Blog (Page 18)

For the believer joy is a fruit of the spirit. To know that our sins are forgiven, our account is cleared, graced bestowed, and hope granted should create an inner celebration for those who have put their faith in Christ Jesus. Therefore, as followers of Christ, our perspective of life should be different than the rest of the world not rooted in the circumstances of life but in the reality of a loving and forgiving God. My question for us…

Recently, I was out of town on a speaking engagement and flipped on the TV searching through the channels in the hotel room. A show was on where two people were discussing some problem, and one replied to the other, “You know I’m your best friend, and I’ll tell you anything you want me to tell you.” I immediately thought how silly that was to think that was a friendship. Yet, sadly, that is where our society is in our…

Have you had to recently walk through a dark time in your life? Maybe it came in the form of a broken relationship, a unwanted diagnosis, a loss of a job or even the death of a loved one. These periods of our lives can be daunting, overwhelming, and so very painful. We wonder where do we turn or who do we turn to for help and companionship through these times. Many times we need the companionship of a close…

Have you ever had a question about life and someone responded, “just have faith”? In the angst of having a question it can be quite discouraging when someone gives you such a pat answer. So what does it mean to have faith?   There are two types of faith that we can discuss: Blind Faith & Evidential Faith. Blind faith is how many describe their faith. Sadly, many believers, give this definition which is having no reason to believe something,…

So let’s begin with a few questions…What or who is guiding your life today in this very moment? Who are you taking advice from? Are they qualified to give advice? Who should we turn to for help? As a person going through life there are many things that compete to guide our lives. The problem is that only One Person is qualified and that is not even ourselves. It is the Holy Spirit of God. God knows our lives from…

One of the great debates of our day is whether or not God exists. Many of our day choose to believe that the worldview of Atheism (NO GOD) is the best explanation over and above the worldview of Theism (GOD). So how can one determine which worldview is true? The only answer is in the evidence. Now many want to point to Darwinism as a support to Atheism, but the reality is not whether one believes in evolution or creationism…

I was talking to my uncle the other day who said that he had been in and out of church most of his life and had never been regular until these last few years, but he was taken aback at how Christians can argue over the silliest of things. I agreed! Over the years as a pastor, sadly, too many of my phone calls are not pertaining to theological questions, but where people have gotten upset over one thing or…

Matthew 23:37 – How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Jesus spoke these words in a pretty heavy conversation with the religious folk of His day. He was addressing the push back and hypocrisy of those who said they knew God, yet were poor representatives of God. Can you imagine how it would go over today to have someone be so honest as…

The 19th-century British evangelist Rodney (Gypsy) Smith once said, “There are five Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the Christian—but most people never read the first four.” The reason so many people doubt Christianity today is because many have not seen the authentic life change in those who claim to be believers. It’s easy to go to church, hear three points and a poem, shake everyone’s hand and bid everyone a good week, but it is difficult to actually surrender the…

Psalm 46:10 – Be still, and know that I am God; When I was young my mother used to tell me I had “Ants in my Pants” because I wouldn’t sit still much as I was always into something. Sadly, we have become an “Ants in your Pants” society because most of us hate being still. How many people constantly stay on their phone nowadays? We are a culture of little busy-bodies! Over time this kind of approach to life…