Stimeling spreads “Common Thoughts” on the Word of God
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RICHFIELD -- His words appear frequently in The Sentinel's Religion section. He has written and published several books. His interpretation of Scripture and theology has informed and educated readers around the globe. Yet, true to form, he remains humble, a champion of God.
Lyndon Stimeling, of Richfield, did not set out to become a writer. The path to his current calling had a modest beginning in Juniata County.
"I grew up on a small chicken farm in Monroe Township, Juniata County, I guess you could say 'up the holler' from Kellerville," Stimeling said. "It was a quiet community and an excellent place to grow up. It was backwoods to the extent that grass grew up on the middle of the road.
Lyn was the youngest of Cloyd E. and Mary E. Burdge Stimeling's six children. He had plenty of company growing up with three brothers and two sisters. His father had experience in the chicken business and worked in hatcheries and other chicken farms in the community.
"When I was a young boy, Dad went into the layer business and built a large wooden building," Stimeling said. "That original building is still standing and listed as a historical wooden building in Juniata County. Later in life, Dad also worked in construction as a cement finisher. I helped him uncover the cement on the spillway at Little Buffalo State Park. Dad also got into trucking logs and pulpwood for my brothers."
"My mother was a full-time housewife until I was around eight or nine-years-old, when she began working to become a nurse. She always read to us at bedtime but I usually fell asleep before she finished. 'Pilgrim's Progress' was one of her favorite books and she read it to us as well."
Today, mothers may be reading Stimeling's books to their children. "Common Thoughts on The Word" (2016), "The Eye of a Needle" (2017), "Common Thoughts on The Word II" (2019) and "A Bridge Between" (2023) are all available at Amazon.com. He also has a Bible Study course entitled, "Studies of Faith."
"The study helps people to understand the difference between a man-centered religion and a true God-centered religion where God is our focus and receives the glory instead of man." Stimeling said. "We also produce cards for various occasions with poetry on the inside."
Though writing and educating came later, baseball consumed Stimeling's life early on, with the help of domestic fowl.
"Growing up on the chicken farm helped prepare me for an exciting young life playing baseball," Stimeling said. "My job on the farm was to get the chickens out of the trees and into the rain shelters. I often accomplished this by throwing stones at them in the trees or on the ground. The stones were meant to encourage them to obediently go into the shelters before Dad came with the feed and water for the next day."
"All of that stone-throwing got me into trouble when a stubborn bird would not go into the shelter. As it ran to avoid me, I threw a stone which caught the chicken in the side. I had no choice but to finish it off and get rid of the evidence before Dad got there. The stone-throwing helped to prepare me for pitching baseball for close to ten years. My career ended with legion baseball and sandlot ball. I still have my flame-treated bat supplied by D. E. Smith for legion ball."
When Stimeling's baseball career ended, he turned to more serious matters.
"After baseball was left behind, I went into the chicken business and logging," he said. "L. B. Stimeling Logging and Poultry came into existence around 1976, after I had purchased a small chicken farm. The chicken business was eventually stopped, and my efforts were put into logging, log hauling, and buying logs and timber."
"After marriage and the start of a family, I also became active in the local church. Because I was not a public speaker, I chose to communicate my thoughts through writing articles. My first writing attempts began in the late 1900's, around 1989. My wife and I already had our five children when I started sharing thoughts through writing."
It was Stimeling's reluctance at one form of communication that opened the door to another. The Lord works in mysterious ways. Stimeling made the right choice and his success as a writer is confirmation.
"My inability to speak publicly led me to share with others through writing short articles," he said. "When South Juniata Baptist Church started a quarterly publication, I was asked to submit articles for the paper. Since I was already writing the articles, I began submitting a column for The Times as well. It did not become a full-time column until after Paulette Forry purchased the publication. It was around this time that I also began submitting to The Sentinel in Lewistown."
He began writing for The Sentinel around 2016. As a freelance writer, he has written articles for several newspapers, helped supply information (poetry and photos) for several books published by The Sentinel and submitted articles for magazines. Stimeling also wrote a children's book as an early attempt to get published, but he claims it did not turn out well. In retrospect, he admits he should have chosen a better ending for the book, but it was a learning experience all writers share.
"I also wrote 'A Brief Historical Account of the South Juniata Baptist Church,' which describes the numerical growth and the building program that the church went through," he said.
Stimeling's Sentinel columns appear several times each month, quoting Scripture and offering insightful analysis and thought on the church and religion itself. His writings and teachings are scholarly, having been filtered through first-hand life experience.
"I do not have any formal training or college education," Stimeling said. "However, God has providentially directed my life so that I have been involved in various churches and have been acquainted with some very important spiritual people. I recently began reading a book by John Reisinger, 'Abraham's Four Seeds,' that he had given to me several years ago. John had been a friend of the family when I was a boy, he was my friend as an adult as well. I was unaware that John and his book were the subject of many YouTube videos. I also found out his small book was selling at a very high price. It is amazing how God sovereignly directs our lives for His honor and glory."
The man who had trouble speaking in public has no trouble reaching people with written words. His thoughts and writings inspire others.
"My purpose in writing is to get people to think," Stimeling said. "People often teach others (children, and people who attend church) what to think, which is a major problem. If we teach people how to think and why they should think, then they will be able to use their mental faculties, make judgments, and work through their problems."
"Along with being able to think and find truth, I want to introduce people to the gospel. I want to introduce people to the Jesus of the Bible, not the Jesus that people create in their own minds or have been taught in Sunday School. I want people to know the sovereign God of the universe and the Scriptures. I want people to know themselves for what they are and who they are. Not what they like to think they are! People will never turn to Christ and the gospel until they see themselves as wretched sinners who need a savior."
The feedback Stimeling receives proves he is on the right track, influencing those from all parts of the globe.
"I have received many emails and encouragement through written letters," he said. "I am often asked for guidance and counseling on spiritual things. Some people send me a note telling me how my articles have affected them in a positive way. I have communicated with people in Africa, Nigeria, India, Canada and other places as well as the United States."
Stimeling feels no pressure to write another book but he has not completely rejected the idea.
"If I did another book, it would be a collection of all the articles on Church Growth," he said. "The church is spiritually dead today, for the most part. It appears we need a cleansing and a refocusing of our purpose as a church."
Like all of us, Stimeling sees the world today and has his opinion, including a view of religion in the worldwide scope.
"I believe religion has increased, but followers of Christ have decreased," Stimeling said. "John Piper said it well when he made this statement, 'Everyone claims to be a Christian today.' The adulterous housewife who goes to prayer meeting to stay hooked up to her lover, the greedy person who uses the church to get business and make money, and the pastor who is only concerned about his income, insurance, and retirement, are just a few of the problems in the modern church. God is no longer first in our lives."
"From the first to the fifteenth century, when people wanted the Word of God, they would gladly die for it. Bloody Mary lit up her gardens at night by burning Christians, she hated the Protestants and those who would not submit to her demands. Today, instead of people desiring God and His Word, people have become their own god, they are at the center of everything they do. Our country needs a God-sent revival that changes the hearts, minds, and wills of men."
Stimeling has touched people all over the world, spreading God's Word through books and columns. Like the young boy who chased chickens and played baseball, he remains humble.
"I would like to take time to thank The Lewistown Sentinel as well as the Times for giving me the opportunity to minister to others through the religious columns," he said. "It has been a long journey but it was worth the effort. One time I was searching for information on Google and started reading an article. I soon realized I was reading my own material. It was hard to grasp the truth that people around the world were being influenced and encouraged by my writing efforts.
Hopefully, Lyndon Stimeling will be influencing people for a long, long time.