On May 8, 2021, our father, Pastor Pedro S. Capetillo, was laid to rest to await our Lord and Savior’s return. The stories he shared from his testimony and conversion continue to ring during our families’ dinners and get togethers. While reflecting on the importance of creating a welcoming culture in our local churches, we […]

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“The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:17). I had the American Dream, yet my heart felt empty. I had a handsome husband, a beautiful baby, and a home of […]

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Giving thanks unto the Father . . . who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son . . . who is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:12, 13, 15). When I was eight years old, I was excited at the prospect […]

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Twenty years ago I was sitting in a pew when a Mexican man entered our church. He looked out of place in our small Caucasian congregation. The Church of God was his home back in Mexico, and he wanted to be part of our church. But he spoke only Spanish. Someone tried to teach him […]

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The sign beneath the broken clock reads: Don’t blame the hand — the problem is much deeper. Likewise, the brokenness we lament in today’s world is symptomatic of a much deeper problem, captured succinctly in this statement: “At the heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart.” It’s true, for we […]

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When we consider what the Bible clearly shows regarding God’s promised judgment on sin and unrepentant humans, it is easy to see only the darker tones of the prophetic picture. We miss the highlights of goodness, mercy, and compassion that are also there. In the messages of the Old Testament prophets, for example, we can […]

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And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden (Genesis 3:8). The Bible tells of people hiding from God at the beginning (in Genesis) and […]

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Along with Psalms, Isaiah is the Old Testament book most quoted and alluded to in the New Testament. As one of the major prophets, Isaiah is a brilliant literary work full of poetry and imagery. The book revolves around divine accusations of rebellion and unbelief, warnings of national judgment, and calls for repentance. The book […]

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Hope. I want it. I search for it. I try to hold on to it when I find it. I sing, teach, greet, write, and listen to pastors speak words of hope. Yet in reality, hope has proven elusive from the beginning of time. Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and were driven from […]

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“Skip! Come back here! SKIP!” David slumped on the porch, dejected. Why wouldn’t that dog ever listen to him? He had tried everything to teach him to mind. It wasn’t because he wanted to be mean to his dog. He loved him! He wanted to keep him safe, but Skip wouldn’t listen. “What’s all the […]

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For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature (Romans 7:18). In Eden, God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or they’d die. They didn’t need to understand the big picture. They just needed to respect […]

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The book of Ezekiel begins with the prophet’s calling. At age 30, Ezekiel was in exile with Israel on the Kebar River when God singled him out for special purposes and ministry. God placed before him a bewildering vision. At the end of it, Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord. In awe, he fell […]

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