As a sinner interacting with sinners in a sinful world, there is going to be ample opportunity to apologize for something. Preferably, giving and receiving apologies will be few a far between, but most likely, it’ll be more often than we would like. The problem is that often our apologies are not apologies at all or are just lip-service, sort of like Larry the Cable Guy’s famous, “Lord, I apologize, and be with the starving Pygmies down there in New Guinea.” If we are going to honor God and actually work toward peace and reconciliation with those we offended or offended us, we’d better learn to apologize well…
CONNECT people to Christ and POUR into their lives His teaching so they'll OVERFLOW for the glory of God
CONNECT people to Christ and POUR into their lives His teaching so they'll OVERFLOW for the glory of God
Blog (Page 31)
I have been in pastoral ministry now for a decade. As any leader in the church knows—whether they are a pastor, elder, deacon, chairman, director, or a regular lay volunteer—disappointment, frustration, controversy, disagreement, arguments, and a whole other litany of negative situations are part of what every leader has to deal with. We are sinners working with sinners. Negative things are bound…
I’m pretty excited about my new acquisition as of last Friday! It’s not a new truck or guitar. It’s not a new gadget or a pet. It’s two big, mature blueberry bushes already loaded with fruit! Oh, you’re not impressed? Well, you probably don’t have a wife like I do who craves fresh fruit or a little blond-haired 22mo girl who begs…
Imagine with me for a moment, your foot throwing a fit and refusing to help the body walk. Perhaps it had rather be a hand or do nothing at all. Try as the body might to get the foot to work along with the body as it has been designed to do, it will not cooperate. Eventually, the disgruntled foot detaches itself and slinks away, dragging itself forward by its toes.
Sounds silly, doesn’t it? But, we see similar scenarios play out in churches all the time…
A good friend recently wrote me with a serious question: Where does it say in the Bible that younger children are safe from Hell up to a certain age? She, of course, is talking about the doctrine that many call “the age of accountability,” and because she’d never actually read anything about it in the Scripture herself, she was wondering if this teaching is actually in the Bible or just something she’d been told.
With a few updates, here is the basic answer I gave her, which I thought would be helpful for others as well.
Sex is a very powerful reality. It goes to the very core of what it means to be created male and female in the image of God. Indeed, it is an awesome gift from God, created to be enjoyed as He has prescribed. Given sex’s power, it’s a prime target for the devil to aim at. If he can corrupt this powerful…
Today, we continue with the final six prayer points leading to revival. See the first six here. 7. Recognize God’s uniqueness Isaiah declared to God, For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him, (Isaiah 64:4). There is…
As you look at your own heart, are you in need of a revival? Your local congregation? The larger church universal? Is there a great need for revival in our midst? Here’s what I mean by revival. Stephen Olford says, “Revival is an invasion from heaven that brings a conscious awareness of God.” Vance Havner once said that, “Revival is the church…
One of the shows that I’ve really loved over the years is Wild America with Marty Stouffer. I love the beauty and the drama that is highlighted in basically my own back yard. One of my favorite scenes is captured below. Watch it as an illustration of what I’m about to say, and then read on. If we observe nature today, it…
In the first post on forgiveness, I introduced our revival theme Forgiveness: Receive It and Pass It On. In the last post, I looked at the first level of forgiveness: Receive It. Today, I want to take biblical look at the second level, which is captured in the phrase “Forgiveness: Pass It On.” This level is the horizontal man to man aspect…