tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134051172024-03-07T03:49:56.692-05:00Frankly SpeakingFrankly Speaking is the online home for the thoughts of Pastor Frank WellerFrank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.comBlogger590125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13405117.post-43087833081193701052019-08-22T15:32:00.000-04:002019-08-22T23:27:43.249-04:00Some thoughts on my thirty-second wedding anniversaryI shouldn’t be, but I’m filled with overwhelming sadness today.
It started two nights ago when Tracy and I were out for dinner. I left the restaurant feeling a little discomfort. I told her, “My gall bladder hurts.” It reminded me of the sort of thing my dad used to say: “Did your bladder splatter? Did your liver quiver?” He was full of ready-made goofy Dad-isms. For whatever reason I thought Frank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13405117.post-33422477049418290072019-07-08T14:42:00.002-04:002019-07-08T16:22:42.858-04:00Our Family Farmall Comes Home
In the mid-1950s my grandpa went to the Ford dealer in Avilla, Indiana and traded in his
F20 for a Farmall Super M. He farmed with that tractor for a couple decades before selling it to
my dad. Dad used it until 1987 when he sold the farm and went to Great Lakes Christian College to become a
preacher.
Our neighbor, Kenny, bought the tractor and used it until he passed away. His brother, John, Frank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13405117.post-58039960863921510302018-11-28T21:45:00.001-05:002018-11-28T21:45:39.566-05:00Christmas In Lansing
If your family is looking for amazing activities this Christmas, check out
ChristmasInLansing.com, the new website created by South Lansing Christian Church.
Our church created it as a gift to our community. We wanted to have one place where Lansing residents could go to find the best holiday traditions the Capital City has to offer.
Sorted into five categories, including Family Fun, Arts andFrank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13405117.post-51421206424238174272018-11-21T12:07:00.000-05:002018-11-21T12:07:25.231-05:00Is heartburn on the menu this Thanksgiving?
Will the 2018 election intrude on turkey day the way the 2016 election did? That’s the question the Dallas Morning News asked in an article highlighting a study by researchers Keith Chen and Ryan Rhola.
The researchers compared cell phone location data and voting data to analyze how long travelers spent celebrating Thanksgiving with their relatives. Comparing 2015 data with 2016 they observed Frank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13405117.post-83682653576793116282018-09-28T23:18:00.000-04:002018-09-28T23:18:46.839-04:00The Other Casualty of the Kavanaugh Hearing: Statesmanship
In the spring of 2015 my wife and I were part of an excursion to Washington, D.C. that included private tours of Mt. Vernon and the U.S. Capital building. Each tour was at night and was magical. The lamplight at Mt. Vernon cast long shadows across hallways George Washington once walked. The Capitol tour was just as memorable. Our footfalls and hushed conversation were the only noise as we Frank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13405117.post-86039189881429904062018-02-22T18:52:00.001-05:002018-10-02T16:08:04.971-04:00My Take on the Gun Debate: Tool or Toy
In recent years I have tried to avoid divisive political issues. As a Christ follower commissioned as a pastor, my passion is to reconcile people to Jesus. To that end, I don't want to create barriers between me and someone who doesn't know Jesus. Though I try to carefully calibrate what I post on Facebook (I don't always succeed), I feel a bit more freedom to address such issues in this Frank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13405117.post-56063129151080526192017-09-25T19:17:00.001-04:002017-09-25T19:17:56.779-04:00In memory of Angie UberWhen I arrived as a fresh-faced, newly minted preacher at the Butler Church of Christ twenty years ago, it didn’t take me long to realize that Angie Uber knew a lot more about being a church secretary than I did about being a pastor. Angie passed away last week at age 48. Cancer might have defeated her body, but I feel certain that her spirit thrived.
The truth is, I probably never would have Frank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13405117.post-25822903454827875632017-03-21T09:54:00.001-04:002017-03-21T09:55:40.283-04:00Baptizing Bill and Jenny
The day before my friend Paul died from his two-and-a-half year battle with cancer, I stopped by his hospice room. It was a Sunday afternoon and I was leaving for Australia the next morning.
“Hey Paul,” I said as I walked in the room, “You’re not going to guess who was in church this morning!”
His wife, Christiina, spoke up, “I already told him. Billy and Jenny.”
Paul looked at me andFrank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13405117.post-17947202043798880542016-12-02T13:17:00.000-05:002016-12-02T13:20:48.934-05:00An open letter to the author of the hate letter sent to our local mosqueThe Lansing State Journal reported today on the photo-copied note you sent to mosques throughout the U.S., including a mosque right here in East Lansing, Michigan. I'm guessing you have another ream of them all stamped and ready to deliver. (Did you use an American flag stamp?) But for the benefit of others who might not have read your tripe, I will post it here.
I don't know who you fancy Frank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13405117.post-21416937539687411302016-11-14T12:02:00.002-05:002016-11-14T12:02:49.061-05:00Two myths about Christians and depression
I'm wearing my Charlotte Strong shirt today to honor Ian Hartley, a young man who lost his battle with depression earlier this year. I presided at Ian's funeral surrounded by over 700 his family and friends. The reminders of Ian's fight - and the reason we need to continue his fight - are all around me. Every time I drive past Charlotte. Whenever I see a soccer ball. In the song of an Oriole.
Frank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13405117.post-70767961179907742902016-11-09T11:35:00.003-05:002016-11-09T11:46:04.390-05:00Four post-election survival strategiesIt's going to be okay.
The votes are all counted; half of America is reeling, half of America is somewhere between feeling mildly validated and euphoric.
I’ve already heard from two different women with two very different perspectives on the election. The first, a Clinton voter, told me, “I feel like I'm going to cry and throw up at the same time. I need some help coping with this.”
A secondFrank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13405117.post-34295566039913730352016-11-08T11:43:00.002-05:002016-11-08T22:00:36.154-05:00The day after the election
I voted this morning and, for the first time in my life, I went to the polls as an undecided voter. After I cast my ballot, the election official offered me an "I Voted" sticker. I refused. Frankly, I am not proud of the vote I cast. I am not pleased with either major candidate.
This election was the worst in my lifetime: a woman who is corrupt on a heretofore unforeseen scale; a man whose Frank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13405117.post-72461008003727964092016-08-19T22:22:00.002-04:002016-08-19T22:22:27.362-04:00Olympic goldI was able to watch all of the US gold medal moments during the Rio Olympics back to back thanks to the NBC Sports app. It is an interesting perspective because I know when the event begins that each athlete has already won. Nevertheless, I find myself captivated by their performances. Regardless of the event, watching the competitors battle through adversity and pain, facing each challenge as Frank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13405117.post-38736709477806780732016-03-04T02:36:00.001-05:002016-03-04T02:38:00.918-05:00Archie Bunker and the Politics of Donald Trump
Back when our television took a minute to "warm up" my folks and I gathered around the set each night to watch reruns of Carrol O’Conner and Jean Stapleton’s hit show All in the Family. My dad cracked up whenever Archie insulted his son-in-law, Meathead. As a UAW factory worker Pop connected to Archie. I related to Edith in whom I saw my grandmother, a nervous housewife flitting about trying toFrank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13405117.post-9570434039833567472015-11-09T17:24:00.001-05:002015-11-09T17:24:30.036-05:00Surprised by God . . . again!God still has the capacity to surprise me. I don't know why. His capacity to astonish me is certainly nothing new.
But the way I saw God show up this last week is too exciting to keep to myself.
At last month’s elders’ meeting our mission team proposed that our church become ministry partners with Sidd and Sangheetha, two former South Lansing Christian Church members who returned home last yearFrank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13405117.post-3457621934648693752015-11-06T14:49:00.001-05:002015-11-06T14:49:54.857-05:00A lawyer's take on the prodigal son
A woman from our church brought a guest with her to our recent Friend Day at South Lansing Christian Church. I preached from Luke 15 about the lost son. You might remember the parable.
The younger of two sons asks his father to divide his estate and give him his share. This was shocking as he was basically telling his father, “I wish you were dead!” The father gave him what he asked for and, Frank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13405117.post-47827632025444008032015-06-30T00:50:00.003-04:002015-06-30T01:09:00.892-04:00Here’s Why Your Pastor Didn't Say Anything About the SCOTUS Gay-Marriage Ruling
Three days have passed since the SCOTUS same-sex marriage ruling and the bloggers are a bloggin’ and the preachers are a preachin’.
Just not yours.
Sunday came and went at your church with nary a word about gays, marriage, SCOTUS or anything associated therewith. Pastor didn’t ask you to pray about the ruling, and there was no surprise homily from Romans 1. You keep checking the Frank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13405117.post-30491115378980167312015-06-18T11:10:00.000-04:002015-06-18T11:10:14.702-04:00If your life depended on passing a Bible quiz . . .
If your life depended on passing a Bible exam, how would you fare?
A story out of the UK details how Australia is struggling to deal with their refugee crisis. Like America, Australia has become home to asylum seekers. Among those are Christians from China who are eager to escape persecution.
One such believer recently found herself the object of intense scrutiny when an Australian tribunal Frank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13405117.post-10328765917833082902015-01-15T23:51:00.002-05:002015-01-18T09:38:22.970-05:00Paradise (nearly) Lost
"I have come to believe that the major threat to the viability of our faith is that of consumerism. This is a far more heinous and insidious challenge to the gospel, because in so many ways it infects each and every one of us. I was trained as a marketer and advertiser before I came to Christ, and when I look at the power of consumerism and of the market in our lives, I have little doubt that Frank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13405117.post-41965621492918756102014-11-26T10:56:00.002-05:002014-11-26T10:56:24.463-05:00The fate of all nations who ignore GodIn my quiet time, lately, I have been focusing on the YouVersion verse of the day. I use it as a springboard and go deeper into the context of each day's particular verse. Today's verse of the day was in Psalm 9, which led me to Psalm 9:17 - "The wicked will go down to the grave. This is the fate of all the nations who ignore God."
This resonates with the conservative in me. After all, it feelsFrank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13405117.post-65717353159387103252014-05-25T21:07:00.001-04:002014-05-25T21:07:57.741-04:00A Vietnam Veteran Finally Returns Home
Guest Blog by SSgt Tony L Lamson, USMC (ret), Deported Veterans Representative, Point Man International Ministries
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Specialist Hector Barrios, a 70-year-old Vietnam Veteran who
served with the 1st Air Cavalry, is finally home with his family
this Memorial Day. Hector passed on April 21, 2014. He wasn’t one of the lost
or missing of the Vietnam War.
He was one of Frank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13405117.post-21198422744416630222014-03-20T22:48:00.002-04:002014-03-20T22:48:50.927-04:00Figuring It Out At Finish Line
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Frank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13405117.post-74453879500436565522014-02-10T23:04:00.000-05:002014-02-10T23:04:08.670-05:00The parable of the skater
When Stephen was a kid he always wished he knew how to ice skate. There was something about the faces of the kids out on the ice. They seemed so full of joy. Sometimes the skaters raced around the rink. At other times they glided slowly and silently as if pondering something weighty.
But not Stephen. He sat in the bleachers with a couple of other kids who were equally frightened at the Frank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13405117.post-61663384553880310112014-01-20T15:26:00.003-05:002021-03-19T16:22:43.724-04:00The Scandal of the Church in America
Jessica wrote me a note following yesterday's sermon:
You obviously have me thinking. Here is a question that pairs with an article I just sent:
if global wealth continues to become more and more concentrated in a
small number of people, how will churches be able to stay afloat? If
there is more competition for fewer dollars, it makes sense that at some
point churches without Frank Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463410780530079540noreply@blogger.com0