“Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God” (Romans 7:4).   Through faith in Christ we die to the performance code required by the… Read More »

The other day I wrote in my journal, I cannot do what I cannot do, But I can do what I can do, And what I can do, through Christ who strengthens me Is enough to accomplish what God has for me to do. We look around at the world. We look at our families.… Read More »

My wife, LaVern [spoken in passing]: “Help me, Jesus.” Me: “I’m getting on that train, too. Scoot over.” Whether we know it or not, we all need to catch a ride on the “Help Me, Jesus” train. It is even more apparent in these times. The good news is it stops in every city, town,… Read More »

The Lord certainly influences our feelings but let us always be mindful that He is not one of them.  He is the Living One who exists regardless of our mood or our spiritual temperature.  His reality is not dependent upon our perception of Him or our sensation of Him.  His love is a constant whether… Read More »

As I read Psalm 22 this morning, which is a combination of prophecy about the Lord Jesus’ suffering on the cross and David’s personal trials, I thanked the Lord for choosing to wrestle spiritually the same way we wrestle.  Perplexed and longing for deliverance, “My God, my God why have You forsaken me” and then… Read More »

Few things delight a pastor more after giving a sermon than the feeling that someone truly heard what he said.  During my message yesterday I said, “Worry is an unproductive reaction to a valuable resource: Vulnerability. Vulnerability makes our relationship with God real.”  And yesterday evening I received the following from one of our members… Read More »

“You have filled my heart with greater joy…” (Psalm 4:7).  The Lord doesn’t just provide for our needs and many of our wants, He Himself is what we need and what we desire in the deepest parts of our being.  He is the “greater joy” that fills our heart.   Something to take just a… Read More »

I introduced myself to the fire marshal as he entered our church to do his inspection.  Recognizing he was with the pastor, he moved our conversation from the building to the Bible.  He had questions about Genesis 1, which begins “In the beginning…”  and our discussion turned to infinity and eternity.  I told him sometimes what… Read More »

Moses and Elijah are considered two of the most impactful servants of God the world has ever known.  But they were not superheroes.  They were normal people “with a nature like ours” (James 5:17).   When the Lord sent Moses to deliver the Israelites from Egypt, Moses’ initial effort led to an even worse situation… Read More »

The faith opportunity before us is to focus our thoughts on the Lord without limiting the Lord to our thoughts. He is much greater than our present ideas and our past experiences. His ways are unsearchable, (Romans 11:33) and His name is beyond understanding. Which means we can always trust Him but never pin Him… Read More »