• Seven Days In Utopia

    As I’ve mentioned before, I like to promote good movies that are also good movies.  I want a movie to be both enjoyable and to present a worthy theme.  I don’t necesarily expect a movie to be blatantly Christian, but I don’t want it to undermine Christian morality or to attack the...

  • Race Matters, Especially In The Church

    I read a disturbing blog today about race and the church, and I’ve been thinking about it all day long.  Essentially, the blogger (Ed Stetzer) reminded me that churches are still far too segregated in many ways: Over 90% of churches in the United States are racially segregated, with 80% or more of the congregation comprised...

  • Praying Jake

    I read this poem last Sunday, and I had several requests for copies, so I thought I’d post it on my blog.  However, let me share with you a few disclaimers:  (1) I have been unable to find the author so I can’t give proper credit.  (2) Don’t take the...

  • The Value of a Good Movie

    I love a good movie.  But let’s be honest about it; seldom do we agree on the definition of “good.”  For some people, a good movie is set in the old west.  (Especially if it stars John Wayne!)  For my daughters, the best movies are musicals with love stories.  One of my...

  • Getting Practical

    Many years ago, a perceptive church member came up to me after my preaching and said, “Good message, Pastor, but what are we supposed to do?”  Apparently, I had proven my point but I did not give a very strong personal application.  Since that time, I always close my sermons with...

  • Condemnation of Norway Shooting

    When terrorists attacked the World Trade towers, Americans rightly called upon Muslim leaders to condemn the acts, since the terrorists were followers of Islam.  And there was a considerable amount of consternation when the condemnations weren’t forthcoming or when they were couched in guarded terms.  My respect for those leaders...

  • Life Is An Adventure

    My family and I recently returned from our Colorado Vacation.  We stayed in the Rocky Mountain National Park area (Grand Lake) and then again near Durango.  We had an incredible time.  You can see some of my children and a son-in-law in the picture at left.  Two daughters and a son-in-law couldn’t...

  • Faith, Politics, and Religious Freedom

    A candidate for president whom I otherwise respect said something this week that should cause all Americans–and especially all Christians–to stop and think seriously about our freedom of religion.  He said that communities should “have the right” to ban Muslim Mosques if they so choose.  And he was warmly applauded...

  • My Country ‘Tis of Thee

    “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.”  (Psalm 33:12.  Part of my text for Sunday.) On July 4, 1831, the song we know today as “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” was sung for the first time at a children’s Independence Day celebration at...

  • That’s Why We Do It!

    Thursday evening of Vacation Bible School is one of the toughest but most rewarding evenings of the year.  It’s tough because the workers are tired.  Most of us have worked full time jobs for eight or more hours each day and then we’ve rushed to church to spend another 3-4 hours (or more)...