4 Tips For Finding Lasting Love
The world's ways of dating, “hooking up” and romantic involvement are much different from the Bible’s view on love, sex an romance. In the world’s eyes it is fine to date around as much as you want, to sexually experiment, or to throw away commitment and ‘move on’ when it just doesn’t feel right anymore. I just don’t buy it....
The Curse of Bondage and the Cure in Christ
Sin is sticky. Like rubber cement all over our hand, we try hard to get it off and in turn just go on making a bigger mess. Finlly when we think we've got it off, the sticky residue still remains. Christ came so that we could have freedom. Freedom from his wrath. Freedom from our guilt and shame. Freedom from...
What Does It Mean to Please God at Work?
Let's face it, work is not always something we enjoy. That is why we call it "Work". all of our jobs are filled with things that we "have to do" in order to do the things we "want to do". Recently I spoke to our staff about the importance of pleasing God with our work. We all work at a church,...
God-Dependant Boldness
My brother said to me recently, “Don’t be afraid to try something you are not ready for, because it will most certainly grow your dependence upon God.” He was right – comfort can often lead to stagnant faith. Time and again the Bible tells stories of men and women who had to try something that stretched them in order to...
Stand Up and Be Counted
We take stands for all kinds of things. Think about it: we vote in America so that our voice is heard, we sign petitions when we think something is wrong, we speak out for certain causes we think are important, and we make use of social media to post our thoughts when a deep conviction in our heart finally...
A Glimpse of God: The Gift of Loving Others
Have you ever wanted to see God? Surely that is what Moses desired in Exodus 33. Even after he had conversed with God, he wanted nothing more than to just see God and all His glory. With great fervency he asked, “Please, show me your glory!” God patiently replied, “You shall not see my face, for man shall not...
7 Signs You Might Be A Controlling Leader
No one wants to be a wimpy leader. I've never met a person that says, "Man, I hope I am a spineless leader who can't stand up to anyone and has zero vision for the future." But I have met many of the opposite kinds of leaders, you know the type: The bulldozer-leader who runs people over with their vision,...
If You Want to Waste Your Life, Seek the Honor of Men
Let's be brutally honest for a second: We are all more interested in serving ourselves than serving others. At the core of who we there is a desire for selfish self-preservation rather than selfless-service to others. But with that honesty, another confession another quickly follows: there is nothing more wearisome than trying to serve ourselves. We push and pull to...
7 Items for a Pastoral Care Team Meeting Agenda
Every week I sit with our Care and Counseling Team to review the current people we are caring for. This is not always a short meeting. On any given week we may have as many as 60 active cases to review. A "case" is someone that we we are currently engaging in biblical counseling or are caring for in...
Where is The Recipe for Raising Kids?
Making pumpkin pancakes is much harder than I thought. So is being a dad. Last Saturday I thought I’d try out our new mixer. After all, it is fall, so pumpkin pancakes seem to be calling my name. As for the mixer, well, we got it last Christmas and I wasn’t about to let a whole 12-months go by without...
That Hunk of Wood
In 2002 I was speaking at an event in Ocean City, Maryland where my friend, Ron Hutchcraft, was also speaking. The second night of the event was the night that we had all been praying for; it was the night that Ron was going to share the gospel message. We were all living with anticipation and hope that many...
Life Balance is a Myth
This is a guest post from Brian Davis Several years ago, I was seeing a counselor in an effort to work through a bevy of issues in my head, not the least of which was how to "balance my ministry, my home life, and everything else I had going on." My counselor's words shocked me: “The idea of a balance is...