Church Life
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Finding Treasure Right Where You Are
Just a few days ago, a father and son in North Carolina made a remarkable discovery. On a 14-acre piece of land they bought a few years ago, they found a piece of wood sticking out of the ground due to recent dryer, almost drought-like conditions. As they worked down near the wood, they figured out that the wood was part of a ship that was a little over 100 years old! The area used to be used for gold mines, but when those were basically given up on, some of the equipment was also left behind and forgotten. Now, over 100 years later, this father and son got the…
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Recruiting vs. Evangelizing
I’ve watched a couple of programs that have been on television lately about the history of college football. I hope to watch all of them at some point, but have not been able to do so. One of the programs I watched was focused on how the entire process of recruiting young men (boys) to play football has changed over the years. Two scenes from that program still stand out in my mind. The first scene was an interview with a man who played football for a legendary college coach a number of years ago. He described one memorable Thanksgiving dinner. At the time, he was a senior in high school. During the dinner, the…
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The Wisest Man
Solomon has taken over as ruler of God’s special people upon his father David’s death. He is a young man with a tremendous responsibility. Perhaps that is why we are all so impressed with the direction of his thoughts when God said to him, “Ask! What shall I give you?” (1 Kings 3:5) I don’t know for sure what my astralean request would be. I think I know myself well enough that it would revolve around my family, but I’m pretty sure at that young age I wouldn’t have had the maturity Solomon showed when he asked for wisdom in order to fairly judge the Lord’s people. 1 Kings 3:10…
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Is God Punishing Me?
One of the questions that I receive often as a preacher comes from people who are unhappy with their circumstances. In their efforts to steer their life in a certain direction, when things just don’t seem to work out the way they hoped, they ask in their discouragement, “Why is all of this happening to me?” Or maybe, “Is God punishing me?” Just google: “Is God Punishing Me?” You’ll find out that people ask this all the time and there are a lot of wild and false answers coming back to them. But I want to attempt to answer the question from Scripture. In other words, why don’t we just…
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From Shoveling with a Stranger to Worshiping with a Brother
I suppose that it has been somewhere around forty years since the suggestion was made. I lived in a small community and was preaching for a relatively small church. The good people of this church had taken a chance on a fellow with absolutely no experience in “full-time preaching.” I decided that one way I could serve would be to conduct a regular Bible class at the only nursing home in town. I didn’t realize that somebody besides the residents was listening to that class. I found out that this was the case when the lady who served as the activity director approached me with the following suggestion: “You need to talk…
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Are Women Really the “Weaker Vessel”?
It was by the Holy Spirit that the apostle Peter wrote, “Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered” (1 Peter 3:7). I am going to begin by responding to this passage of Scripture by saying something that is politically incorrect. Men and women are different. That’s right folks, you heard it here first. You are reading an article written by someone who still feels it is appropriate for men and women to use different public restrooms. God made men and women to be…
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Grief: It’s Not Always “Textbook”
My friend, Ron Williams, recently posted the image below on Facebook. Ron and his twin brother, Don, have helped a lot of people who deal with grief. They have conducted seminars, written books and other materials, and have helped people in personal ways. Like most of us, grief is no stranger to them. They have lost people very, very close to them. I think that is why the image below made such an impact on me. While I’m not sure whether the image is original with either Ron or Don, it was posted by somebody I admire and who has both professional and very personal experience with grief. I’m not sure what message…
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She Taught Us How to Die
The diagnosis wasn’t good. She had been having pain for quite some time (really for years), but this was different. Being in her nineties made most doctors relate the pain to her age. However, one particular doctor did some tests and the diagnosis was bad. Cancer…in several places…including her pancreas…and just a very short time to live. Now most people would have been devastated by that news, but not this lady. Her outlook was very optimistic! She let the doctor know that she had been waiting for this next trip she would be taking for a very long time. She didn’t want them to do a biopsy or any other tests…
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What If They Walk Out?
This past Sunday something happened that no preacher ever wants to witness. Two people walked out of the building right in the middle of my sermon. I knew that it was a mother and daughter who were visiting. They came in just at the start of the service and I was across the building from them. So I did not have the opportunity to get their name or to find out what brought them to us or where they were going. All I know is that they partook of the Lord’s Supper, and in the middle of my sermon, at about 40 minutes past the hour, they walked out. I…
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Over and Over
This post will be quite a bit shorter than most of the ones I write. There is a kind of “method to my madness” in doing that. Recently, I made an unsuccessful attempt to visit one of our elderly ladies who now resides in a nursing home. I later texted her daughter and found out where both of the ladies were at the time. I told her that I’d give it “the old college try” later. The daughter thanked me for my attempt and for the fact that I check on her mother from time to time. She also shared with me the following information: “She has received cards from some and it…
