One of my hobbies is photography. While my iPhone does a good job, the Digital SLR I have takes much better pictures. If you aren’t familiar with the lingo, it is one of those cameras that allows you to can change the lens. Being able to change the lens is important because each lens offers…
In Psalm 50, Asaph confronts Israel regarding their worship and living. What they were doing isn’t much different from what many do today. Their worship was formulaic. In other words, they were going through the motions. Sure, they brought the appropriate sacrifices, but it was done more out of a sense of duty instead of…
“The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.” (Ps 24:1–2) The Sovereignty of God The Psalmist tells us that God is sovereign over all creation. God’s sovereignty stems from His ownership. The heavens,…
The husband and wife relationship is the building block of the family. Think about it. In the garden, even though God had created all kinds of animals, there was no-one like Adam, he was alone. God, however, determined that being alone wasn’t good for Adam, so God created Eve. Eve was Adam’s wife and helper, not…
In Colossians, Paul is dealing with false teachers. Focusing on the big picture, what we see is that these false teachers were adding something to the gospel. They required the Colossians to do more than believe in Jesus in order to be saved. Here is the thing, however, when we add something to the gospel, we are really subtracting…
Ask most church goers what it means to do apologetics and you will most likely be met with blank stares, an explanation about how we are to apologize to others, or tales of boredom as they tried sitting through a lecture or trudging through a book full of philosophical arguments. While the study of Apologetics can take you off into heady arguments,…
In his first epistle, Peter writes, “In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,” (1 Pe 3:15). In his commentary on 1 Peter, Dr. R.C.…
I am convinced that the greatest devotional need for most of those reading this article – even those committed to spending time in the Bible every day – is to meditate on Scripture. It seems a common experience for people to read the Bible and then, as soon as they close it, to forget everything…
Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians while in Ephesus after he heard of some issues plaguing the church. The issues Paul deals with in 1 Corinthians are the same issues we deal with today, which is why this is such a good book for the modern day church to study. However, before Paul dives…
Every week, I meet with a group of guys at IHOP for breakfast, coffee, and Bible study. For the last year, we have been working chapter by chapter through the Minor Prophets. It has been a fruitful study! We are currently in the book of Zechariah, so we are almost finished. When we came together this…
We just finished a series over the Genesis 1-12. In the last chapter — Genesis 12 — we encountered Abram (Abraham). He is a great example of someone who had to trust that God would use him. Abraham’s Hindrance Remember the promise God made Abraham — to make him into a great nation. That is a great promise to hear and believe if you already…
A perfect future kingdom awaits those who believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. A kingdom with no sickness, death, disease, injustice, war, oppression, etc – a perfect kingdom. Now, however, we live in the already/not yet. The period where we can taste victory, but we can’t fully enjoy it because Jesus’ hasn’t yet…
This is the second post in a two part series. You can read Part 1 here. 6 Reasons We Know God Wants What is Best for Us (4) God created a purpose for us in life Some of you reading this are retired, are approaching retirement, or wish retirement was closer. The one thing that those who are…
When I was growing up, my mom and grandma liked watching the news. As we all know, there aren’t a lot of happy stories on the news. It is mostly about people getting killed, kids getting kidnapped, or some other bad thing happening to people. Watching that everyday scared my mom into thinking something like…
Even though we are commanded to make disciples and Jesus gives us a simple three step method to follow, we have trouble following His command. We have trouble because we encounter barriers. The list of barriers we encounter can be a mile long. There are a lot of things that hinder us from making disciples. I can’t cover…
A lot of folks think making disciples is a complicated and difficult task. One that requires a lot of training and time. But that is not true. Training is helpful, but you don’t have to have a PHD in Biblical Studies to start making disciples. Jesus didn’t set it up that way. Instead Jesus gave…
Since the beginning of the year, I have been participating in a discipleship process with Gerry Lewis from the Harvest Baptist Association – Dangerous Pastors. Part of the process was to come up with a definition of a disciples. For the last nine months or so I have been thinking about my definition. What I…
Man is always searching. Searching for happiness, understanding, knowledge, wisdom. Sadly, for most, their search will never end. That’s because they are looking in the wrong place – the world. You see, the things of this world can’t provide us with ultimate satisfaction, understanding, knowledge, or wisdom. Job Speaks Up Thankfully, someone who understands that speaks up and tells us that this…
What should we do when we are troubled? When we are distressed? When our emotions are running out of control? I believe we should do what Jesus did. We should pray, ask others to pray for us, and rest in God’s will. Jesus’ Enlists Others to Pray for Him In the Garden of Gethsemane, feeling…
Before Jesus was arrested and put on trial, He retired to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray with His disciples. When He enters the garden, He takes three disciples with Him further into the garden to watch and pray. Jesus Shares His Feelings As they are leaving the others, Jesus’ soul becomes sorrowful and troubled.…