Posts by Billy Arnold
Thanksgiving Worship with the LifeWay Family
This coming Sunday morning at 10am, we are dedicating our worship time to practice the incredible spiritual habit of GIVING THANKS. Of course, next Thursday is the wonderful American holiday of Thanksgiving. Even though the world shares a few holidays with our culture, this one is truly an American holiday that is so special, and… it is so biblical… it encompasses the beautiful spiritual habit of giving thanks to God. So what does our Sunday worship time look like? How…
Who Do You Say that I Am? – From Desperation to Disciple
When I was 15 years old my grandmother bought a plane ticket for my cousin and I from Texas to Fairbanks, Alaska. It was a dream trip for a 9th grade kid, and it was my first ever commercial airplane ride. I have an uncle who lived there then and still lives there today. To top all this off, he was at that time a bush pilot taking frequent flights all over central and north slope Alaska. Unbelievably fun flying…
Who Do You Say that I Am? – Mark 5:1–20
I’ve heard the term ‘The Total Depravity of Man’ much of my life, especially when I have studied books and classes on theology. It sort of rolls off my tongue these days and makes us feel so theologically intelligent. I know that most of you have heard me use that term a great deal in my preaching over the years. Last year this was a major theme when I taught through the book of Romans. The term “Depravity” sounds so…
Jesus Heals AND Forgives!
When I was a child growing up in Sunday School, of course we focused on Bible Stories. I loved my children’s Bible because not only were the stories pretty cool, but the illustrations and paintings that helped tell the story were memorable and wonderfully visual. My Bible would take a great story and help create an image in my mind that made aided in making it real. Interestingly enough, as a teenager when I began to make a real concerted…
GIC 2024 Followup
We have just completed our GIC week at LifeWay. This was our 13th year to take not only a week, but several weeks leading up to it. As I have said many times recently, this GIC that we began so many years ago has truly shaped the DNA of our church. I am proud of this of course as it was by design, but I feel that the job is in no way finished… it is now just stretched into…
This is Why I Have Come
If you grew up with either a little bit or a lot of a “Churchy” background, then invoking the name of Jesus at least in some way is not that abnormal. You or your family may not have believed deeply or trusted Jesus with the day to day of life, but at least if there was some kind of acknowledgement of Him at Christmas time or Easter, then you were not out of line. And absolutely when there is a…
At the Heart of Why God Put Us Here on this Earth
This is our week… our Missions Focus week… that we call GIC (Global Impact Celebration). As a Pastor of LifeWay it is my privilege to help guide this congregation in the many aspects of our ministry and endeavors. I love the Christmas season and its services. I love summer camps and the connections. I love Easter and its glorious celebration. But I love this GIC week the most. Why? Because I believe it hits at the heart of why God…
Principle of the Harvest
Did you know that one six out of every ten apples that are eaten in the USA comes from the State of Washington? Even though the population of our state makes up only 2% of the national population, our apples make up 60% of the consumption in the USA! Apples are easily the largest crop that is produced in our state, and Wenatchee happens to be the hub of it all. But what makes it even more interesting is that…
What does it take to be Farmer?
When we go to the annual state fair (which just occurred this month) many of us like to pretend we are farmers or ranchers. As we go and visit the horse barn at the fair or go to the rodeo arena, we love to watch the riders and pretend to know the differences between horse breeds. When we take our kids to the pig barn and watch the momma pig with 13 little piglets, we pretend to know all about…
Who Do You Say That I Am? – Who’s the 3rd batter in the line up?
I was never really much of a baseball player, but I know that if I were I would hate the pressure of being the 3rd out when your team was up to bat. For most of you I likely don’t need to explain the basics of how a baseball game is played; how that your team is only allowed three outs in each of the 9 innings. But in the little that I personally played baseball (football was my game!)…
History of LifeWay (Part 10)
Today is part 10 of my ongoing series of reflections of 40 years here at the Church. This has been fun for me personally and there is much more that I might write out for the sake of missions history, but I have decided to put some conclusions on this series today. Learning to work with Crisis: In the life of a church, if I have learned anything that is inevitable, it is that crisis and conflict is essentially unavoidable.…
Who Do You Say That I Am? – My Soul Thirst for You
I have been blessed with the opportunity to see some amazing places in the world. Out of all the unique places I’ve seen and experienced in the world such as the North Slope Brooks range of Alaska, the Grand Canyon, the summit of Mt Rainier to name a few, the starkest place I’ve been to was the North African Desert in Egypt! It was on one of our many trips to Russia that we chose to do an inexpensive detour…
Who Do You Say That I Am? – Mark 1.1–11
We have officially begun our academic year teaching out of the Gospel of Mark. Last Sunday Alvin laid out a bit of an overview and some background to better get a grasp of this book. It is of course the 2nd of the four Gospels that we find in the Bible. It is often the least read of the four as well. But we are jumping in and I can’t wait. This Sunday I have the privilege of focusing on…
History of LifeWay (Part 9)
This is my 9th ‘chapter’ or installment of the 40 years of history that we have been blessed with at this church. From 1984 when Patty and I moved here, until now. Thank you for reading along and indulging with me in this reflective journey. In the last couple of articles I have already spoken of our work in Bryansk, Russia a few times and how that international missions had already made such a huge impact in our personal lives…
The Promises of God: Proverbs 3:5–6
If you’ve been around awhile you might recall that frequently have told the story of how I came to memorize Proverbs 3:5-6. As I was pledging a college fraternity at Baylor in 1976 one of the members of the fraternity was a Christian and forced me to memorize this verse before he would vote for me to be in the club! It might seem strange to you and not match your view of fraternity life, but I will tell you…
The Promises of God: Matthew 28:19–20
This coming Sunday morning August 18 I am honored to have a relatively new friend with us, Brad Schneeflock. Brad is relatively new to the Northwest as he moved here with his family over a year ago from Arizona to lead a collegiate outreach ministry in the Puget Sound Region. He led a great collegiate ministry outreach in Arizona for years, but now brings his expertise and experience to our area. This is of special interest to us at LifeWay…
History of LifeWay (Part 8)
I am continuing to write out some personal reflections and the missions’ history that my wife and I have experienced over these 4 decades of ministry. Today is part 8 of this story. After the merger of Palisades and Calvary and the significant partnership with Don Turner that I wrote about last week, there were in the days to follow some adjustments for sure. From 2003 at the merger until around 2008/2009 there were some wonderful victories, but we…
History of LifeWay (Part 7)
LifeWay Church honored Patty and I this summer for our 40 years of history here. It has inspired me to write out some meaningful moments and people over these four decades. Today I write part 7. Don Turner and the “Merger” that became LifeWay Church: It’s been more than two decades now, but for the most of the early 2000’s here in our church people would often ask about the merger of churches that occurred in the year 2003. Yes,…
History of LifeWay (Part 6)
Today is part 6 of my ongoing recollection of the last 40 years here. Again, I write this out for the sake of ‘missions history’ and I hope you find it interesting and maybe inspiring. The Russia Report: For those who are ‘old-timers’ here at this church (those of you who have been around for 20+ years) this expression “The Russia Report” usually brings up a laugh and reminder of something I gave as a report to the Church family…
The Promises of God: He Always Finishes What He Has Started!
The top of this article is from me (Billy) and the 2nd half is from Scott Jackson. This Sunday, August 4, we are honored to have our own Scott Jackson bring us a message in our summer series we call… “The Promises of God.” Scott and Diane serve in Eastern Europe and have been workers on the international field now for over 14 years. And LifeWay is their home church (and of course Diane is our daughter!! — and sweet…
The Promises of God: He Gives Strength to the Weary
A few years back Patty & I met a family while on vacation. As is common with my wife and I we began to enter into a conversation with them as we are often intrigued by people’s stories. Not only where they had been on vacation, but what they’ve seen and what interesting places they have visited. At some point the conversation turned a bit more personal and we began to ask talk about family things. We were certainly not…
Reflection on the 40 year Journey (Part 4)
I am continuing my reflections of 40 years of history that highlight specific people that have been part of this journey, but also special events and places. 40 years is a fairly long time and there has been a great deal of ‘water under the bridge.’ This series of articles is my way of recalling and recording missions history. Today is part 4 of my reflections and remembrances. The Living Nativity Tours: In the early 1990’s not too long…
History of LifeWay
In my continuation of the review of our 40 years here at Palisades/LifeWay, each week I have taken some time to thank God and remember some very special people and very special organization. This week this is part 3! I am thinking through the 1990’s and those very special years right after we had built the building where we now worship weekly. My wife and I had now been at this church for just about eight years and we were…
Reflection on the 40 year Journey
Two weeks ago this Church family recognized Patty and I for 40 years of ministry here. Thank you once again for this. This led me to do a great deal of historical thinking of this journey. So last week I decided to do a walk down memory lane by writing out the people who stand out to us over those 40 years. Essentially… our story here at this church and the significant people who stand out to us in this…
A Remembrance Walk among Heroes of the Faith
Part 1 of a few more to come. Last Sunday June 30th, the family at LifeWay honored Patty and me for our 40th anniversary of being here at LifeWay/Palisades. As many of you know we were The Church at Palisades for 19 years, then LifeWay for the last 21 years. We came together with Calvary Community Church in 2003 and re-formed and moved forward as LifeWay. That too is a wonderful story that needs to be told sometime. But either…