• 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...

  • An Open Letter to the Arizona Diamondbacks

    This season promises to be an exciting one for your (and my) Arizona Diamondbacks.  If the early results continue, the Diamondbacks may make a strong push for the playoffs and maybe even win their division.  That’s a very good thing! But I have an issue—a serious one—with a decision you...

  • Religious Liberty and Sex Abuse

    I believe in religious liberty.  It is a Biblical concept.  Our first responsibility is to God and not to the state.  Peter and John stated it very well when called before the Jewish Sanhedrin and told to stop testifying about Jesus.  They said, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to...

  • Christians and Voting 2022

    An Update of a 2020 Blog I vote.  And I encourage you to vote.  But I won’t tell you to vote for.  I don’t endorse candidates and I don’t endorse parties.  I know some pastors endorse candidates directly, and I know many more who do so indirectly, by saying something...

  • Ethical and Practical Questions About Water

    I’m a pastor and so I’m primarily concerned with spiritual matters, and I focus on teaching people to love God, love people, and follow Jesus.  But that does not mean that I am unconcerned with physical and practical matters.  The truth is that I love Arizona and the people of...