All Scripture references are quoted from the Christian Standard Bible (unless otherwise noted).
June 16, 2021 “A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath. The tongue of the wise makes knowledge attractive, but the mouth of fools blurts out foolishness.” – Proverbs 15:1-2 Those in the world often criticize the Church for the way we seemingly...
June 9, 2021 “He replied, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Armies, but the Israelites have abandoned your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are looking for me to take my life.’ Then...
May 26, 2021 “Patience is better than power, and controlling one’s emotions, than capturing a city.” – Proverbs 16:32 Has your desire to be right or your insistence on winning an argument ever cost you a relationship? Dumb question, right? If we were to recount the relationships in...
May 19, 2021 “Does an ax exalt itself above the one who chops with it? Does a saw magnify itself above the one who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the ones who lifts it! It would be like a staff lifting the one who...
April 28, 2021 “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’” – Luke 18:13 God loves you… This phrase has probably become cliché in most Christian circles. We may...
April 21, 2021 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” – 1 Peter 5:7 It is comforting when someone cares about you. Some of the sweetest moments I have experienced are when I’ve been hurt or sick and I see my children wanting to care for...
April 14, 2021 “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way.” – Psalm 139:23-24 Classic cars are both therapy and ministry for me. They are therapy because, as a pastor,...
April 7, 2021 “One who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound wisdom.” – Proverbs 18:1 I am a claustrophobic extrovert. If you put me in a confined space all by myself for very long I will go insane! So, you can imagine how hard the quarantine...
March 31, 2021 “Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are...
March 24, 2021 “Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline?… No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained...
March 16, 2021 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16 My wife and I have been married 23 years this summer. There is no way I could ever...
March 10, 2021 “These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as...
March 3, 2021 “And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ.” – Ephesians 4:11-12 This past Sunday we baptized 11 people at our church. They ranged...
February 24, 2021 “I wrote to you in a letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. I did not mean the immoral people of this world or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters; otherwise you would have to leave the world.” – 1 Corinthians 5:9-10 Why are we surprised...
February 17, 2021 “That whole generation was also gathered to their ancestors. After them another generation rose up who did not know the Lord or the works he had done for Israel. The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. They worshiped the Baals and abandoned the Lord,...
February 10, 2021 “I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love,...
February 3, 2021 “Though I have many things to write to you, I don’t want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come to you and talk face to face so that our joy may be complete.” – 2 John 1:12 During the COVID-19 pandemic of this last...
January 27, 2021 “So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who...
January 20, 2021 “It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but...
January 13, 2021 “Lot looked out and saw that the entire plain of the Jordan as far as Zoar was well watered everywhere like the Lord’s garden and the land of Egypt. This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. So Lot chose the entire plain of the Jordan...
January 6, 2021 “Cast all your cares on him, because he cares about you.” – 1 Peter 5:7 In the times when we need the most help we are often skeptical about where that help comes from. Do friends help in hopes that the favor will be returned? Do strangers...
December 30, 2020 “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all you have done; I reflect on the work of your hands.” – Psalm 143:5 Most of us cannot wait to be done with 2020. This year has been incredibly difficult in so many ways. COVID-19 has affected...
December 23, 2020 “He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21 “Who are you?” How would you answer that question? That is a deep question, but I am guessing...
December 16, 2020 “When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.’ They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who...
December 9, 2020 “Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy. Though one goes along weeping, carrying the bag of seed, he will surely come back with shouts of joy, carrying his sheaves.” – Psalm 126:5-6 Sowing seed is hard work. When you want to grow something...
December 2, 2020 “Philip proceeded to tell him the Good News about Jesus, beginning with that Scripture.” – Acts 8:35 In Acts chapter 8 we find a story about an Ethiopian who is reading a passage from Isaiah 53. Philip hears him reading and asks him if he understands it....
November 25, 2020 “Hallelujah! Give praise, servants of the Lord; praise the name of the Lord. Let the name of the Lord be blessed both now and forever. From the rising of the sun to its setting, let the name of the Lord be praised.” – Psalm 113:1-2 Tomorrow we...
November 18, 2020 “I tell you, in the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.” – Luke 15:10 Most of us are probably fairly familiar with the parable of the prodigal son. If not, take a moment right now and read...
November 11, 2020 “And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:19 We often take verses from Scripture and try to make them say what it is we want them to say. We come to a point in life...
November 4, 2020 “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus...