Last week, I completed reading my second book of this early year . In 2019, I have set a personal goal to read a certain a number of books. The one I just finished reading is titled "The Bonsai Theory of Church Growth" by Ken Hemphill. I have known about this book for just about my entire life and have been meaning to read it . So, I finally did. The book takes the theories and practices of caring for bonsai trees and applies them to church growth. Admittedly, I completely mi

A few weeks ago, Christians celebrated and remembered Jesus’ resurrection from the tomb. Easter, as we call it now, signals hope, joy, and confidence that God is in control of life and death. He is stronger than death – and Revelation tells us that one day God will throw death itself into the lake of fire. Easter also carries some other thoughts and emotions for me and my family. Many years ago, my grandmother died on, or around, Easter. (She was born on Easter too, but not

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about a fairly tough, sensitive topic. Death. A few weeks ago my wife’s grandfather passed away. He is a beloved and well respected man in his community, and loved by his family. Funerals are never easy, but like it or not, we will all face this one day. While helping and watching my in-laws prepare for the funeral, I was overwhelmed by the stories, pictures, and love they demonstrated to their husband, father, and grandfather. There were

As I mentioned back in November of 2017, this article is the relaunch of my dad’s article. Therefore, I want to feature his original work from time to time. I am going to title those posts as “IWJT Throwback”. This particular article was originally written in January 2008. I have titled it Ripeness. I have done some light editing to it, but it is largely intact in its original form. I hope you enjoy this article, and thank you again for reading. “Because of a new jelly commer

Guest Post by Gabe Jones As I’m sure many people did at the beginning of the year, my wife and I sat down to list and discuss our short and long-term goals. One of the goals I listed for myself was the often cited, “get back into shape this year” goal. I didn’t have a groundbreaking approach to this endeavor. In fact, I know exactly what caused my “getting out” of shape in the first place. For the second half of 2017 I didn’t eat healthy… at all. As if that wasn’t enough to d

This past Sunday, I had a really busy and crazy day. I was coming home from out of town and I was a bit behind schedule. I thought I had a plenty of time but I didn’t. I had to be back for Youth Group at 5:30pm. I literally pulled in the church parking lot at 5:28pm. My adult leaders and several youth were out in the parking lot entertaining themselves. I ran inside, turned on all the lights and unlocked the doors. Once everyone was inside I had to run back home because our t

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to preach at the church I am currently serving. I spoke about remembering the “great things God has done”. Normally this time of year we are so excited about the new year and all that awaits us that we run the risk of ignoring what has taken place over the past year. And if we do look back it is usually about all the bad things that occurred. My sermon was based on Deuteronomy 11:1-9, where Moses is retelling the Exodus story and its sub

Before you react with either immense excitement or utter disdain, this article has nothing to do with snow queens, ice salesmen, or snowmen who like warm hugs…well, it does have to do with a snowman that was created, but not by the magic of a top hat. This time of year gets many of us really excited. One of my favorite Christmas shows is the classic “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. However, its sequel “It’s Christmastime again, Charlie Brown!” is probably not as well known. In th

This past weekend, my wife and I were in North Carolina visiting my family for Christmas. This visit was a little different because it was the first time I have traveled to another state with our two golden retrievers. We stayed at a hotel and were on the second floor. This may sound insignificant, but with a one year old puppy, it is VERY significant. Our puppy, Mowgli, is a tough guy. He is a smaller retriever, but he is built solid and has no concept of pain. He has two sp

Now a month into the relaunch of the “I Was Just Thinking…” article, I want to honor its origin and history. Therefore, I have pulled out the archives of my father’s original work. I will periodically do this and title them "IWJT Throwbacks". This week’s post, titled Christian, will you help me?, was originally written on October 3, 2007. I hope you enjoy this article, and thank you again for reading. “Today, as I had gone to the grocery store to just pick up some milk, I had

Last night, the middle school basketball team I am coaching had its first game. It was an exciting time as we began our new season. Unfortunately, we did lose. However, that is not the story here. Our head coach is an eighth grade history teacher and takes academics very seriously. Any of you who have played school sports, or had a child play, knows that there are academic requirements for eligibility. Our school’s policy regarding academic eligibility is pretty low. Therefor

Thanksgiving is tomorrow! I know that many of you are excited about the festivities that will most certainly take place in many of your homes. The turkey, stuffing, pies, family, and football will probably dominate the schedule. Until the crazy shopping deals begin… I was talking about favorite Thanksgiving dishes and traditions with the students of my youth ministry this past Sunday when an interesting question was asked, “What is this Thanksgiving you all are so excited abo

“You’ll eventually find yourself too busy.” This was a comment I received from someone after I mentioned that I wanted to begin reading more. My decision to do so was because I scarcely read anything before I started full-time ministry. I had read plenty for school, but nothing for personal growth or interest. And what I had read, I left unfinished. One book in particular I started to read seven times. I even received several late fees from the local library after multiple ex

Many years ago my dad, Billy Hutchinson, a pastor and ministry leader of over two decades, began writing a column for a small-town newspaper, The Brunswick Times-Gazette. His column connected the truth of God’s Word with real life situations, observations, and experiences. His article was known as “I Was Just Thinking…” and reached people throughout the United States and the world. Two years ago my dad passed away. While I know he is with Jesus, his passing has been difficult