The Word of God is not just a collection of wise sayings; it is the absolute truth that guides our lives. Truth is not merely subjective or based on individual experiences, but something eternal and unchanging.   Read More

After spending over 40 years in the ministry including 32 at the same church, here are some helps for longevity in ministry.  Read More

Please understand, I think there‘s a place for application of Scripture in preaching. I recently completed a sermon series on “The Relationship Principles of Jesus.” Seventy percent of Jesus’ messages were on how to apply His teachings. I guess my question is, “Have we crossed the line from preaching the Scripture to using the Scripture to teach soft news?”  As I said in last week’s blog, we often struggle with how far to take attractional evangelism.  Read More

The Performance Trap The moment you received Christ into your heart, you were born again. At that moment, God loved you as much as He ever will love you. Because His love is perfect, His love for you will never be any more or any less than at that instant you gave your life to Him. Yet, at times it is difficult to trust His love. Some time ago, a lady came into my office, brokenhearted over marria...  Read More

If I were to have written an article on this subject when I was thirty, I would have entitled it “Five Things Every Woman Wants.” Ten years later, I might have called it “Five Helpful Clues to What Women Want.” Today, I might call it, “Feeble Hints for Fellow Strugglers.” Scripture tells us there are several things we can bank on to answer the question, “What do women want?” Let me give you five:  Read More

Three People in Your Church  I have discovered there are three types of people in every church—customers, owners, and investors. Your members will be motivated based on the group to which they belong. 1.  Customers – When we think about customers, we first think about a consumer who never wants to contribute. However, a customer is simply a person who comes to church for what is in it for them and...  Read More

Life is short. “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” (James 4:14)  Read More

All law can be summed up in loving God and loving people. Often our relationship with God is far less complicated than our relationships with others. Repairing our relationship with God is one-sided. God does not need to be fixed. Our relationships with others are more complicated because we deal with weakness, blind spots, stress, and lack of communication on both sides. Why are relationships so difficult? I believe there are at least seven barriers.   Read More

I am privileged to have pastored three growing churches. This has been a huge blessing. However, I have also felt the deep despair and heartache of struggle in ministry. Recently, during one of these downtimes, God spoke clearly to me about three areas of difficulty, and His words of encouragement brought me great relief.   Read More

There will always be people in the church who will leave out of protest or rebellion. I believe, however, the rebellious feelings within our culture have bled over into churches. I may not have answers to your political concerns, but allow me to try to address this as it applies to the church.   Read More

When no one follows, you still may be leading. I’ve often heard that a good test of leadership is if you look behind you and no one is following, then you must not be leading. The idea is that if you are a good leader, you will always communicate well, inspire confidence, and have a contagious vision. This will result in people following. But, during a recent fast, God reminded me that if Moses had made the popular decision at Mount Sinai, he would have led the Israelites back to Egypt. In John 6, the Bible says Jesus spoke with such confrontation that most of the people no longer followed.  Read More

There is something admirable and special about a person who refuses to quit amidst great adversity. We admire someone who keeps getting up after falling down time and time again. All of us go through circumstances in our lives when we’re tempted to quit, and the Akhwaris in life inspire us to keep going. We become tempted to give up in tough times because we feel hopeless. We think quitting would be the greatest feeling we could imagine, because it would rescue us from our stress and discouragement. However, there is a high cost for quitting before our race is over.   Read More