Before I vote

Questions I Ask Before I Vote As a pastor, I do not publicly endorse candidates, nor do I share my party affiliations publicly.  I’d rather be known as a follower of Jesus than a supporter of ‘Candidate X.’  In the same way, our church does not endorse a candidate, and...

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Ten Commandments for Christian Voters

I preached on Sunday, August 21, on A Christian Response to Government and Politics.  In part, I taught that Christians must operate with a much higher standard than do politicians, and even the way we do politics (which is often a very dirty business) must be done according to the ethics of...

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Is Baptism Necessary?

I continue to answer questions submitted by FSBCA members, and I must admit that I’ve received many good questions, far more than can be answered in Sunday morning sermons this month.  (I’m glad to pastor a church of curious-I-want-to-know-the-truth kind of people!)  Many of these questions will be answered in...

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Our Strategy For Fellowship

Fellowship. It’s a word used predominately in church life to describe friendship—except that it’s more than friendship.  It’s describes something like the close bonds you get in a great family—except it’s not based on a biological relationship.  It’s a sense of common purpose that happens (too rarely) on a great...

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Our Strategy For Evangelism

Years ago, when everyone went to church, you didn’t need much of a strategy for reaching people.  Everyone already came to church, so the strategy was not much more than (1) call a good preacher and (2) start good Sunday School classes.  Then the people would hear and respond to...

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First Hand Look at our Justice System

As many of you know, I recently completed a four month stint on a Maricopa County Grand Jury.  A Grand Jury is different from a trial jury.  Instead of determining guilt or innocence in just one case, we were determining probable cause for many cases and then issuing indictments when...

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Update on Racism Remains

On Sunday, the church I mentioned in my last blog (First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs, Mississsippi) read an apology decided upon by the leaders of the church admitting that they shouldn’t have asked a black family to move their wedding. While it was certainly a step in the right...

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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...

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