Have you ever had one of those weeks where nothing goes right. It is not that anything overwhelming happened, but every other step I took seemed to be in a mud puddle. It reminded me of one of the most famous episodes of The Simpsons, and it involves Sideshow Bob. What? You’ve never heard of… Read More »
Release These Chains!
Our annual study of a specific spiritual topic comes to a close today. The title of the series, Chains Of Our Own Choosing, reflects the ease with which we can find ourselves overwhelmed by a highly addictive and still relatively new, technology. In fact “TheFacebook” as it was called at the time began exactly 20-years… Read More »
Truths Taught In Song
In his letter to the church at Colossae, Paul gives the early Christians direction and encouragement for their Christian lives. In chapter three, Paul tells us to “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,”-Colossians 3:15. He gives us the following instructions as a way to let that happen: “Let the word of Christ… Read More »
Don’t Have A Blue Christmas
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 »