News & Updates

“Go big or go home” is fun to say but maybe a bit frustrating to live.  Scotty McCreery wrote a book with the same title.  The subtitle reads: “The journey towards the dream.”  GBOGH initially pumps me up but is a hard motivation to sustain. A mere 6% of high school seniors (1 in 16) will play football in college. Only 1.7% of senior football players in college (1 in 50) will get drafted by a National Football League team.  This…

God’s Will Is this God’s will?  I’m sure you’ve either asked or thought this universal question. I wonder if our daughter, Morgan, asked this when we said her Saturday night curfew was 10:00 p.m.  What if Morgan rebelled and cried, “How could a ten o’clock curfew be the will of God?  Show me where a ten o’clock curfew is in the Bible!”    What would you say as a parent? I would say, “Yep, this is the will of God.  By…

 ONE SUNDAY My office phone beeped from our front receptionist. “Alan, there’s a Mr. Derkens on the line. He says he’s speaking Sunday?” “Hmmm…” I thought to myself. “Derkens? I don’t know any Derkens. And besides, Dr. Perkins is speaking this Sunday. Waaaaiiiit! It’s Dr. Perkins!” We had put our very special guest speaker on hold for far too long. “Dr. Perkins!” I gushed. “It’s really good to talk with you…” An hour later I was more excited about ONE…

 Game Changer With so much politics and political drama going on, did anyone even notice the Cubs are in the National League Championship Series?  Whaaaaaaa?  That’s right, the Cubs–the Billy-goat-cursed Cubs.  The Cubs play the Dodgers starting tomorrow and are four games away from the 2016 World Series.  I would bet my fifth-born child that Chicago churches will be filled this weekend with Cubs fanatics doing everything possible to bring a World Series title back to Chi-Town.  They’ve waited patiently…

Gospel Realignment I’ve been convinced I need a PSL (and if you don’t know what that is, then you are so not cool) to officially let Autumn cool my soul.  The swaying of my consumer mindset is such that I will absolutely be happier and lighter with some gel insoles.  The holistic deodorant I’ve had my eye on will surely save me from free radicals.  A new bed will most likely make me a new person, and if I use…

The Bible can be hard to read. Have you ever had that thought? Do you think it’s alarming that the Pastor has? It’s hard to read because it’s living and active. You gotta slow down, get close, and do some listening to read God’s Word well. My wife is living and active. Sometimes our communication can be hard. I have to slow down, get close, and do some listening to actually read her. The Bible can also prove difficult because…

So Long, Self Many of you know that I try to take most Fridays off.  I get up and get Sherry out the door with a kiss and strawberry-banana smoothie.  I see the kiddos off to school. They’re usually excited on Fridays. Then I typically head to the local Starbucks, where I read, think, and do a little writing.  On this morning, a loud, whiney barista keeps shouting, “Courtney, Courtney.  Is there a Courtney in the café?”  There is no…

My Jonah Scale Number from last Sunday was 7.1. If you remember, we took a brief test to end our service last week. We considered the current condition of our heart in relation to: peace, control, focus, contentment, relationships, and time. A “1” rating meant that your heart was in a desert. A “10” rating meant that you heart was in a good place. The test is posted on CCC’s Facebook page. A 7.1, it would seem, was a decent…

Is it easy or hard to admit you’re tired? “Hey, Alan, how ya doin’? What’s been going on? What have you been up to lately? What’s God doing in your life and at Cumberland?” Those are trigger words for me. They trigger adrenaline, fear, guilt, and the newly discovered endorphin unleashed by our pituitary gland called gitbizeenow. Could it be detrimental to our souls NOT to admit that we’re walking in a bit of a dry desert? Could NOT being…

When your child runs a fever, is that a good thing?  There’s a viral storm raging somewhere in their body.  Is it possible this could be a good thing?  What parent could possibly give a nod of approval when midnight turns into 1:30 a.m. while nursing a fever? But a fever is a necessary warning sign.  It’s also the wonder of our God-given bodies fighting off an internal storm. Are storms good?  I had to drive home in one today. …