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...

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...

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?  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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Last week, a leak from the United States Supreme Court indicated that the court may be considering reversing Roe v. Wade, which made abortion widely available.  We don’t know yet how the courts will officially rule.  And if they do overturn that case, we are not yet certain what the...

I am not an earth worshipper.  I am not a tree-hugging environmentalist.  I know that there are those in the environmentalist movement who deny God, who worship “mother earth,” and who have all kinds of strange beliefs. And though I’m posting this during the week that includes “Earth Day,” I...