Let’s be real about this. Even for people of “faith,” it’s not always effortless to have “faith” or “believe” in something, is it? For most of us there is an effort that requires choosing to believe, to trust, to have faith. Would that this gift be a more automatic response in the matters that truly count! But a virgin giving birth? Today it’s not as much…

Where are the marks on the wall of your life? Maybe you’ve done this for your kids or your Mom did it for you while you were young. There was some specially designed wall in your home with some pencil marks on it where, as you grew from year to year, she marked where your head had reached.…

I was thinking about Paul’s letter to Titus and how it could appear this young Pastor really caught the “short straw” being given the church in Crete as his responsibility. The more I thought about it, I began to consider what his mission field was like in contrast to say, yours and mine. Cretan poet/philosopher Epimenedes labeled…

Here’s the $1,000,000 question: How can I please you, God? I’ll be very willing to admit that a lot of teachers and preachers have made the answer to this question more perplexing, complicated and sacrificial than it ought to be. I’ll also be quick to add (because I myself have struggled with this) that too often…

“Take time to be holy.” That’s how the old hymn by William Longstaff starts. To me this sounds like a somewhat dated expression and a confusing statement. Take time to be holy. What does that say about me the remaining time? Am I unholy? (That was rhetorical) I know that God says since I am “in Christ” I…

Lessons learned from the Land of Uz. (No, not Oz)  When (not, if) life goes South on us, when relationships strain or disappoint, when expectations remain unmet, when we are crushed by disaster, we can struggle greatly to keep our balance and exercise right thinking, can’t we? At times we may experience collateral damage from circumstances happening within…

Falling limbs may be an analogy of your life. Years ago I read an article by Pastor/Author Chuck Swindoll and the truths in it have stuck with me and resonated with me to this day. We can all relate to it, because we have witnessed the “fall” in both human and non-human circumstances. As the story goes, an…

Last week our Pastor made a statement that ought to be taken seriously by all of us, especially living  within the” infected” church culture we find in America as well as in our own backyard. We’ve all probably heard someone make their claim of salvation through the Christian faith with words like “I prayed “the” prayer…

Do I recognize that God owns everything I have? Is He the master of my time, talents and treasure? Do I want to please God above all else? These are three fundamental questions we must ask ourselves as we mature in our relationship with God and demonstrate our acknowledgement that“all things were created by Him and for Him.” (Col. 1:16)  Indeed, “we are…

“Why me, Lord?” In my social interactions with “non-Christians,” one of the things I’ve noticed  to their credit is that they aren’t as much the “why me” types when life’s “stuff”happens. And they certainly don’t blame God because He’s not even on their radar. Quite often they are more accepting of misfortune than believers are. They aren’t as concerned or perplexed as to why…

I recently completed a personal evaluation that dealt with the value I place on certain activities such as marriage/romance, work, spiritual development, entertainment , friendships (and more) as well as how many hours a week I estimate I spend on them. I don’t recommend you do that. In fact, when I took the survey a few days later,…

“Preaching to the choir” means expressing an opinion or argument to people who already agree with you.  I’m not betting on that. While I know this article pretty much has an audience of “church goin’ folk” who have heard similar content before and may even believe at least in the scripture references, believin’ just ain’t quite followin’ if you know…