Thank you Wendy for becoming a part of Church Requel. Thank you for the blessing of your song written so many miles away from where many of us live, yet so close to all our lives. Continue reading

We also are hoping to "resurrect" our Sunday morning attendance. We understand that many have been keeping their distance from church and everyone else. But now that many of us have had our vaccinations, let's get back to going to church. Continue reading

I hope many of you can attend in person. We are seeing more and more of you coming back. it was so great to see Georgianna and Sandy at Church Requel this past Sunday morning. If a nonagenarian can make it to church... do I need to finish the sentence? However, if you live far away or feel it safer to stay at home, you can watch on our Facebook Page or on our YouTube channel. Continue reading

Where do we get the hidden wounds of life? From everywhere. You get them in society. Some of you have been wounded in society through prejudice or through injustice. You can be wounded by your family and those are probably the wounds that hurt the most. You can be wounded at school by other children. You can be wounded by a friend who betrayed you. I've discovered that everyone has a hidden wound. Continue reading

Good Friday morning Church Requel! Wow! What a Sunday we enjoyed last week! A wonderful worship morning followed by a powerful evening of worship for two hours! How grand to see the church filled with worshippers! It's enough to give... Continue reading

Sunday Evening - March of Prayer - 6-8PM EST. Our Praise Team will be staying at the church after our morning worship to practice and prepare for Sunday evening. We also will be sharing lunch together. Yay! We plan to sing many of our favorite songs together. We also plan to pray for the requests that come to us that evening, both from our online audiences as well as those who come in person. Continue reading

Before we leave for the day, we’ll all sing “Unstoppable God” by Elevation Worship. This is such a great song for us! Do you realize that next month it will be an entire year since we had to do most of our worshiping together online? If you had told me a year ago that we would go an entire year when most of us could not gather together, I would have told you that our church could not survive. (Oh me of little faith!) Continue reading

This little piece of tech gear will be just as important as the musical instruments, microphones and computers that bring our worship stream to your mobile phones, tablets or televisions. You'll notice a big improvement in the clarity of the picture Sunday morning. Not only will we enjoy a higher resolution, but we will have the ability to zoom and pan to get some of those closer up shots that will really help to bring your right into worship event as you are watching! Continue reading

Another positive is that the worship stream is now available on YouTube as well as the normal Facebook feed. Quite a few of you have been watching on YouTube. There are several advantages to YouTube. Continue reading

If you were physically in our worship service, you would probably raise your hands or say an “Amen” or just nod your head and smile. When you engage in worship like this, you are more tuned in to the Spirit’s leading and provide encouragement to others to worship more freely. How do we do this when we are separated physically? By sharing our encouragements via comments. By hitting that “like” or “heart” button. I loved it that some of you even commented as a reply to others that you were praying for them. Continue reading

Those of you who use Facebook to watch our weekly worship services will still be able to tune in just like always. And that won’t change. Now - IN ADDITION - we will begin broadcasting our weekly worship services on our YouTube Channel. Continue reading

Isn't God good? I know these are tough days for us. And yet, we have all discovered fellowship together. This week I have watched with amazement as many of you have stepped up to challenges I have known nothing about. One good friend - in faith - purchased an automobile for another young lady, who really needed transportation for a job. I watched as others worked within the church to take down the baptism pool and in the cleaning up discovered we needed a new sweeper and immediately took care of those details. I watched with fascination as one of you, who hasn't been with us for years now, contacted me and asked if we were still meeting and could he please come back. (Easy answer - that one.) I have watched as some of you, independent of your pastor, have gathered together to study God's Word online. I have often said, but I remind you again, that I feel I am ONE LUCKY PASTOR to be able to serve at Church Requel. Thanks one and all for your encouragement to my faith. Continue reading

You may be wondering how it is possible for us to be grateful in the absence of peace, when we don’t have unity of vision for our future. You may say we just don’t have “enough” - of love, of leadership, of finances, of health. How can we be thankful for this? Continue reading

we WILL enjoy a very special Christmas Eve service at 5pm Eastern Time Zone. Brandi and Eddie will join Mary Kay and me at our home. We will start broadcasting about 15 minutes early and hope to see many of you join us online. Starting at 5pm we will sing some Christmas carols together, Brandi playing our piano and I playing my ukulele. Eddie and Mary Kay will read the Christmas story out of Luke 2. I have some Christmas Eve thoughts to share with you. Continue reading

We are hoping your families will gather together around your televisions, computer monitors, and mobile devices and share an hour with Brandi and me. Brandi and Eddie will join Mary Kay and me at our home. We will bring the Advent Wreath Candles from church to our home and will light the Christmas candle together. Continue reading

This Sunday we will talk about 4 ways to guard our lips so that we can share encouraging words with other people. I am excited about the talk, because this is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. I have discovered that encouraging others - constantly looking for the good and then affirming the good in people - is so incredibly rewarding! Continue reading

One of our newer online viewers, Mike and Leanna Perdue, contacted me last Sunday afternoon and told me that they might be able to help with our mic problems. They have a fantastic YouTube channel, The Dry Campers, and know more than just a little bit when it comes to the technical details of streaming live videos. Continue reading

They call this Black Friday because of all the sales that go on. But this year I hope most of you are shopping safely from home. Personally I took advantage of some of the Black Friday sales for tech items that we needed for church. Yay! So how was your Thanksgiving Day yesterday? Mary Kay and I spent a quiet day at home. Only Jessica and Dave came over for dinner last evening. But we had the opportunity to talk with all our children and grandchildren throughout the day. It was not the kind of Thanksgiving Day we normally enjoy with the house full of family. However the quiet moments gave us a chance to reflect on all the things for which we are grateful. I am so thankful for each one of you, who call Church Requel your church home. What a blessing each one of you are to Mary Kay and me! Sunday morning we will continue our Wisdom series from the book of Proverbs. I hope you are enjoying these teachings as much as I am. It gave me great joy to be back in the pulpit this past Sunday morning. This Sunday we will be talking about friendships. We'll be focusing on real friends and on quality of friendships, not quantity. (Not the Facebook kind of friends!) PARENTS - If ever there was a time for you to get your children to listen in, this is it! The kind of friends we make... make the kind of life we will enjoy! Continue reading

I want to shout out to the world, "I am free! I am free! I am free at last!" Ok, that's probably a little over dramatic, but whoever has accused me of undergoing things? Ha! Seriously, the good news is that both Mary Kay and I are out of our quarantine. We are over the vast majority of our Covid-19 symptoms. Continue reading

Once again I will be worshipping beside many of you online. After I did this last week, I have some suggestions for those of you worshipping with us online. First, prepare your heart ahead of time. Don't just click in at the last minute. But start your own focus on the Holy Spirit about a half hour ahead of time. Anticipate the worship experience. Continue reading

Good Friday morning Church Requel! Well... I have some unfortunate news to report to you, my church family. This morning I tested positive for COVID-19. Thus far my symptoms are relatively minor: laryngitis and a higher heart rate than normal... Continue reading

We shall have our own version of a British Invasion! Ha! Our good friends, Don and Vanessa, have prepared a very special video celebrating All Saints Day on Sunday, November 1st. Continue reading

Last night we hiked through the woods of Englewood Metropark near sunset. It was so beautiful. And if I may proudly boast - my grandsons were terrific little hikers! After our hiking adventures we came back to Jillians home, where she served us Grandpa's chili. I wolfed down two bowls! It was so hearty and flavorful. Continue reading

We'll start with 3 reasons why it is important to hear God's voice. And then we'll finish with six of the most common ways God talks with us. I hope you'll join me Sunday morning. Continue reading

Good Friday morning Church Requel! My friend Paul sent me this cartoon earlier this week. It is spot on! Ha! Who knows what the long term results will be of all the online worship streaming that is happening during this... Continue reading