I was recently in a class led by Pat Gaughan.  He asked the question, “What is the purpose of salvation”?  As you can imagine the wise and thoughtful answers begin to churn inside the thoughts of each one present.  As the thoughts matured into speech, the answers you would expect were all present.  “To be with God” . . . “To live forever” . . . “To walk streets of gold.”  There was even the jovial “I want to live in a mansion.”  However, the answer sought was not found in…

It has been said that a virtue in excess is a vice…. Examples:

• Discerning to the point of believing everything you think (evil surmising) –   Mt. 7:1-2; 1Tim. 6:4
• Benevolent to the point of poverty of your own family – I Tim. 5:8
• Tolerant to the point of over-looking wrong – Gal. 6:1
• Agreeable to the point of having no convictions – Acts…

The claim that Jesus was raised from the dead is the most vital point in the Bible. Without it, Christianity is a waste of time (1 Cor 15:12-19). It is important that we know why we should believe that Jesus was raised from the dead, because there are many theories that try to counteract the resurrection story.

One theory holds that the disciples of Jesus stole the body from the tomb. This is actually the oldest theory because it dates back to the…

John Owen was an influential Puritan preacher in the 17^th century.  Consider what he wrote concerning acceptable worship:

Question:  What doth God require of us in our dependence on him, that he may be glorified by us, and we accepted with him?

Answer:    That we worship him in and by the ways of his own appointment.

Question:  How are the ways and means of the worship of God made known  

It’s not good theology to attribute to the Holy Spirit that which the Holy Spirit never attributes to Himself. Doing so results in both faulty and contradictory claims, and this is exactly what we often see. Feelings get attributed to the Spirit, which are then contradictory to the feelings of others, who might also claim the Spirit as the source. Such feelings may also directly contradict God’s own word. Claims are made about what the Spirit is doing, when all the person has is a good feeling about a work. I wish it…

     A 93-year-old man in Iowa named Bob Williams is known for sharing chocolate bars with random strangers in his small community. Every Saturday, he goes to the local dollar store to buy boxes of chocolate bars before handing them out to random people. People in his community say it puts a smile on their face and makes them feel special. They also tell how an act of giving a simple chocolate bar from an old retired teacher can turn a bad day on its head. “The Candy Man” – as…

In Judges 2:8-10 we read of a sad and tragic development in the history of Israel.

            And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years. And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain  of Gaash.  And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers.  And there arose another generation after them who did not know the  Lord…

A temptation comes upon you, and you are faced with a spiritual battle.  The temptation could be many things, such as to lie, be overcome by fear, gossip, lust, drink alcohol, complain, or spiral in discouragement.  We all find ourselves in the crosshairs of temptation, and Satan intentionally targets us in times of weakness.

I think about biblical stories such as Adam & Eve, Cain, David & Bathsheba, & Judas.  If only they would have seen the temptation for what it was, and…

I had the opportunity to go to a Dave Ramsey SMART conference earlier this year, which had multiple speakers who talked about everything from finances, becoming debt free, preparing for retirement, relationships between a husband and wife, parents and kids, etc.  One word that was consistently used by all the speakers was “Intentionality.”  The definition of Intentionality is simply- the fact of being deliberate, intentional or purposive (with purpose or intention).

A popular quote from Dave Ramsey is “You win with…

Last month, The Atlantic published an article entitled, “Are McMansions Making People Any Happier?”  The article was based on a study by Clement Bellet, which demonstrates that:

• modern day houses are significantly larger than from four decades ago.
• average family sizes are significantly lower than from four decades ago.
• therefore, there is almost twice as much space per person per house today than four decades ago, and as…

When I was young, I took piano lessons, and after a while I started to get to the point where I could play real songs.  In our piano bench (like every other piano bench at the time) was a storage bin that would contain a smorgasbord of random sheet music.  You never knew what you might find!  In my house, it turned out there was quite a bit of 70’s pop music available:  “You Light Up My Life,” the theme from “The Young And The Restless,” and other milquetoast offerings were…

When we talk about having perspective, we know that we are talking about how we’re able to view a particular subject from a point of view that may not be how we initially viewed it. Getting a proper perspective means that we take an honest look at the way things really are and not just see what we want to see. The proper perspective comes, when we see the larger picture. We sometimes become weary and disgusted, because we are only focusing on part of the picture. Taking a bigger view…

In a recent video several interesting factors came to light.  The author made several points that have direct implications to being successful as a Christian.  He noted the top ten things that successful people do.

1. Successful people believe in the law of income.  Here, he stated that successful people focus on providing value instead of simply effort...  As Christians, we must definitely put forth an extraordinary effort.  However, we must even more focus on providing value in our and others' lives.