My great-grandfather Phillip Croslin was a sharecropper in southcentral KY and made a name for himself as an honest mule trader. If he said, yes, the mule is good, the mule was good. He was a man of his word. Does that kind of character seem a thing of the past? It shouldn’t be. Jesus expects it in us. He told us…

Marriage is one of God’s greatest gifts because it’s not good for a person to be alone. But sadly, about 50% of all marriages end in divorce. On this topic, Jesus essentially said in Matthew 5:31-32, “You have heard it said that divorce isn’t a big deal, but I’m here to tell you it is a huge deal.” Of course, Jesus is…

A man hiking in Utah’s Bluejohn Canyon found himself in a literal pinch. An 800-pound boulder suddenly rolled down, pinning his hand. He couldn’t free it, and after being trapped for 5 days, he had to do something drastic. And so, with a multitool, he amputated his own right hand and lived to tell the tale. You see, dangerous situations call for…

Anger can be such a destructive emotion. But as long as you don’t kill somebody, you’re cool, right? Jesus tells us that we better think again. You see, he’s not just concerned with our destructive hands, he’s also concerned with our destructive heart and our destructive mouth. Even if you never lay an angry hand on that man in real life, imagining…

I’ve seen several 10 commandments displays around our community and am so thankful they are posted here because they are God’s standard for morality. Don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t murder, don’t cheat on our spouse, don’t love something more than God, and so on. But they are a double-edged sword. Not only do they call us to do what’s right, they also…

Does it feel like things in our area are decaying? Well, it needs some salt. And if you are a follower of Christ, you are that salt our community sorely needs. Jesus said in Matthew 5:13, you are the salt of the earth. As salt flavors the food we eat, we should add a godly flavor to our community. And as salt…

Do you ever feel like you have a target on your back in today’s culture because you are a Christian? That’s certainly true in other countries, but it’s increasingly true here in America where aggressive godlessness is growing. Now, we shouldn’t be surprised. Jesus said like they hated him, they’d hate us. But never forget that even when you are mistreated and…

Are you a peace-breaker, peace-faker, or peace-maker? A peace-breaker always stirs up drama in everybody’s life. A peace-faker pretends they have peace but is actually just sweeping their problems under the rug, resolving nothing. But a peace-maker doesn’t look to create problems but definitely works to resolve them in a way that honors God when problems do come. So, which one do…

We in the South love to say, “Well, bless your heart.” God does indeed want to bless your heart because your heart is the key to one day seeing God. But it takes a pure heart. Jesus said in Matthew 5:8, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. But nobody’s born with a pure heart. We’re born sinners…

I absolutely love receiving mercy. Don’t you? Mercy is not receiving the bad thing you deserve. Like instead of getting a fired for missing that project deadline, your boss gives you an extension. That’s mercy. Or like the police officer giving you a warning instead of that ticket for speeding. That’s mercy. And I love receiving it. Everybody does. But do you…