a word from the pastor

Church vs. Youth Sports

Many years ago, serving as youth pastor of a large church with a large Christian school, I became acutely aware of how easily sports can become an idol demanding one’s full devotion. It was frustrating to see students give so much to sports and so little to church. I became resentful and angry at...
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Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Snowflakes

Back in the mid 70s, Ed Bruce and his wife Patsy co-wrote and recorded a country song entitled “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys.” It’s time somebody wrote a similar song about snowflakes. The term “snowflake” derives from Chuck Palahniuk’s 1996 book Fight Club. The exact quote ...
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Parental Warning

Warning: Social Media can be harmful to the mental and physical health of your children. It may be time to make the above warning mandatory on every purchase of a smartphone. Writing for World Magazine, Mary Jackson reveals how smartphone addictions are “metastasizing into a mental health pand...
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Challenge to Fathers: Be a Hero

One of the great tragedies in American society is the absent father. The greatest fall-out of broken and failed marriages is its devastating impact on children. So this Father’s Day I want to put forth a challenge to men who are fathers or who plan to be one day. When children are small dad is th...
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Honor Mom, No Matter What

It’s interesting that the Bible’s command to children is not to “love” their parents but to “honor” them. In fact, the fifth commandment uses the Hebrew word kabod, which is usually translated “glory.” It means to treat as weighty, to attribute worth, to highly value. God’s glory is the weightine...
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Deconstruction vs. Discipleship

“Deconstruction” has become a prevalent word in evangelical circles. As of February, there were almost 300,000 Instagram posts with the hashtag “#deconstruction”—many of them referring to the Christian faith. However, the term “deconstruction” has such a wide range of meanings, it must be underst...
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Helping your kids think rightly about heaven

Recently, an adolescent with a somewhat worried look asked me if heaven would prove boring, “you know, with eternity and all.” It occurred to me that if a Christian teen is asking this question, how many more are thinking it? Even worse, how many non-Christian youths entertain gross misconception...
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Daddy’s Home!

As a kid, I dreaded daddy’s coming home from work every day. He usually arrived tired and irritable, and my siblings and I learned the hard way to steer clear. However, even on days when he wasn’t worn out or in a bad mood, he wasn’t present in the sense of engaging with his children. He would be...
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Navigating the Parental River

Whenever I’m asked advice about parenting, I get a little nervous. I’m not exactly sure why, but I think it’s because deep down I know children come with no guarantees. God’s Word supplies us with principles and commands for raising kids, but in the end, every child is an individual who may or ma...
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Leaving the Nest

In ancient Greco-Roman culture, children remained under the care and control of a “pedagogue” until the time set by their father. (Galatians 4:2) For boys, it usually took place in their late teens and meant assuming the privileges and responsibilities of adulthood. Jewish boys had their “bar mit...
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