated with its normalcy.
But there’s one thing that I’ve become supremely thankful for when it comes to “cancel culture”. This viral expression of displeasure has made me 10x more appreciative that the Kingdom of God does not employ the same tactics!
Regardless of how many times I mess up, regardless of how many times I willingly choose to be selfish, regardless of how many times I say something I later regret, regardless of how many times I act like my old self, Jesus is there to offer me His forgiveness and grace! As Christians we exist in both a temporal, earthly kingdom and an eternal, heavenly kingdom. Though the earthly kingdom has adopted a cancel culture, the heavenly kingdom maintains a forgiveness culture. And that is Good News!
If we confess to Jesus that we are sinners in need of His grace and commit our lives to Him as our Lord, He accepts us as full and permanent members into His forgiveness culture. Does that mean we have the right to go on sinning without remorse? The Apostle Paul would say “by no means!” (Romans 6:15). Instead, we are called to let God’s abundant grace make us more thankful and joyful; two emotions that should affect every action, word, and thought.
So how does that impact the earthly kingdoms we live in? Does that mean that everyone should get off “scot free” and face zero consequences for their sinful deeds? By no means! There should be earthly consequences for sinful actions because without them we’d live in a lawless state where no one is safe. If someone breaks the law or commits a crime against their fellow man, there absolutely should be repercussions. However, there should also be forgiveness!
Forgiveness is hard. It’s long. It’s counterintuitive. But it’s worth it! When we realize just how much Jesus has forgiven us and granted us access to His forgiveness culture, we should be more prone to offer it to others. No matter the situation or crime, forgiveness has the power to change both the offended and the offender.
A forgiveness culture extends an olive branch where a cancel culture extends a stiff arm. A forgiveness culture builds a restored community where a cancel culture builds walls. A forgiveness culture tears down years of bitterness where cancel culture tears down years of progress.
So what do we do as citizens of both a cancel culture and a forgiveness culture? We have to allow the latter to infiltrate the former! We have to reflect the same forgiveness we’ve been offered by Christ to those that wrong us. Yes, we should still stand for justice, enforce laws, and impose appropriate consequences, but we should also offer forgiveness, apply grace, and trust eternal justice to God.
Before I close, I’d like to challenge us to reflect on some verses. Consider allowing these Scriptures to soak into your heart…
 
Ephesians 4:32: Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Mark 11:25: And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
Matthew 18:21-22: Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.”
James 5:16: Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
All that to say, let’s praise God for granting us access to His forgiveness culture and allow that thankfulness to permeate the cancel culture we live in. Stand for justice but also stand as agents of grace. Jesus has made possible reconciliation between us and the Father and He’s given us the “ministry of reconciliation” as His ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:18).
Blessings to you all!
Parker

A Driveway Lesson of Grace

As our Church Council, pastors, and staff wrestled through all of the reopening decisions (Read the FAQs HERE) (See video summary HERE), I found myself incredibly conflicted. Some of the decisions we made I am 100% behind and believe in. Some of the decisions (after a lot of thought and prayer), I recognize as necessary for the time being even though I don’t like them. I haven’t known what to do with this inner conflict until God reminded me of a scene that played out in our driveway a few weeks ago.

As many of you know, our family is also navigating Cooper’s (our 22-year old son) cancer diagnosis and chemo-therapy during this global pandemic. It has radically challenged and changed our family. We are exhausted – emotionally, spiritually, and physically.

Cooper has a group of friends that he has navigated life with since middle school. They are all very close – been in bible studies together, graduated high school together, roommates, housemates, vacations, graduated from K-State together. Cooper was supposed to be in a couple of their weddings this summer, but obviously he can’t do that.

Like many of you, we have dealt with a lot of disappointment.

A few weeks ago, his friends wanted to have a graduation celebration together. It was to be their last hoorah before they all got jobs, got married, and moved away. How could they do that with Cooper, given his vulnerable immune system and the COVID-19 pandemic?

If Cooper gets sick, it could kill him. So Amy and I set the ground rules:
Must be outside, in our driveway/cul-de-sac.
Nobody comes in the house.
Must maintain social distance.
Wear a mask.
Nobody touches Cooper or anything that gets to Cooper.
Hand sanitizer will flow like water.
We can shut it down, so Cooper doesn’t get exhausted.

Every single one of them responded: No problem. We’re in.

It was 100 degrees with no breeze. We had Popeye’s and cookies. Not one of them complained. They were too busy laughing and telling stories. I was blown away by their act of love and kindness towards Cooper.

They chose to be inconvenienced because…

They knew it was only for a short period of time.
They knew there were better days ahead.
They did it for someone they loved.

That driveway lesson has stuck with me, because it’s a picture of Western Hills Church.

Western Hills Church has an incredible legacy of serving others. We have a trophy case full of stories where we chose to inconvenience ourselves for the sake of others.

Opening our building and facilities to the community.
Scholarships for a Christ-centered sports experience.
Providing hundreds of meals to food-insecure families.
Providing funding for COVID-19 affected families.
Adopting three different schools.
Engaging with trash-dump communities.
Supporting missionaries in at-risk/closed countries.
Adopting international college students to show them the love of Christ.
Partnering with Antioch to model bridge-building to our city.

We have consistently chosen to be inconvenienced because we knew that it was only a short inconvenience in light of eternity. We know that there are better days ahead. Most importantly, we do it because we deeply love people.

All people. Because they are made in God’s image AND because God loves them deeply.

This is living out the reality of Jesus. And my prayer is that this once again comes shining through during this difficult season.

Let’s go be the church.