In Everything (or “17 Things for which You Should Be Thankful”)
“…in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18, NKJV) Thanksgiving week – we’ll all eat too much and watch too much football. And hopefully, we’ll spend some time thanking the Lord for our families, friends, and country. I preached about gratefulness on Sunday and […]
Phonies, Posers, and Thanksgiving
“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— having a […]
Prediction: Who Loses the 2016 Election
Tomorrow we will have a new President-elect. By now, you’ve heard all the predictions. Who will win? Not us. Whether she wins, or he wins, the American people lose. Even if MY candidate wins…I lose. The reason? For the first time in American history, we have two candidates who both hold worldviews different from our […]
Decisions, Decisions
“How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!“ (Proverbs 16:16, NIV) The Wisdom Literature of the Bible is filled with instruction like this one, encouraging us to make wise choices. But as we all know, some choices are easier to make than others. Every decision we make is a […]
Love One Another
““A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.“ (John 13:34, NIV) It seems our country is more divided than ever…politics, race, even gender are issues that pull Americans apart. It’s even true in the church, to some degree. A friend of mine pastors […]
The Fear of the Lord
“‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord.“ (Leviticus 19:14, NIV) We read this and think who would do such a thing, anyway? But you and I both know there are rotten apples out there who would and do take […]
Doing the Hard Work
“You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.“ (James 3:18, The Message) I really like that interpretation of James 3:18 from The Message because it stacks up […]
Hard-Headed
“I have made your forehead as hard as the hardest rock!”” (Ezekiel 3:9, NLT) A friend of mine reminded me of that passage from Ezekiel today and it encouraged me. In the past, I, too, have been told (I won’t tell you by whom) that I am hard-headed. It wasn’t meant as a compliment. But […]
“The Plans I Have for You…”
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.“ (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV) In the real estate world, they say “location, location, location!” In Bible study world we say “context, context, context.” How many times have […]
The People You Meet
“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I […]
If my people…
““…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:13-14, NIV) This is America’s favorite Scripture in times of trouble or decision. […]
The Elephant in the Sanctuary
“Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season…“ (2 Timothy 4:2, NIV) There’s an elephant in the room at church. We don’t talk about it and we pretend it isn’t there, even though his peanut-breath is hard to miss. When I’m hanging out with other pastors, we talk about it, we just […]
