• Do We Believe the Bible . . . Or Just Preach It?

    There are many points of doctrine and church practice in which there is ample room for differences of interpretation and opinion.  I can articulate my opinion and others can explain their idea of what Scripture teaches, and we can depart as friends and coworkers for the cause of Christ, even...

  • What Makes ABC Different?

    This article first appeared in our weekly newsletter in 2019.  I’ve updated it for 2024. I had a good question posed to me this week. “What makes your church different than any other church?” I want to answer it carefully, for I never really like to compare our church to...

  • Is It Illegal for a Church to Help the Homeless?

    How far can a church go to house homeless people?  Should it be illegal? There’s a court case in Ohio that is both interesting and distressing.  The pastor of a church in a small town of about 8,600 people in Ohio had 18 criminal charges filed against him for violating...

  • Sanctity of Life Sunday

    This Sunday, January 21, 2024, is Sanctity of Life Sunday.  Because I preach through Bible books like I’m doing now with Proverbs, I don’t focus my preaching on the various “special Sundays” on denominational calendars.  There are simply too many special Sundays to cover, and we would simply go from...

  • A Christmas Eve Love Story

    I want to tell you a love story tonight.  It’s the greatest love story that ever occurred and I want you to know it.  No other love story—and there have been thousands of them lived and written about and portrayed in movies—comes close. It’s greater than the love story of...

  • Who Should We Vote For?

    But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. (Exodus 18:21, NIV) Kings detest wrongdoing, for a throne is established through righteousness. (Proverbs 16:12, NIV) Love and faithfulness keep a king safe; through love his throne is made secure....

  • Keeping the “Holy” in the “Holidays”

    It’s now November, and families and churches are beginning to plan the holidays, if they haven’t done so already.  There’s a lot to think about.  Are we serving traditional food or doing something different?  Are last year’s decorations good enough or do we need something more?  Are we traveling (to...

  • Your Preaching Style is Hard to Explain.  How do you describe it?

    That was a question I received recently from someone who had visited many churches and noted that my preaching style was different than others.  Let me start by saying that there are many different types of preachers within the Christian Church.  If the content is Biblical and it is given...

  • Should Women Be Quiet in Church?

    There is a debate in Christian circles about the role of women in church life and worship.  (Actually, it’s been a debate for as long as I’ve been a pastor.)  The issue I want to deal with in this blog is simple and came up again a few weeks ago...

  • Am I A Crazy Conservative or a Looney Liberal?

    Am I a crazy conservative or a looney liberal?  I have been called both in the last month. I should probably go ahead and admit to the crazy and the looney part, but much to the frustration of some of my friends and even fellow pastors, I don’t think I...