In a world that utilizes well-edited clips and sound bites to influence our emotions and responses, please remember to practice emotional maturity! Bishop White ..read more

Traveling in church circles I hear the latest cliches, buzzwords, and missional ideologies. Sometimes these things are even worth remembering. Most of the time these words/cliches/ideas change quickly enough that there is really no need to try to remember them. However one of these ideas that has taken root has the theme of the church being a hospital or emergency ward for the hurt and wounded of the world. Ok, I admit, I’ve actually used that idea to convey to my former church congregation that I’d like our church to be that type of place, a place of healing for hurt people. It’s a noble idea ..read more

In our most recent Vital Zoom Meeting (first Saturday of each month at 8pm) we were asked, “are you the Hulk or Ant-man?” We were, of course, using this analogy to discuss the size and impact of the local church. We realize that there are some Hulks out there; large churches who because of size and resources can have profound impact. However, most pastor churches who might more readily identify with Ant-man. Both are super hero’s and do great exploits. However, each accomplishes his mission differently. Noticeably different is the fact that Hulk can smash his way to success, while Ant-man usua ..read more

Engage C3 is our regional theme for The Northern New England Church of God. Engage our CALLING through interaction with the Holy Spirit. Engage our CONGREGATIONS with mission. Engage our COMMUNITIES with evangelism. By focusing on these three vital areas of ministry, we join the larger Church of God family as we seek to FINISH THE GREAT COMMISSION! Every pastor and every church is VITAL in reaching this audacious goal. Bishop White ..read more

About 15 years ago a sermon was preached entitled “When the majority isn’t right.”  The message spoke about the strengths and weaknesses of living in a democracy.  To the point,  it spoke of the fact that sometimes the majority votes and makes the wrong decision.  Then, those in the minority are at the least somewhat affected by the majority’s decision. Boy, it would be really easy here for me to speak of the 2020 Presidential election.  I digress! Listen to some instances where the majority voted and got it wrong. The majority once said the world was flat The majo ..read more

We stand on the precipice of a new year, 2022.  What will the new year bring?  Maybe for the first time in our lives, we really have no clue.  After all, our plans for 2020 and 2021 had to be rather drastically altered at times to adjust to the mandates and health concerns of our own church families. Often, goals, events, and typical outreaches planned for our churches had to be scrapped or adjusted because of new realities.  Most pastors have been living on untried ground not really knowing what to anticipate next simply responding in faithfulness as an opportunity to mini ..read more

Listening to Christian radio this morning I was struck by the conversation.  The show centered on “how does the church get its attendees back post Covid?”  It was stated in the broadcast that many churches are seeing as much as forty percent decline from before Covid and that most of those who have defected show no interest in returning to church at all.  This struck me as a biblical prophecy concerning a departure from the faith in the last days and the righteous scarcely being saved but that will need to be another discussion. However, one person suggested that to get its atte ..read more

The Gospel, from the Greek “evangelion” means good news. It is the message of God’s salvation by the work of His son; Jesus Christ. The Gospel is unique because it is a message that both enlightens the mind and carries the hope of transformation from condemnation to freedom for everyone who will embrace its truths and call upon the name of the Lord. It is this gospel message that we as the ekklesia (church) are called to proclaim. Our Lord; Jesus Christ established the scope of the message when He proclaimed “the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to proclaim the good new ..read more

It has been said that “desperate times require desperate measures.” I’m going to support this theory albeit with a very important caveat. Taking drastic measures within a church perspective must be birthed from a visionary understanding of changed ministry needs and never from the perspective of panic induced by shock/fear. If one has not already experienced an epiphany concerning the meager results being produced by the church over the past few decades in regards to mission and our failure to counteract and convert an increasingly secular culture, then hopefully events of 2020 have served to ..read more

I like so many of you have been trying to make sense of the past several months as well as predict where we may be headed. I’ve listened to doctors, pundits, reporters, people on the streets, and prophets. As of tonight we continue to be besieged by pandemic, peaceful and non peaceful demonstrations, riots with looting, burning buildings, Marxist ideology, idealogical clashes on social media turning brother against brother, accusations of systemic racism in both the secular and ecclesiastical cultures, unbalanced reporting, cancel culture, political posturing, growing global threats, and suspi ..read more