How seriously do you take your prayer life?  Do you have a regular and  intentional time to pray?  I’m not talking about prayer before a meal or prayer at church, or about a quick bedtime prayer, “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray to God my soul to take.”  I’m talking about the kind of prayer life that....

The bible says that “the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” 

(cf. Acts 11: 26b)   It is interesting that 83 percent of Americans identify themselves as Christians.  The word Christian given to the disciples, by the world, was a derogatory statement meaning “belonging to Christ.”    When Americans say they are Christian, are they meaning they belong to Christ?   Jesus never called His followers Christians, He always used the term disciples.  The greek for disciple is machetes, meaning “student, learner,” a follower that adheres to the teaching, life and conduct.  Within the context of the bible that means that you have answered the call to know Christ, to follow Him and to...

“To tithe or not to tithe?!”  I really dislike talking about money, in fact, I only preach on this topic maybe once a year.   But it is a biblical principle (O.T. & N.T.) and one that Jesus addressed on several occasions.  Jesus said the “love” of money was the root of all even.  Jesus spoke of how hard it was for a rich man to enter heaven because they trusted in “uncertain” riches instead of Him.  Jesus told a parable of the rich man that was storing up more and more possessions for himself, and in this case, Jesus said that he was as fool, because his soul was going to be required of him that very day.  There are a lot of misconceptions and misunderstandings about money and the use of it.   It is not my intent to “de-christianize”  anyone based upon...

“If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day.  It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another.  By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed.  Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter.” - Admiral William H. McRaven (U.S. Navy Retired)

That little book, “Make your bed” by W.H.McRaven and his commencement speech to the University of Texas is so inspiring and true - even biblical in principle.

God uses the ordinary and unspectacular things of life to...

“The old gray mare, she ain’t what she used to be, ain’t what she used to be, ain’t what she use to be, the old gray mare, she ain’t what she used to be, many long years ago.”    The old gray mare is an old folk song penned around 1843, based upon the performance of the horse Lady Suffolk.

Well, no disrespect, but none us “ain’t what we use to be,” physically speaking that is.   That can be very discouraging too, if we look at our lives only in the physical sense, but the bible...

I believe we are in the last days, and in the beginning of what Jesus referred to in Matthew 24 as the, “beginning of sorrows.”   Just watch the news, its pretty obvious.  But what we are becoming desensitized to I believe, is where 2 Timothy 3 refers to as the last days being “perilous times” due to:...

As I pen this pastor’s desk and prepare for our 54th Homecoming celebration service this coming Sunday, I have a sad heart, for a variety of reasons: Mass shutting in Nevada; hurricane victims; the passing of my sister-in-laws best friend and the passing of my aunt after a long fight with cancer - so really not feeling “celebratory.”  We all have seasons of life that we are not “feeling” very “celebratory”, and not that we ever should be celebrating during human tragedy and loss of loved ones, but, if...

Ownership: “The act, state, or right of possessing something.”   We like to pride ourselves in owning this or that, but do we really own anything?  For one, it can all be taken away tragically through natural disasters, or financial ruin.   If you are fortunate to hang on to your possessions, you  will eventually give them up someday through death.   You see, we are...

As I pen this weeks pastor’s desk, I feel that same affection as the apostle Paul expressed in his letter to the Christians in Rome - “First, I thank God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of…without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers…that I may be encouraged together with you by the...

“Why…?”   I am sure you have heard that question a time or two, and most likely have asked it yourself, or at least thought it.  Why is this happening to me?   Why is this happening to my family and friends?  Why doesn't  God  answer my prayers?   Why does God seem to be silent in this matter?  Why does...