The Thursday Update

JANUARY 29, 2026

Lakeshore Friends,

Have you noticed all the hate that is out there these days?

You see it observing people on the news.  There are lots of people so filled with hate and bitterness toward others.  People wishing harm and even death on others they don’t like or disagree with.  The celebration of people being killed is the most gross example of this.

You hear about it in the lives of others who share things about what their friends and family say to them.  It’s really hard to believe people can say the things that they do about other people.  By the way, Pastors experience it as well.  Every pastor can tell stories of some of the most incredibly hateful things people say about them and about their church or ministry.

And you can be certain that hate is on the rise in the world.

Have you experienced hate yourself these days?  How do you handle it in your life?

Over the years, I’ve grown and learned a lot about hate and hateful people.  Here’s what I have learned from the Bible and life: 

1. There will always be hateful people.  It doesn’t matter what you do or don’t do, what you say or don’t say, how hard you try or anything else.  We must learn to accept this as a sad reality.  The sooner we do, the better we can prepare for it happening to us.  As the pop hit song goes, “Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate hate.”
   
   
2. The more you love Jesus, the more people will hate you for it.  That’s because the ways of the world are in contradiction to the ways of God.  Jesus told us so in John 15:

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.  If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own.  As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.  That is why the world hates you.  Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’  If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.”  John 15:18-20a, NIV

1. The hate we see today will only get worse as we approach the last days and the return of Jesus.  Don’t expect things to get better.  If they do, it won’t be for long because the trend is becoming crystal clear for anyone who knows what the Bible says about these last days.  The Apostle Paul wrote these words to Pastor Timothy as an example for us to understand.  Notice how many of these words are tied to feelings of hate for others, for God, and for life:

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.  2 Timothy 3:1-4, NIV

1. We can find inner joy when we are hated for Jesus Christ’s sake.  God allows us to be hated so that we can find our joy in Him and not in this life.  In fact, Jesus says that when we are hated by others for living for Him, we will receive a greater reward in heaven:

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”  Matthew 5:11-12, NIV

1. The only response to hatred and evil is love and goodness.  Consider these verses when deciding how to respond to haters:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”  Matthew 5:43-45a, NIV 

 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.  On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.  In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.  Romans 12:19-21, NIV

With a world of hate all around us, it is very easy to get sucked into hate ourselves.  “We hate him!”  “We hate those people!”  “We hate people who vote this way!”  “We hate people who support this or that or whatever!”  We must guard against embracing the same lifestyle that our hateful world embraces.  As a Christian, the last thing I want to be known for is hate and the first thing I want to be known for is love.  So I want to try and live like it everyday. 

So when people hate you and me, think of it as God’s opportunity to show them a love that is impossible without God producing it in us to pass on to others.Warmly,

Vince
Senior Pastor

JANUARY 22, 2026

Lakeshore Friends,

I feel bad for Buffalo Bills fans! I really do. Honest!

I thought it was bad enough that the Buffalo Bills lost their divisional round playoff football game on such controversial terms. I think if they ruled that overtime catch by Brandin Cooks a catch (which I think it was) and not an interception, a short field goal would have won the game for Buffalo. They would advance to the AFC championship game and be one more win away from the Super Bowl. But as it turns out, they lost to Denver and their season is over.

And then, surprisingly on Monday morning, the Bills fired their head coach Sean McDermott. Sean is a strong Christian and was a great coach for the team. But since he couldn’t get the team into the Super Bowl with a great quarterback like Josh Allen, I guess the powers that be felt a change was needed.

Few things surprise me anymore. And they shouldn’t surprise you either.

In many ways, I thought about last Sunday’s message, Feeding Our Piggy Banks Generously, and the point I made: when it comes to earning money to put into our “piggy banks”, we must remember that earning power is never guaranteed. As James put it:

Listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. James 4:13-14, NIV

We should never take life for granted. And we should never take tomorrow for granted, especially when it comes to finances. That’s why we’re in our series, “Lessons From The Piggy Bank”. If you missed last week’s message, you can catch it right here. And for those who asked for my chart on the “learning, earning, and yearning years of life”, I have it right here.

This Sunday, we’ll talk about how to protect our Piggy Banks from “malnutrition”. Yeah, that’s a real topic. I hope you’ll be here to learn more about biblical money management.

And if any Bills fans need some support, we’re here for you too.

Warmly,

Vince
Senior Pastor

JANUARY 15, 2026

Lakeshore Friends,

Most of us grew up with a Piggy Bank. Do you remember yours?

Whether it was shaped like a pig or some other figure, it was our family’s way of teaching us the value of money. We learned so many valuable lessons on how to feed the Piggy Bank with money, how to protect it from theft or harm, and when and how to break open the Piggy Bank at the right time and for the right expenditures when the time was right.

Believe it or not, some of those important lessons from childhood carry over into how we should manage our finances today as adults. Today, we have (or should try to have) many different adult names for our adult Piggy Banks: Checking and Savings accounts, Health Savings accounts, CD accounts, IRA accounts, 401K accounts and our giving to God “eternal rewards” account. We can apply so many of these lessons from our youth to our adult Piggy Banks when we deepen our understanding of these “Piggy Bank” principles.

In a new series we’re beginning on Sunday called, Lessons From The Piggy Bank”, we’ll look at what the Bible says about feeding, protecting, and breaking your adult “Piggy Banks” in ways that honor God, benefit you and your family, and keep you from going… broke! This is a great series to learn and grow in the foundational principles of biblical financial management.

If you want to have a great financial year ahead, I encourage you to be here for this important series.

Warmly,

Vince
Senior Pastor