Posts with the category “philips-focus”

This week I have chosen to write some short snippets of what is going on around Shalimar UMC. In this article/blog, I will list some things you may or may not know. If you know the answers to all the ...  Read More

A few weeks ago, I learned from our Mayor, Mark Franks, the name Shalimar means “By the beautiful water.” That means our church name could mean “Church by the beautiful water.” Some of the sights and ...  Read More

We lost our pet cat, Dasher, last year. Dasher was with us eighteen years! He was remarkably resilient. The old saying that cats have nine lives proved very true for Dasher. He likely had double the n...  Read More

The post-pandemic church is emerging before our eyes! What have we missed the most? What might be the same? What will be different? What are the unprecedented opportunities? I do not know anything mor...  Read More

About a quarter of a century ago, I began preaching a message billed as the “unforgettable message after Easter!”  Why? Because the Sunday after Easter often felt like the antithesis to Easter. On Eas...  Read More

We have and, to some extent, are still enduring one of the craziest times in history. In such a time, we look for a person to reassure us and say, “It will be over soon.”  Who will have that word we l...  Read More

As of Palm Sunday, March 28th, we will slightly revise our Covid-19 Protocol. As the positive trends show an upward number of vaccinations and a lower number of Covid cases in Okaloosa County, we beli...  Read More

In the coming four weeks, we will have special Sundays one after the other. As we move deeper into Lent, this means special worship is rising on the horizon. You will want to be present in-person or o...  Read More

This weekend is time change Sunday! Remember to move your clocks up one hour for worship in-person or on Livestream! In speaking of the time change, have you ever forgotten to change your clocks? I di...  Read More

Last year, we created the first-ever hospitality award and presented it to David Dale. The award also took on the name of David Dale because he exhibited extraordinary gifts of hospitality. There is a...  Read More

I choose to remain a United Methodist because we know our denomination is more than a "fad" or a "short-lived movement." We can learn from our rich history, and we can be sparred some of the same mist...  Read More

We are happy to announce that Mrs. Nicci Fahle will be joining our church staff as our part-time Children's Ministry Director. Nicci and her husband Brodie have been in our congregation for a long tim...  Read More

In previous weeks of Beacon articles, I have praised our congregation, staff, and lay leadership. In this article, I want to lift up some additional ministry teams and offer praise for their good mini...  Read More

As a part of our Nation's fabric, one tradition is customary to give a State of the Union Address for late January. Somewhere along the way, I began a tradition by giving the "state of the church" eac...  Read More

In previous Beacon articles, I have praised our steadfast congregation and last week our phenomenal staff! Today, I praise our amazing lay leadership! As we move forward from the most challenging year...  Read More

In the last ten months, we have not had "church" as usual. We have had to adapt, be flexible, and exercise additional caution at most every turn. Through it all, we have found a way to move forward wi...  Read More

The events of the last week have been disturbing, sobering, and saddening. We have so much division in our country! There is so much anger and angst. What do we do to channel the powder keg of emotion...  Read More

We have begun this week our 21 days of worship online for 2021! I hope you are joining in each day at 6 am or at a time that works for you. The 21 days will offer a daily key to thriving. Practicing t...  Read More

This week we flip the calendar into a new year! I do not remember, in my lifetime, more anticipation of starting a new year. Most people wrote 2020 off months ago as the strangest, most chaotic, crazi...  Read More

WE SURE HAVE MISSED SEEING YOU IN PERSON! In recent weeks, the pastors visited friends and members in their neighborhoods. This allowed us the opportunity to visit with some persons we have not seen s...  Read More

Just like that, Advent has arrived. The leftovers from Thanksgiving were still delicious when the quick shift happened last weekend. In just hours, we moved from turkey, dressing, and wonderful family...  Read More

Type your new text here. One of the most asked questions I receive is “what is happening with the church?” In this Beacon update, I will briefly list some of the happenings I am aware of around Shalim...  Read More

As I write this article, I am still a bit "foggy-headed" from virtually no sleep last night. We knew Sally was coming; however, she intensified in the middle of the night, dropped even more rain, and ...  Read More

My feet do not always touch the ground these days, and my steps are light! I am overly excited about discipleship opportunities picking up through our church. The dream of having abundant discipleship...  Read More

In this Beacon article, I am introducing a new style to my writing. This article will be strictly bullet points. They will go fast…make that a flash. I am going to have some fun and hope you do well r...  Read More

2020 is unlike any year in our lifetime! This year I believe it will be a watershed for the future. Those who cling to the past will be disappointed. Our "new normal" will not be about going back to t...  Read More

We are moving as a congregation to 1,000 persons in discipleship groups every week! We are actively moving toward this goal this Fall. There are immediate discipleship opportunities upcoming just ahea...  Read More

Our congregation is blessed to have an abundance of trained Stephen Ministers. They would love to help you during your time of need. This help could come immediately through our church. In this week’s...  Read More

There is good news for this Sunday! I am delighted to announce we will have guest preacher Reverend Carlos Jones, the Senior Pastor of Campton First Baptist Church of Laurel Hill in North Okaloosa Cou...  Read More

One of the take-aways from my time as a District Superintendent was that there are no two churches exactly alike. I supervised 103 churches and, amazingly, each church had their own identity. Shalimar...  Read More

Shalimar UMC welcomes a new pastor July 1st. Reverend Matt Langford officially begins as one of our Associate Pastors. Matt’s focus is to be the preaching pastor for our 11:07am service and of course ...  Read More

Last week, I wrote about 10 phrases I would like to never hear in the church again and suggested we have a funeral for them. This week, I want to focus on the positive! Our staff contributed to this l...  Read More

These are very unusual times. As we seek to adjust to the very unstable new normal, it seems like the target keeps moving. What do you even aim for anyway? I suggest we focus on what is productive and...  Read More

On behalf of our congregation, I would like to congratulate our very own Rev. Dr. Brad Bradford. As of July 1st, Brad became a United Methodist Church Clergy Person in Full Connection, Order of Deacon...  Read More

Well it happened today. We have moved into the second half of 2020, the most unforgettable year of our lifetime. I am reminded of the line by Needlenose Ned from the movie Groundhog Day when he says, ...  Read More

We have heard so many stories about police brutality and the need for reform in recent weeks. George Floyd’s death triggered a firestorm of events that have revealed the continued evil of racism in th...  Read More

2020 may go down as the most unforgettable year of our lifetime. In less than six months, we have had three crises. First, the Covid-19 pandemic and the sickness and suffering that is occurring along ...  Read More

In this edition of the Beacon, I wanted to honor and pay tribute to Rev. Brian Dale. I met Brian back in May of 2016. Our District Superintendent (DS), Dr. Jeremy Pridgeon, let me know of a United Met...  Read More

A football coach hoping to increase offensive production might commit to the spread offense, which means the defense is forced to spread out to cover up to five wide receivers. If a team does this wel...  Read More

As you know by now, Rev. Brian Dale has been appointed to Bagdad United Methodist Church and will be leaving in the coming weeks. As his time with us winds down, I want to invite the congregation to p...  Read More