Author Archives: Don Follis

When my daughter was a student at Anderson University, she lived in an apartment very near Second Chance Baptist Church in Anderson, Indiana.  I loved walking by that church.  It always stopped me in my tracks and made me realize, “Every day I wake up is another chance.” This weekend I am preaching a sermonContinueContinue reading ““Go Tell Peter, and the other disciples” and, Tell Me too!”

When I was growing up in church in northwestern Kansas, we often sang William Cowper’s “There is a Fountain filled with blood.”  Cowper was a well-known British poet  and writer of hymns who struggled mightily with severe depression, and worse.  After one of his serious spells of “insanity,” he recovered and wrote the words toContinueContinue reading “There is indeed a fountain filled with blood”

One of the 7 last words (or phrases) of Christ is found in John 19:26-27: When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. It’s interesting to ponder how inContinueContinue reading “Jesus understood the love of a parent & the love for a parent”

Lent is a good time to think about brokenness, and I have been. It is a good time to praise God in our brokenness, and I have been. Those of us who received ashes on our foreheads (The imposition of ashes) on Ash Wednesday heard the words, “From dust you came and to dust youContinueContinue reading “In our brokenness we praise him — the louder and longer the better!”

I’ve always been amazed when I see someone forgive a person for a horrific crime against them, or more amazing, against members of their families. You might see someone interview them and ask them how they did it.  They often answer in a humble way, “I just thought it was the right thing to do.”ContinueContinue reading “Jesus teaches us from the cross”

How many morning has God awakened you? Joseph Dutkowsky, MD, says: Nobody can will their heart to beat even once. Every heartbeat is a gift from God and it means he’s not done with you yet. The idea that we are going to put less value on another person’s heartbeat because they are disabled orContinueContinue reading “Every day God wakes us up”

  A pastor I spoke with recently confessed his uncertainty about the future.  Having worked in the ministry for 40 years, he wonders about what the coming years hold. After we met I thought about how so many universal fears, including fear of the unknown future, are so obvious in the Christmas story. Take theContinueContinue reading “During Christmas our universal fears can give way to trust”

For centuries the Church has set apart the four weeks prior to Christmas to celebrate Advent.  The faithful watch for the coming of Jesus. It’s a 3-fold coming: We watch for the coming of the Christ child — the Incarnation. “When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another,ContinueContinue reading “Awareness is central to Advent”