I’m in Wilmore, KY this week!

I am posting this while we’re on our afternoon break. As you may know Joleen and I are in Wilmore, KY this week for our ninth and final class in the D.Min. program at Asbury Theological Seminary. This course begins the final 17-month stretch of this journey. It promises to be a meaningful, albeit grueling, … Read more

No Problem! (The Nativity Story, Part 2)

Read Luke 1.26-38 Mary’s response is arguably the most amazing response of any human being in the Scriptures. God asked her to throw away her reputation (through an "illegitimate" pregnancy). Add to this that Mary is very young, and she simply says, "I am the Lord’s servant. Let it happen as you have said." What … Read more

No Way! (The Nativity Story, Part 1)

Heart disease is the number one killer in America. And spiritual heart disease is the number one killer in the church. Today we begin our Advent/Christmas series that will help us to develop healthy hearts. We’ll try to do so by looking at how the main characters of the story each responded to God. We’ll … Read more

“Sacrifice” (Money Matters, Part 3)

While I believe that most of us really want to be generous, and most of us really do want to honor God with our whole lives (including our money), my guess is that the line for those willing to sacrifice is a lot shorter! I don’t know about you, but the thing that scares me … Read more

Generosity (Money Matters, Part 2)

It’s a question of ownership: Whose money is it, anyway — mine or God’s? If I think it’s mine, I’m going to hang onto it and use it the way that I want to. But if I view it as God’s money, then I will be more likely to use it in ways that honor … Read more

Heart Check (Money Matters, Part 1)

Money is one of the topics we love to avoid the most in the church. But Jesus talked so much about money (more about money than heaven, hell, and prayer combined) so it’s such an important topic that we cannot ignore it! There are basically two views about money – the world’s view and God’s … Read more

Can I Get a Witness? (Acts 29, Part 3)

You can’t talk about Acts without talking about the Holy Spirit, and you can’t talk about the book of Acts without talking to about life change (transformation). Today, we’re going to talk about one more thing that I don’t think you can miss, when talking about the book of Acts: Action. You can’t talk about … Read more

A New Thing (Acts 29, Part 2)

We continue our journey considering three of the most important points from the book of Acts as we try to write the next chapter in our history of serving God in the world. Last week we talked about the essential role of the Holy Spirit (to be filled, we must yield). The reality is, you … Read more

Dynamite (Acts 29, Part 1)

Today we begin a new series, looking at what I consider to be three of the most important points from the book of Acts. Now if you turn to the back of the book of Acts, you’ll discover there are only 28 chapters. You’re not missing a chapter! Acts 29 represents the next chapter in … Read more

Better Together 3: Protecting the Unity

I sometimes forget how important our connection to one another is as followers of Jesus Christ. The reality is that we are bound together by Christ’s blood — there’s no stronger bond than that! And we are bound together by a shared covenant to Christ through this congregation! Don’t we all forget that sometimes? We’re … Read more