I had a drug problem in my youth. I was drug to church every time the doors were open. (I know, it’s an old joke.) In truth, many of us who grew up in church culture took for granted that the church was doing what it was supposed to be doing. Especially in the deep south, leadership was never que...
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I recently preached a sermon on what it looks like to love Jesus. Throughout John’s first letter he emphasizes the love theme and one thing you notice is that loving Jesus and loving your fellow believers is inseparable. When it comes to loving the Lord John offers a number of tests to help ascer...
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For the average church member, one of the most difficult realities to accept is that church ministry must change the way it operates when its methods are no longer productive. You may have heard the infamous phrase, “we ain’t never done it like that before.” It’s that attitude, that refusal to ch...
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In my first blog of the year I wanted to encourage you to put as much or more effort into your spiritual wellbeing as you do your physical health. To help you accomplish that I want to challenge you to become a discipling Christian. That is, helping someone else grow in their relationship with th...
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Biblical Christianity demands a standard of sexual purity amid a society in the throes of a sexual revolution. Sexual activity outside of covenant marriage is clearly forbidden in Scripture. The Apostle Paul instructed the church in Thessalonica: "For this is the will of God, your sanctification:...
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This summer the Southern Baptist Convention upheld their doctrinal statement, the Baptist Faith and Message, by refusing to allow cooperating churches to ordain women pastors. In the last year, a rather significant move was made to change that stance, but it failed to pass last month at the annua...
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As a pastor, I hear (and often make) negative comments about the church in America today. It’s easy to focus on our failings to the neglect of seeing the wonderful work God is doing through his people. And while there are some definite concerns about churches in general, I want to say with great ...
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“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.” Psalm 133:1
Ephesians 4 begins the second major section of Paul’s letter, where he begins to apply the great theological truths expounded in the first three chapters. This is typical Pauline style: doctrine before duty. Consid...
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Bernard of Clair Vaux once said, “Learn the lesson that, if you are to do the work of a servant, what you need is not a scepter but a hoe.” The symbolism should be obvious: A scepter is all about ruling and having others serve you. A hoe is about humbly working for the benefit of others. To anyon...
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Regardless of how you feel about the pandemic or what you believe about it, one thing is for sure: we all want it to go away. Whether it will is itself a matter of debate, and the divisiveness created by COVID is likely to continue. As Christians, many of us will simply have to agree to disagree ...
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