PassageWay Church

Biblical names conveyed meaning. Some of those meanings are explicitly stated in the text. For example, Abraham and Sarah named their son, Isaac, which meant “He laughs.” Because as Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” The prophet Hosea was told by the Lord to give his children names that were meant to be messages for the wayward people o...

There is perhaps no better description of a cynical, ill-natured, and mean-tempered person than the Grinch.  You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch. You really are a heel. You're as cuddly as a cactus, you're as charming as an eel. Mr. Grinch, you're a bad banana... You’re a monster, Mr. Grinch. Your heart's an empty hole. Your brain is full of spiders. You have garlic in your soul...

Harvest is the culmination of the growing season for farmers whose financial success hinges on the outcome. Hopefully, the weather cooperates, machinery breakdowns are few, and progress continues smoothly. Timing is key. According to the Farm Bureau about 80% of Nebraska's corn crop is harvested between October 1 and November 18. Harvesting too late can lead to poor grain quality due to mold...

Dr. Ron Rushing

In case you hadn’t heard, this Tuesday there’s an election going on. We’re blessed to live in the oldest democracy in the world, which means that we have the privilege of casting a vote for our preferred candidates and our preferred policy measures. Everyone in the community comes together to express the collective will of the people. It sounds so wonderful. Yet, we are a deeply divided nation. Th...

Watching and waiting, if you’re a big game hunter you can relate. You’ve been watching, checking your trail cameras for awhile now, waiting for firearm season to start in just a matter of weeks. The real sportsmen have already been out with their bow since the beginning of September.  Bow hunters sit for hours in their tree stand watching and waiting for that trophy animal to pop into view. Don’t...

I remember well the day that I brought home my new car. New to me anyway. It had just 12,000 miles. All our married lives we’d driven clunkers. The most important characteristic had always been that it have at least six seats to fit us and all the kids. But now, since they were mostly out of the house, we could get more for our money. We found a sporty little Peugeot hatchback. Midnight blue. Insi...

Guest Speaker: Jake Loftis, PassageWay-supported missionary with CRU What is our relationship to our things? We might have to dig deep to answer truthfully on this one.  Most of us would probably all say the right things on the surface. “Relationships are the most important things in life,” “Don’t let the things you own own you,” and “You can’t take it with you” are all things we’ve heard, if not...

What are you afraid of? It’s October and all the Halloween decorations are out. Creepy spiders, bats, zombies, skeletons, headless horsemen. If you want to scream you can spend an evening out at Scary Acres or one of those other haunted attractions in Omaha.  This is the time of year that horror films are released, characters like Freddy from A Nightmare on Elm Street, Jason from Friday the 13th,...

A number of years ago Amee and I were enjoying dinner in the home of some dear friends. Our host was an avid cyclist. He regularly rode Ragbrai. When he wasn’t on his bike he would go camping and fishing. At home he liked to work in the yard, landscaping and clearing trees. Though nearly 60, my friend appeared to be in excellent physical shape. But that evening as we talked, waiting for steaks to...

“God, just give me a sign!” Maybe you’ve cried out those very words or something similar in a season of doubt, wondering if He was even there. Perhaps you've had to make an important decision; like a career change or whether or not to continue a relationship. Don’t you just wish that God would write out his plan in neon lights across the night sky? That sure would make life a whole lot easier...

On September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists killed nearly 3,000 people and injured more than 6,000 others. The worst foreign attack on American soil in our nation’s history. Nine days later President George W. Bush addressed a joint session of congress, vowing to use every resource available to defeat global terrorism. He issued an ultimatum to Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers: turn over Osama bin Laden, the...

No matter who you are, you've probably prayed. Maybe you have whispered a silent prayer before an important exam or job interview. Perhaps you have read or recited a prayer at the funeral of a deceased loved one. Maybe you’ve cried out to God spontaneously in a moment of desperation.  Prayer is a universal practice amongst all varieties of religions and peoples as an attempt to communicate wi...

Triage originates from the French word "trier," which means to sort or organize. French military surgeon Baron Dominique Jean Larrey, the chief surgeon in Napoleon Bonaparte's imperial guard, developed a system to evaluate and categorize wounded soldiers quickly during battle. Today, health care professionals all around the world utilize triage to prioritize patients based on the se...

Mr. Rogers was the epitome of nice. He spoke in friendly tones and wore conservative sweaters. He even changed his shoes when he came into the house. He was such a pleasant man.  Is this what it means to be a Christian? Is this what it takes to get into heaven?  As we continue on in our salvation story we read that Jesus is asked this very question by a highly respectable man, an expert in the Jew...

Were you ever that kid who rode the bench? You just wanted to get in the game. Like John Fogerty’s 1985 classic Centerfield, “Put me in coach, I’m ready to play…” The lyric describes a kid with his old worn out glove, a homemade bat, and shined up spikes longing to be a contributing part of the team.  Perhaps you've felt like that at church.  Idaho pastor and author Jim Putman wrote a best se...

To be single-minded is to have only one purpose, goal, or interest. Like a young man who has fallen madly in love, she is all that he can think about. His buddies get annoyed because he used to always be down for a game of pick-up basketball. But now, he wants to spend his free time on the weekends with her. He’ll even go shopping and watch romantic movies. He picks up extra hours at work because...

Hey, senior! You have reached the pinnacle of your high school experience. You put in your time and learned to navigate the lunch room confusion, the awkwardness of which table to sit at. Maybe your books got dumped as an underclassman, but now you know your way around the hallways. Perhaps you sat on the bench all last season, but this year is your time to shine. You’re a survivor. You’re about t...

In just a few weeks college students all across the country will experience a similar sensation; syllabus shock. The syllabus contains an overall description of the course, its objectives, the materials needed, and all the assignments that will be due throughout the semester. It can be quite daunting. But, the syllabus really is a good thing. It's a professor's contract with his or her s...

Have you ever been given a task for which you felt ill equipped? Perhaps you felt this way as a first time parent, bringing that delicate little life home from the hospital. For the first 36 hours you relied on the expertise of an entire team of doctors and nurses. There was that reassuring hushed buzz in the halls of a hospital. But all of a sudden you step into the relative emptiness of your own...

There is nothing more definitive than death. As the Book of Common Prayer says, “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” It is an inevitable part of the human condition. Death has been called the great equalizer. Regardless of ethnicity, social status, wealth, or personal accomplishments in this life, death is our common enemy. Perhaps you have had a personal brush with death. Maybe you’ve held the hand of...

Perhaps you, too, watch those home renovation shows in which the celebrity couple takes a bargain basement house and transforms it into a beautiful home. Typically, the remodel runs into some sort of a snag. They peak behind the walls or under the floors only to discover significant structural damage. It’s going to cost more money and take more time than originally thought.  And so it is in our li...

Nebraska lies in what is referred to as tornado alley. So, we’re prepared for severe weather events. We have emergency signal systems that warn of the approaching danger. But will they alert people in time? Will the warning be heeded? You build a storm shelter. But will it withstand the force of 165 mph winds? You have homeowners insurance to replace that hail damaged roof, but will the policy pay...

If you’re a parent you know the feeling of being heard but not heeded. You shout down the stairs that lunch is ready. Your middle schooler who is currently engrossed in a video game replies, “Ok!” You wait patiently, but after a few minutes there is no sign that the message was truly received. As we continue on in our salvation story, we read that Jesus was going through Galilean cities and towns...

Love is observable, expressed through actions. You’ll see this at a wedding. The bride and groom solemnly swear in the presence of God and witnesses to love one another “until death do us part.” But the intimacy enjoyed by two young lovers isn’t merely a recitation of time worn words. Their love is plainly visible in the way she gazes into his eyes or in the tender way he whispers in her ear as th...