I remember when I first heard about people being depressed around the holidays. My only thought was, “Really?” As a young person, it was hard to understand how anyone could get down with all the good food and presents flying around. But as I got older, I began to understand holiday depression can be a… Read More »
Practicing Sin Is Demonic
As a minister, you never want to minimize sin. Sin brought death into the world. Sin cost God his one and only Son. Sin put a guiltless Jesus on the cross. Without a proper understanding of sin, you are incapable of grasping the gospel. I find myself divided between two kinds of lessons on the… Read More »
A Son Of Jacob With No Guile
“Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!’”-John 1:47 It can be a temptation to over-interpret a verse. We can focus so singularly on a word that we exclude the context of a subject and simply, miss the point. My prayer is that… Read More »
Ask Not What The Church Can Do For You
In his inaugural address, President John F. Kennedy delivered these famous words in 1961, “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” It is one of the most famous quotes in American history and is a call to patriotic service. Kennedy… Read More »
Why Am I Forsaken?
“from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’”-Matthew 27:45-36 While studying for today’s morning sermon, I kept running across this… Read More »
The Bounds Of Christian Fellowship
One year ago this week, the North Second Street Church of Christ ordained David Brown and David Muiznieks as elders in this congregation. Soon after, Scott Ford and Jim Lahue were named deacons of the church. Having been set in order according to the plan of God, we have been on a path of numeric… Read More »
How I Die, Does It Matter?
“It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.”-Ecclesiastes 7:2 Death is a funny thing. It makes you think about your life. Loss seems to be coming in waves… Read More »
The Possibility Of Apostasy
The title of this article is a rewording of a false theory many of our religious neighbors espouse which claims a Christian can not be lost once they come to faith in Jesus. They teach humans have no free will concerning salvation, God chooses who will be saved or damned, and once God elects you… Read More »
The Last Of What Is Green
As I looked out my window this week, I saw a small bird hurriedly plucking off the last of the green shoots from our crepe myrtle. Summer is gone and the dry season comes on quickly. Shorter days, falling leaves, and empty nut shells left by industrious squirrels lead us toward the dark days of… Read More »
Priestly Service
“you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”-I Peter 2:5 We often make the point all Christians are saints and priests. There is no place in Scripture where a local minister is referred to as… Read More »