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In the heart -felt book of John, Jesus has several confrontations with the Jews of that day to prove to them His deity. Of note, the discussion in John 8 is particularly passionate. The hardness of heart of these people broke the Savior ’s heart as they claimed allegiance to God, to the things of God, and to God ’s faithful servant, Abraham. However, Jesus cuts to the core of their hypocrisy and powerfully says in 8:44, “You are of…

Lord willing, we’ll be on our way Sunday morning to this year’s session of Camp Bandina. I love going to a Christian camp. I don’t love it because the counselors there are perfect, but because they’re servants of the Perfect One. As counselors, we all bring our faults and flaws right along with us, but we get a chance to serve God by teaching His perfect love and His perfect ways to the campers. I don’t love it because it’s…

The writer of Hebrews urged readers to ”. . . have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Heb. 12:28). The Greek word for reverence signifies, first of all, caution, then godly fear. One English dictionary tells us it is “profound respect mingled with fear and affection.” In order to serve God acceptably, we must do so with reverence. Therefore, we must understand how reverence is produced and maintained. It is an internal trait.…

I want to be a person who prays more, but I just don’t know what to pray for! The truth is that nobody except Jesus is an expert at prayer (Luke 11:1; 18:1). Yet, there are a number of helps that can cause us to think more about the blessings God gives us—as well, the opportunities we have to ask God to make a difference in our world. Consider this old illustration of just using your hand to remind you…

With the departure of the Albers family, there is a hole left in the work of Graeber Road. While we pray for Troy, Amy, and Remi in their new home in Sunray, we also need to be praying for the work and the next associate preacher of Graeber Road. Consider that we are now in an interim time period. Interim means temporary/provisional. How long that may be is not known, however, what we can do in this interim is absolutely…

How one will answer this question WILL mold and shape their view of life, for the rest of their life and usher them into eternity. If God does not exist, then our lives will cease to have meaning outside of ourselves and there will be no absolute standard of right or wrong for us. On the other hand, if one comes to know that there is a God, then determining His will and His revelation He has made becomes an…

Spiritual growth is not like physical growth. We know that a child does not have to plan how to grow or work at growing. No parent is ever asked, “What is your secret for making your child need longer jeans and bigger shoes?” While physical growth is a natural process, spiritual growth is not. The writer of Hebrews chided those who first read the letter, in chapter 5, by telling them they should have grown enough to be teachers, yet…

Your gadgets will be worthless. “In a moment,” the Bible says, “in the twinkling of an eye” the end will come. There will not be time to call friends or loved ones. There will not be time to send one final email to say goodbye or “prepare to meet thy God.” Our cell phones, our laptops, and our gadgets which now seem so powerful and time-consuming will all be rendered useless with the coming power of an omnipotent God! For…

The dictionary defines the word “mistake” this way: “a misunderstanding of the meaning or implication of something; a wrong action or statement proceeding from faulty judgment or inadequate knowledge.” Most of us would admit that we know plenty about mistakes, without having to consult a dictionary, because of personal experience. We know that mistakes can be of various kinds. Ever call someone by the wrong name? Ever make a mistake in your checkbook? Ever pick up something you thought wasn’t…

“Daddy, you said a bad word when you were preaching,” he whispered to me. Immediately, I stopped what I was doing and turned to face him to give my full attention. “What did I say, son?” He turned away from me and said, “you said the word, ‘gee’.” It is true that sometimes I’m given to filler words that creep unaware into my speech. I have no excuse for saying it and I certainly didn’t try to justify it to…

I wish I could share effectively all of the positive feedback that I have heard from members based on the evangelism workshop we had last weekend. Very little of it had to do with Rob and Nicole, and the majority of it had to do with members who have had their eyes open to the fact that they have a part to play in the growth of the church (Acts 8:4). The excitement is palpable and we will say and…

Reflections on Proverbs 23:23: Buy the truth, and do not sell it, Also wisdom and instruction and understanding. I have the choice to buy the truth. Buying and selling is as natural as breathing in the consumer-driven culture of America 2021. Advertisements and appeals bombard the average American from all over with one message: “buy this to be happy!” Solomon says in Proverbs and throughout Ecclesiastes, “Buy the truth,” and accessorize it with “wisdom, instruction, and understanding” in order to…