Category Archives: In A Nutshell

We All Scream for Ice Cream I’m guessing that most of you had an ice cream truck that would make its wayaround your neighborhood each summer. Where I grew up in suburban Pittsburgh, wewould hear the melodic tune off in the distance and know that the ice cream treats wereon the way. All of usContinue reading “In A Nutshell | July 31, 2025”

Let Faith and Freedom Ring This Holiday Weekend Throughout human history, people have passionately pursued freedom, and with goodreason. In the words of the one-hit wonder rock group from the 1990s, The BoDeans,“everybody wants to be free.” As we prepare to celebrate our nation’s independence tomorrow, it is important toconsider the often-overlooked freedom to practiceContinue reading “In A Nutshell | July 3, 2025”

Vibrant New Leadership Brings the Promise of a Bright Future In case you haven’t heard, the East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church — of which Oak Chapel is a member — has a new leader. His name is Hee-Soo Jung, and he is a native of South Korea. Last September, he assumed responsibilityContinue reading “In A Nutshell | June 19, 2025”

Red Alert: The Holy Spirit Descends Again on Sunday The color red evokes a range of emotions, from love and passion to anger and rage. Ina spiritual context, red is most often associated with the blood of Jesus Christ, whichsaved our souls from the scourges of sin and death. However, it is also representativeof PentecostContinue reading “In A Nutshell | June 6, 2025”

Answering God’s Call to Support Our Young People Oak Chapel recently joined forces with Church of the Cross, Smithville UnitedMethodist, and Wooster United Methodist to sponsor a baccalaureate luncheon forstudents at Liberty Prep, a school for at-risk kids in Wayne County.  There were more than 25 students in attendance, and every one of them lookedasContinue reading “In A Nutshell | May 22, 2025”

A Reminder to ‘Live for Today’ Where are you living? I don’t mean the physical location of your home. I’m talking about your state of mind. Some people live in the past, always reflecting on days gone by and yearning for “the way things used to be.” Others live for the future, constantly anticipating andContinue reading “In A Nutshell | May 8, 2025”

Forgiveness and Atonement: An Eternal Promise Did you ever have a spot on your shirt or pants that you just couldn’t seem to get out, regardless of how hard you scrubbed and how much soap you used? It’s kind of that way with sin. We can try with all of our might to remove theContinue reading “In A Nutshell | April 24, 2025”

Faithful Giving is Not an Obligation, but Rather an Opportunity Tax collectors were not highly regarded in Biblical times because they were generally thought to be corrupt. Today’s tax preparers are much more trustworthy, but the process of paying taxes remains distasteful for many because it feels as though the government is taking our hard-earnedContinue reading “In A Nutshell | April 10, 2025”

Spontaneous Evangelism In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells his followers to make disciples of all nations. That message was intended to be passed on to future generations — all the way up to present day and beyond — but how strictly do we adhere to that call? I will say that a number ofContinue reading “In A Nutshell | March 28, 2025”

Using Our Voices to Speak Up for What is Right One of the more controversial practices of the early church was that of speakingin tongues. Also known as “glossolalia,” speaking in tongues involved spontaneousutterances in a previously unknown language that others could allegedly understandand interpret. It is believed to be a rare gift of theContinue reading “In A Nutshell | March 13, 2025”