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....

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...

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...

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...

A “civilized” nation has the responsibility to act with civility.  If we lose that—and we are dangerously close to losing all traces of respect and civility in our public speech in America—then we cannot continue to call ourselves a civilized nation.  You can see the lack of civility and respect...

Let me start by saying that the world is broken.  And there is plenty of blame to go around. But it’s unhealthy to spend too much time playing the blame game. Need evidence that the world is broken and messed up?  Look around.  Wars.  Terrorists.  Earthquakes.  Murders.  Hurricanes.  Pandemics.  There...