Growth Track: Discover
“For we are God’s workmanship [work of art, masterpiece], created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“ (Ephesians 2:10, NIV) In 1785, William Paley told a story of a man walking through the forest who stumbles upon a pocket watch (recent inventions in the 18th century). […]
Sowing Seed
“Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains.“ (James 5:7) If you’ve ever been to New Life Church’s beautiful 40 acre campus, you know that we have a hill with three […]
Time and Money
“Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.“ […]
Fights among You
“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?“ (James 4:1, NIV) I heard the story recently of a castle in Ireland. Over the years, the castle was uninhabited and fell into disrepair. Neighboring peasants began to scavenge the castle for stones. After all, these were beautiful […]
Taming the Tongue
“Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his […]
Pride and Prejudice
“My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism.“ (James 2:1, NIV) One of the problems with the church in the first century (and still today) is prejudice. James begins chapter two with a clear injunction against it, reminding Christians that it is incompatible with the Christian faith. And just to […]
Jumping to Conclusions
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry…(James 1:19). The media circus around the “Covington Catholic Kids” and Nathan Phillips is like a car crash where you can’t avert your eyes. Everybody seems to be jumping to conclusions before all the facts […]
Living (the) Truth
“He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.” (James 1:18, NLT) God’s “true word!” Man o’ man, is truth hard to come by these days!? Everyone seems to have an agenda – from marketing companies to politicians to universities to […]
Judge Not
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” (Matthew 7:1) As some of you may know, I write a column in the local paper that sometimes makes people mad. Being a contributor for the religion section, I will point out societal ills that you and I would consider unbiblical. It makes some folks pretty […]
The Gospel According to Mephibosheth
Paul Harvey once told the story of “The Man and the Birds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddai8rkXWRs ).” It’s about a man who wanted to help a flock of birds, caught in a snowstorm, get into the safety of his warm barn. He tried to shoo them…he tried to catch them…he tried to lead them with a trail of […]
Margin for 2019
The other night, my wife and I were in Dallas celebrating our anniversary. We were dressed for a very nice dinner and a show. We were headed home and I was tired. Walking to the car, we saw a lady in an SUV parked near us who couldn’t get her car started. I kept walking. […]
Responding to Christmas
“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about (Luke 2:15, NIV).” The shepherds give us a great example to follow when we hear God’s word. They responded immediately. We […]
