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Milk or Meat
In a recent Bible class we were discussing gospel preaching and how it helps the local congregation grow in maturity. We first looked at Hebrews 5:12-14, where the author is chastising Christians for their lack of progress toward maturity. He writes, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food…” (verse 12). It is important to back up and realize that their lack of growth is, at least in part, because they had become “dull of hearing.” A quick look at Vine’s Expository Dictionary reveals that the word…
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Thank You Lads to Leaders
Other than when Covid canceled the Lads to Leaders convention in 2020, I have attended every convention since 2001. The one that will occur this weekend, though, will be different in a way. It’s my last time to attend as a parent. Now, I went before we had kids. Leah and I helped the group from 9th Avenue before Mary Carol was even born. But since the kids were old enough to do anything, they’ve been there (Mary Carol even got one award before she could read!). We’ve watched our kids grow and mature. We’ve dealt with losing a tooth just minutes before speech time. We’ve had the kid getting…
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The Power of Prayer
Recently, I was visiting one of our older members at West Side in the hospital as he was about to go in for surgery. While I was there, an RN came in to run through medications with him and his family and make sure everything was as it should be before his operation. When she found out that I was a minister, she revealed that she herself was married to a pastor (she never mentioned a denomination) and that they had been missionaries both within the United States and abroad in the past. She got even more excited when she learned that we were about to pray together and referenced…
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And the Bible Says
A few weeks ago, something happened where I worship that I will remember for as long as I have a memory. A man taught an adult Bible class on a Wednesday evening. Before you think that I’ve lost what little mind I have, let me explain. It is true that it is not unusual to have Wednesday evening Bible classes. It is not unusual for a man to teach a class like that. In fact, a lot of things were not unusual about that particular class that evening. What was unusual, though, and what made this particular class memorable was the teacher. It was one of the first times he…
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Storms of Life
In light of all of the storms we’ve had lately, I’ve gone back into my memory bank and recalled my childhood and what would happen then when storms were approaching. We lived next door to my paternal grandparents who had a basement which opened up to the outdoors. My grandma’s kitchen was in that basement and I spent many hours there with her. As most children did in that time, I spent a lot of time playing outside. No one worried about me or the kids in the neighborhood with whom I played. That is, until a summer thunderstorm would blow up. As the clouds gathered and darkened and the…
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True Church Growth Means You’ve Got to…
Today’s post is one that is 100% for me. It’s something I know to be true, but constantly have to work on. Still, as I have talked to people over the years about this subject, I know it’s not just me. So, maybe, it will be helpful to you, too. When a congregation grows, it is a wonderful blessing. It is what God intends and what His heart desires. Each soul that is saved is now part of the family, and each one brings something unique to the makeup of a church family. What a joy it is to see that tapestry come together. However, when a congregation grows, it…
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“Ya Want a Sticker?”
A few weeks ago, there was a group of us that were standing around near the front of our auditorium and talking after our Sunday morning worship at West Side. Within that group was one of our young families with two small children, the younger of whom was wandering around but thinking very intently about something. He disappeared for a few minutes and then, very suddenly, appeared with a booklet in his hand in the middle of our group. With a semi-stern look on his face, he waited for a minute, tugged on my friend KT’s shirt sleeve, and asked politely but very pointedly: “Ya want a sticker?” KT laughed…
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Which Light is Brighter?
Contrary to what you might think at first, this is not my second post about basketball in three weeks. I am just taking advantage of the fact that some who read this may be looking forward to the NCAA championship basketball game which is scheduled to be played on the same day on which this post should appear. I thought that this might be the best time to “get this in” before some of us turn our attention from basketball to baseball. As I watched the postgame press conference after the Kentucky Wildcats lost to Tennessee, I heard the Kentucky coach, Mark Pope, use a quote that he said that…
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“Martha, Martha”…and Parenting
Recently at Central, I have used the account of Martha and Mary in a couple of sermons. The imagery of that text is so relatable. Mary is sitting and listening to Jesus, while Martha is just all over the place, but doing something good. Martha is (at least) frustrated with her sister and even demands that Jesus make her do her part. Jesus, though, begins his response with “Martha, Martha.” He further tells her that she is distracted, basically because her mind is here and there. Then our Lord adds that Mary chose what was good, the “one thing” that “is necessary.” With that, Jesus added this eternal insight: “which…
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Three Sermon Outlines
One of my favorite things about being part of a family of preachers and teachers is the number of lesson ideas and outlines that are tossed back and forth between us. There is nothing like a good scriptural idea from a fresh perspective to get the gears turning and motivate deeper study for the purpose of sharing that study with others. Over the years, I have probably been given upwards of 50 sermon outlines from different members of my family (and used a few of them, too) and have also shared several with them. Today’s “article” has three goals in mind. The first is to give you, dear reader, three…
