This coming Sunday I plan on preaching about whether or not each one of us is confident in our salvation. We can be. But that doesn’t mean we are. Closely related to it is this question about where we are with the Lord. In some ways the question is the same question. But the focus is different. The sermon I will be preaching will specifically encourage all who hear the message to get right with God. It will include God’s plan for their salvation as it has been given to us in the Bible. The focus of this question today that I want you to think about is slightly different.…

It happened in August of 1966. I had graduated from high school in the spring of that year and had a summer term of college already under my belt. My future wife was about to begin her senior year in high school. Somewhere about this time, the couple who would later become my father-in-law and my mother-in-law must have taken leave of their senses. Come to think of it, my parents must not have been thinking too clearly either. For whatever reason, Donna and I were allowed to make a trip to St. Louis all by ourselves. (By the way; I did use the correct word – allowed! This all…

I enjoy most Saturdays. While they are busy at times, they usually busy with events and activities that are different from the rest of the week. We might work on a project around the house, or just take it easy. We might go do something fun as a family, or just sort of hang out. But Saturday evenings, to me, are one of my favorite times of the week. I will admit, as a preacher, my nerves are already kicking in on Saturday night because the text of my sermon is running through my brain at warp speed. I often struggle to fall asleep, simply because my mind struggles to…

I bet by the title of this article you are at least reading the first sentence to see where this is going. Let me tell you first where this is not going. This is not going in the direction that is going to malign the church of our Lord. This is not going to be a rejection of the old paths. This is not going to be a 21st Century, “I am smarter and more enlightened than the people who lived 100 years ago,” type of article that I see being written by so many of our younger preachers today. What this is going to be is honest. And honestly,…

I’ve lived long enough to see all sorts of techniques that have been (and still are) intended to help individual congregations of the Lord’s church grow. My association with and membership in the church spans the time when personal evangelism was done in “cottage meetings” to the time when it is now more fashionable to do this in coffee houses. I’ve seen “joy busses” arrive and leave. Sheet sermons have given way to PowerPoint presentations.   I have not “seen it all,” but I’ve seen a lot. I’ve seen congregations grow and thrive. I’ve seen congregations “swell” and “atrophy” (gain members from other congregations and lose members to other congregations and/or the world). I’ve seen the…

In a recent Bible class, the teacher made an interesting comment. He was teaching about marking your own Bible as a personal commentary and study reference. As part of that discussion, he was mentioning different features available such as references at the bottom or in the middle column and how much white space there is for personal notes. He told of looking at Bibles for sale online and then said something to the effect of: “I’m old fashioned. There are some things I just want to be able to try on. I want to make sure my Bible fits me.” Of course, it was that last phrase that caught my…

If you were to randomly poll people at any public setting with one simple question, “Do you want to get into heaven?” I dare say that you would have very few–if any–negative responses. I suppose you might have a handful who are atheists and, so, would answer that they do not believe in heaven, so they might answer in the negative for that reason. And, if you asked enough people, I suppose you might find a tiny fraction who actually do not want to go to heaven after this life. Still, the vast majority–I think it is safe to say–would answer in the affirmative. Almost everyone you would ask would…

I’ve been around now for 16,646 days. That’s 2,378 Sundays. My parents took me to the assembly of the saints my very first Sunday on earth and I have only missed such an assembly a handful of times since. I would say definitely less than 10. I have been a Christian, that is, an immersed believer, for 12,638 days. That’s 1805 Sundays. I’ve witnessed the Lord’s Supper observance over 2300 times. I’ve partaken of it around 1800 times. But this past Lord’s Day, while partaking of the Lord’s Supper I thought of something that I have never really considered before. I asked myself, “Why did God decide to have us…

Those who know me realize that I’ve been fighting a lifelong battle with my weight. At this period in my life, I am losing. Unfortunately, I’m losing the battle, not the weight. I understand the concept of weight control all too well. It is actually pretty simple. If I consume more calories than I expend in effort, I can expect to gain weight. My problem seems to be that I have trouble acting on what I know to be true.    I’m wondering if that same concept can be transferred to the realm of religion. Could some of us be dealing with spiritual obesity? Could that even be true of entire congregations? When I was…