Pastor’s Blog (Page 3)

Sith Lords, Jedi Knights…? I think most of the world caught the new Star Wars movie before I did. You don’t have to know much about world religions to pick up on the eastern religious themes in it. Good and evil are kept in balance by the Force…they never really win. God, the guide of all history, seeks no balance, but rather the triumph of good…

God knows everything. He made everything. Nothing escapes His notice. But what is it that grabs His attention? Where does He direct His gaze? To whom does God look with favor? Out of all creation, and out of all the people who live on the earth, God turns His attention to the ones who are humble, contrite, and “tremble at His word.” God knows everything. He made…

“The times require of us bold and unflinching maintenance of the entire truth of Christianity, and the divine authority of the Bible.” Bishop Ryle wrote that in 1877 in England. Not much has changed, has it? We see the same things all around us 140 years later. There is no real cause for alarm, but there is cause for prayer and…

We recently studied a rather dramatic moment in Revelation chapter 7 when an angel carrying â€œthe seal of the Living God” rises up out of the morning sun and calls a halt to the judgments being poured out on our sinful world. Something must happen before the judgments continue. Remarkably, that something is the sealing of…

All evangelism that leads to repentance and faith is a work of God. He alone can open the heart to believe. Nothing in evangelism needs to be based on psychology, or salesmanship, or manipulation, does it? How can men accomplish what only God can do?

Christ’s life, death and resurrection is the best news ever! I admit, however, that the beauty of the story of God humbling Himself to save rebels may not, by itself, persuade everyone. Some will doubt. It is beautiful… but is it true? Here are a few brief arguments for the truth of the Gospel.

Church in America has often become a kind of self-help culture where we learn to make healthy choices and feel good about ourselves. It’s hard to link any of these ideas to the Bible – Jesus seems to speak mostly about self-denial when he speaks of the self. That really needs to be our driving motivation…

Every church…every Christian, is a steward of God’s truth. Paul calls the church “the pillar and support of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15). And of stewards, Paul said, “it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy” (1 Cor 4:2). Being trustworthy for the truth is our first…

As the holiday season winds down and we all get back to “reality” in the new year, I pause to reflect on the simple ways God has blessed us. It is always good to take the advice of the old song and “count your blessings.” Remembering God’s goodness sustains us in the trials to come — and there will be…

Why are we drawn to mysteries? People hope for some grand purpose or over-seeingpower that knows “what’s really going on.” Unbelievers and pagans attempt to tap into those powers in all sorts of ways. Sometimes, rather than trust God, Christians search for same kind of insight that the pagans seek…