In the search to find and do God’s will, there is an element we can easily overlook. That element is his timing. Even if you have a good understanding of what his will is for your life, you can miss how his timing works.

If you are a pastor and you want to see your church grow, don’t focus on growing your church, focus on growing your people. This should be the goal of every pastor. After all, isn’t this in alignment with the Great Commission where Jesus instructed us to go make disciples? 

The parable of the 10 virgins is a wake-up call. First to those who don’t know Jesus, but it goes beyond that. The unprepared virgins in the story had lamps.

You may be familiar with the 2 Cor. 5:8 Scripture where Paul is stating the reality of what death means for us as Christians and that is what we want to dig into today. What does 'absent from the body present with the Lord' mean for you? There are three realities that I want you to understand from this verse and the verses surrounding it which will make this truth even more wonderful for you.

The test of our love for Jesus must be more than a euphoric Sunday morning worship service, it must go beyond the walls of the church and affect every aspect of our lives. When I use that as the litmus test, then I must give serious consideration to this question.

This verse expresses God’s love for humanity and his plan for redemption. It is the gospel summed up in one sentence. God loves us the way we are, but loves us enough not to leave us the way we are. To change our condition, he sent Jesus as a sin offering and if we place our faith in him, we will have eternal life.

The truth about friends is they will affect your life because these are the people who are closest to you. Their access to your life is going to lift you up or tear you down. They are going to help you move closer to the Lord, or they will move you away from him. This level of influence in your life makes choosing friends so critical.

Regardless of how you shape it, our pastors – and possibly your pastor – are in a challenging place. If you believe pastors are important to the growth, development, and continuation of the local church, then we need to think of solutions to help encourage pastors to stay instead of helping push them out the door.

When I think about the heroes of the faith, they were believing for something they would not see in their lifetime. Yet their belief was strong and certain because they made choices based on their hope of what was going to happen. Many of them sacrificed for what they knew was coming, but what they would never see.

"What I hate I do" reminds us that we are complex beings who often do the worst thing for us. So how do we reach a healthier, God-honoring life?

Mortal sin is an old concept, but is it actually in the Bible?

Earlier this year, our family left the church we were in for the last four years to attend a different one. This got me thinking about what was at the center of that decision. I know leaving a church for many is probably one of the hardest decisions you will ever make, especially when you have been part of that church for a long time.

I remember when I had to leave the church I grew up in. This was the place I got saved and was the only church I had known my entire life. Leaving was difficult for me, but I eventually reached a point where I had to go. Since that time, I have attended and left several churches, including the one we left this year. As I look back, I now realize the reason I left every church all shared one common denominator. The underlying reality was that my needs were not being met. So often we tie leaving to other things, but when you pull back all the layers, this is what you will find in the center.

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