April 27, 2012
April 27, 2012 Dear Church Family, I had the joy of speaking in a retirement community this week. In the first service, practically everyone arrived via wheelchair, but what a receptive audience! I will admit that two or three fell asleep, but I was able to share with the rest that God is still at work in your life, cast your cares upon Him, claim His promises, and praise His name. I wish you could have seen the smiles on the faces of these godly saints as they nodded in affirmation. They know from experience that all of these statements...
read moreApril 20, 2012
April 20, 2012 Dear Church Family, Do you let the people in your life know that you appreciate them? I read this morning where Paul says to the Philippian believers, “I thank my God every time I remember you.” He goes on to say that he is thankful for their partnership in the gospel. He also tells them that he is confident that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion in Christ Jesus.” I’m sure that these positive words were a great encouragement to the folks in Philippi. Who do you know that needs to...
read moreApril 6, 2012
April 6, 2012 Dear Church Family, No human being, and especially the Son of God, should have to go through the horrible torture of death by crucifixion, but all of the Biblical records and some secular accounts confirm that Jesus did just that. So, why did He do it? The answer is found in Romans 5:8 where the Bible says, “But God demonstrated His love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” So, why did Jesus do this for us? The only answer that makes sense is that He loved us enough to do it. It is...
read moreMarch 16, 2012
March 16, 2012 Dear Church Family, Randy Alcorn shares an interesting insight when he writes, “Earth is an in-between world touched by both Heaven and Hell. Earth leads directly into Heaven or directly into Hell, affording a choice between the two. The best of life on Earth is a glimpse of Heaven; the worst of life is a glimpse of Hell. For the Christian, this present life is the closest they will come to Hell. For unbelievers, it is the closest they will come to Heaven.” (Randy Alcorn, Heaven, p. 28.) The good news is that we have...
read moreMarch 9, 2012
March 9, 2012 Dear Church Family, I received a sad call earlier today. A young mother from a previous church lost her battle with cancer this morning. I would like to ask you to pray for her family, especially her two young daughters; Haley and Lauren. My mind immediately went to the passage that we talked about in our Bible Study Wednesday evening. Isaiah 57:1-2 says, “The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil....
read moreMarch 2, 2012
March 2, 2012 Dear Church Family, I received an unusual gift recently that I’m very excited about. It is a beautiful handcrafted ant that is about a foot tall. I’m excited about this gift because it brings back such good memories for me. I can’t tell you how many times my mother sang the “High Hopes” song to me when I was younger. I’m not sure who first sang the song, but I believe Frank Sinatra is the one that made it famous. Our Senior Adult Choir, the “Joymakers” sang it in their last production. Here is the...
read moreFebruary 24, 2012
February 24, 2012 Dear Church Family, I’m sure you have all heard the poem that says, “One hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the type of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove….but the world might be different because I was important in the life of a Child.” I think we could easily change that to ten years from now, or even 20 years from now. Our Rebekah celebrated her 20th birthday this week and it seems like it was just yesterday when she was born. One day they are babies and then...
read moreFebruary 17, 2012
February 17, 2012 Dear Church Family, A popular singer dies of a drug overdose. A man burns down his house with his two small boys trapped inside. A lady jumps off an overpass into oncoming traffic. It seems that every where one looks these days we are greeted with bad news. So, what’s a person to do? How should we respond? My simple answer is, “Do something good.” The Bible says, Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. So, go out and make some good news today! You might not make the newspaper...
read moreFebruary 10, 2012
February 10, 2012 Dear Church Family, I had the privilege this week to hear Dr. Jeff Iorg, the President of Golden Gate Seminary, talk about leadership. The entire presentation was filled with great insight, but something he said really stuck with me. He said that when it comes to Christian leadership the proper motive is love, the proper attitude is humility, and the proper strategy is service. He also said, “God has placed me in my leadership role to make me more like Jesus Christ.” So, if Jesus is our role model when it comes to...
read moreFebruary 3, 2012
February 3, 2012 Dear Church Family, “Does anyone have a problem with the fact that my client was drinking on the night of his arrest?” This is the question that the lawyer asked the pool of potential jurors of which I was a part this past Monday at the downtown courthouse. The defendant was on trial for a DUI case and I was the only person in the courtroom to raise my hand. I’m not quite sure why I was the only person to raise my hand. I think it’s a sad commentary on the world we live in today that only the pastor in the room...
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