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Meeting God in the Whirlwind: Trusting Him When Answers Never Come

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by Bart Denny There are moments in life when what we want most from God isn’t relief—it’s clarity. Many of us can endure pain more easily than we can endure not knowing why. When life goes dark, we instinctively reach for explanations. We tell ourselves that if God would just explain what He’s doing—if He would tell us the reason, the lesson, the purpose—then we could handle the rest. And so our prayers subtly change. They stop sounding like cries for help and start sounding like demands for answers: What did I miss? What are You trying to teach me? Why this? When the silence stretches on, something settles into our hearts. Not outright rebellion, but frustration mixed with confusion. We’re still praying. Still showing up. Still believing. But underneath it all is an assumption we rarely name: If I understood what God was doing, this would be easier. That assumption isn’t unique. It’s deeply human. We live in a world that runs on explanations. When something breaks, we diagnose it. Whe...
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But some doubted...

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by Bart Denny “The eleven disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but some doubted.” —Matthew 28:16–17 (CSB) I try to be faithful to Scripture when I write or preach. I want to draw out lessons and apply them to daily life without saying more than the text itself says. My goal is to dig deep into God’s Word and share what I find—without putting words in God’s mouth. But I can’t help wondering—have you ever heard someone really focus on that last phrase in Matthew 28:17? “But some doubted.” In the very presence of the risen Christ—after seeing Him crucified, buried, and now alive—the disciples worshiped. And yet… some doubted. That moment has always fascinated me. We often say, “seeing is believing.” But here were disciples looking at Jesus with their own eyes, and still, something inside them wavered. Was it too good to be true? Could it really be Him? After everything they’d seen—the horror of the cross, the...
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Stop Searching for a Silver Bullet Pastor: What Declining Churches Really Need

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Stop Searching for a Silver-Bullet Pastor: What Declining Churches Really Need by Bart Denny When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March 2020, the crisis of declining churches in America wasn’t new—it just accelerated the inevitable. Honestly, I tend to disregard 2020 – 2022 when measuring decline because of how chaotic those years were. But let’s be real: if your church had higher attendance and stronger giving in March 2020 than it does in March 2024—and we’re not talking just a slight dip—you’re in decline. If your children’s ministry was once thriving but now you’re lucky to gather a handful of kids each Sunday, you’ve declined. Your church needs revitalization. Sure, church health isn’t measured by numbers alone. Are you evangelizing? Are you making disciples? Are you reaching your community with the hope of Jesus? If the answers to those questions aren’t a resounding yes , you’re not just declining—you’re in danger. Kicking the Can… Until I...
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