WHAT’S ON WHAT’S UP TODAY:

May is National Foster Care Month. How can YOU help?

How can individuals, families, and churches help?

PLUS: With summer approaching, many churches will be sending pastors, church members, and even guests to camps and mission trips.

How can churches best protect their teams while serving far from home?

IS YOUR CHURCH PREPARED FOR THE UNTHINKABLE?

Dr. David Capes, Subbing for Mark Lanier: Hope after the empty tomb.

PASTOR EMORY COTHEN: Jesus Brings restoration.

Today’s Prayer:
Scripture Reference: Proverbs 5
Father God,
You are all-knowing and all-seeing, yet you love and forgive sinners such as me.
May I be more attentive to your precepts; hiding your wisdom in my heart will guide my steps. More Below…

Discussed by Terry Lowry
with Host of the What's UP Radio Program

Host Terry Lowry interviews influential and knowledgeable guests on relevant topics for today.

MAY: NATIONAL FOSTER CARE MONTH

Discussed by Dr. Sharen Ford
with Wait No More (www.WaitNoMore.org)

May is National Foster Care Month. How can YOU help?

Today, Dr. Sharen Ford shares how you and your church can help foster families in your community. Dr. Ford is the director of Wait No More¸ the foster care and adoption division of Focus on the Family.

Click here for more information about Wait No More.

Questions/Issues Discussed:

How did Focus on the Family assist 480,000 foster households in 2025?

Foster families need many things, but what are the three essential components they all need? Dr. Ford discusses prayer for the foster parent, a listening ear for the foster family, and engagement with the foster child.

What is the purpose of the Suitcase Bundle Program? Click here for more information.

How can individuals, families, and churches help? Click here to contact Dr. Sharen Ford.

IS YOUR CHURCH PREPARED FOR THE UNTHINKABLE?

Discussed by Gabe Brown
with Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company (BrotherhoodMutual.com/)

With summer approaching, many churches will be sending pastors, church members, and even guests to camps and mission trips across America and the world. How can churches best protect their teams while serving far from home?

Today, Gabe Brown discusses the liability churches could incur should something bad happen. Gabe Brown is the Vice President of Sales and Operation with Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company. For the past eight years, Gabe Brown has served on the board of directors for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Fort Wayne, and he has been involved with leading mission trips for eighteen years.

Click here for more information about Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company.

Questions/Issues Discussed:

Do many churches neglect the financial risks associated with sending teen and adults to summer camps and mission trips?

Should church leaders discuss and document safety strategies prior to sending teens and adults far from home?

Should churches have liability insurance? Gabe Brown explains why this is so very important and the various levels of insurance available.

What are some practical safety tips? Gabe gives several tips and says: “Preparedness leads to safety.”

Click here for free legal advice for your church.

Click here for more information on mission trip travel insurance.

A MOUSETRAP ISN’T JUST A MOUSETRAP

Discussed by Sara Tracey
with The What's UP Radio Program

A Mousetrap isn’t Just a Mousetrap

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. “What food might this contain?” the mouse wondered. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning: “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!” The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said: “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.”

The mouse turned to the pig and told him: “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!” The pig sympathized, but said: “I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.”

The mouse turned to the cow and said: “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!” The cow said: “Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose.”

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house – like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.

The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever.

Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient.

But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer’s wife did not get well; she died.

So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them. The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

What’s the moral of the story? The next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn’t concern you, remember: when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.

We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another. Each of us is a vital thread in another person’s tapestry.

You can shake your head and go "Tsk-tsk-tsk, it's such a shame". But just wait for another virus, business shutdown, riots in another city, war in another country, or any other major problem. It will eventually affect you!

Remember the poem by John Donne: “No Man is an Island”

FIRSTFRUITS OF JESUS AND HOPE IN THE EMPTY TOMB

Discussed by Dr. David Capes
with Lanier Theological Library (www.LanierTheologicalLibrary.org)

Day 2

Dr. David Capes subs in for Mark Lanier this week, still teaching on the Book of Romans with a look at Romans 8:23-24. He will be encouraging us each day to look for the hope that we have in Jesus, the empty tomb, and the glorious future that awaits us in heaven.

To view Dr. David Capes’ video for this lesson, click here.

If you have a prayer request, need Scripture encouragement, or would like a copy of Mark’s lessons each week, email wantmore@biblical-literacy.org

QUESTIONS / ISSUES DISCUSSED:

WE GROAN: FIRSTFRUITS PARADOX (Romans 8:23)

Does the spirit create a longing inside of us for something more?

What does “firstfruits” mean? Dr. David Capes explains why are we are commanded to give God the first ten percent of our income. How will are bodies become new in heaven?

Is there something “wrong” with us if we, as Christ-followers, feel a longing for something more or seek something else for our life?

For more information about Mark Lanier’s Biblical Literacy class, click here.

JESUS BRINGS RESTORATION

Discussed by Pastor Emory Cothen
with Champion Forest Baptist Church (www.ChampionForest.org)

Day 2

HAVE YOU EVER MESSED UP? MADE A MISTAKE? WISHED YOU COULD TAKE SOMETHING BACK OR UNSAY SOMETHING YOU SAID? YEP. ME TOO! WELL, THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT JESUS FORGIVES ALL OF THOSE MISTAKES AND MESSED UP WORDS.

Pastor Emory Cothen continues in the sermon series entitled: “So, What? Why the Resurrection Matters.” This week, he peaches about the second chance that Jesus gave to Peter – and the second chances he gives to us, too.

Pastor Cothen is the Young Adults Pastor at Champion Forest Baptist Church.

Scripture Passage: John 21:15-19

Find Pastor Emory Cothen’s sermon here.

If you have questions about a sermon, please contact Champion Forest at questions@cfbc.org

Questions/Issues Discussed:

What are you facing today? Are you living in the middle of brokenness that you have caused? How can you fix it? Is there even hope to fix it? YES, THERE IS! You can find hope in JESUS!

What does the name “Peter” mean? Why did Jesus choose this specific name for him?

Why did Jesus forgive Peter for his denial?

Is conviction a “good” thing?

If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, text the word JESUS to 77069 and a pastor or counselor from CFBC will call you back.

For more details about Champion Forest Baptist Church click here .

PRAYER

Discussed by Terry Lowry
with Host of the What's UP Radio Program

Scripture Reference: Proverbs 5

Father God,

You are all-knowing and all-seeing, yet you love and forgive sinners such as me.

May I be more attentive to your precepts; hiding your wisdom in my heart will guide my steps.

Open my ears to hear instruction on righteous living.

May I drink until I thirst no more from the living waters.

Father God, the wicked are ensnared by the wicked one and have been led astray. Lord Jesus, pursue them. Call out to them.

Together, let’s share the Good News with those lost and wandering. May my prayers for family members and friends never cease.

And Father, if you grant me another day, let’s repeat.

Humbly praying in the name of Jesus Christ,

Amen