Lovin' Tellin' The Story

Two nights a week I teach Adult Basic Education at our local prison...I mean "correctional institution." Naturally, many of the people who find their way into prison have had some experience with drugs, and sadly, many are hoping to have more experience with drugs after they leave. So, last night somehow the topic of marijuana (weed, smoke, bud, pot, Mary Jane, etc.) was brought up in our discussion of World War Two (Please don't ask me how. They can turn the conversation to weed if you're talking about Mother Teresa). Of course, these guys know that I am a pastor and a Christian so comments were made about how the Bible doesn't tell us we can't smoke dope and so on. Then,  as I'm riding home Al Mohler brings up the topic of marijuana in yesterday's (2/1/2018) episode of the "The Briefing." His point was that marijuana usage is up in America but in other forms besides smoking it, and how more and more states are trying to jump on the legali...

The church that Paul wrote 1 Corinthians to had a problem. Sure, there were divisions among them over which teacher the preferred, or which pastor had baptized them. Some claimed Paul, others Apollos or Cephas; others still simply claimed Christ. However, as Paul points out in the beginning of chapter 3, this was just a symptom of a larger problem - spiritual immaturity. For this reason Paul calls them "babies in Christ" who were only capable of feeding on milk rather than solid food. What would Paul have to say if he were writing 1 Americans today? First let me make an important point of clarification before digging into this passage. Paul is writing to people he addresses as "brothers and sisters," "those sanctified in Christ Jesus," "called as saints" and so forth. There is no question in the apostle's mind that he is writing to people who have been redeemed. He's writing to Christians! I say that to hopefully ward off any idea tha...

I’m sure many Christians, and most pastors, have been asked, “How can I know that I’m saved?” Let’s just state up front that this is a monumental question that deserves our utmost attention and care. After all, we’re talking about someone’s everlasting soul here, and there have been volumes written on the subject. What follows is my feeble attempt to answer that question concisely, carefully, and biblically (I care more about the last one than the other two). Before we go any further I want to answer the precursor question which is also very important, “Can I know that I am saved?” Some would say, no, you cannot know you are saved. Rather, you must simply fling yourself on the mercy and grace of God and hope for the best. I say that is wrong, cruel, a tool of the enemy, and not at all what the Bible teaches. Whenever the Bible speaks about salvation it is always in very concrete, absolute terms. There are no “maybe’s”, or “might’s”, or “perhaps.’” Instead you find the Bible talk...

What follows is the first draft of a book I'm working on tentatively titled "I Yahweh, Take You Israel" which is based on a series of messages I did on the 10 Commandments. As Christians we often have a jaded view of the Law and hopefully this book will give us a fresh look at one of the most important parts of the Bible. Hopefully the book will be available later in 2018. Stay tuned for more previews! Chapter 2: A Wedding at Sinai. It rained on my wedding day. Some people would take that as a bad omen, but we really didn’t care and for a variety of reasons. First of all, our chance of marital success is not linked to meteorology. Secondly, it made for some really cool pictures. Most of all we didn’t care if it rained or not because the day wasn’t about the weather. It was about two people making a commitment before God and man to live together in an exclusive love relationship as long as they both shall live.           ...

Recently, at least in my little world, there seems to be a firestorm of controversy among believers. I know, I know that's really nothing new. However, it seems to be increasing on my Facebook news feed and in the small part of the blogosphere that I frequent. For anyone living near the Charlotte, North Carolina area there has been a series of news stories about Elevation Church and their pastor, Steven Furtick. I was mildly surprised when an author/speaker/blogger friend of mine from Michigan chimed in on the Elevation debate. Most in the conservative evangelical world are well acquainted with the ongoing debate between John MacArthur and...well...the rest of the Christian world on the subject of false teachers. Then an extraordinarily polite (it really was) debate erupted on a friend's Facebook page over the Jesus Calling devotional book. In my estimation there are basically two camps in Christendom when it comes down to the issue of, what I will call for simplicity's s...

"They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them...If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead." Luke 16:30-31. God's Church is in desperate need of a revival of our commitment to His Word. We are far too focused on things like worship styles, programs, methods and turning the Gospel message into a self-help theory. While I believe that things like worship and programs are worthy discussions to have and are certainly worth our attention the basis of our lives both personally and corporately must  be the Word of God. In Luke 16:19-31 Jesus tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus. While there are many, many takeaways from this story the one thing that jumped off the pages to me was Jesus' statement, through the mouth of Abraham, regarding the sufficiency of God's Word. Miracles, signs and wonders are all wonderful confirmations of the one proclaiming God's truth, but the real transfor...

But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of one letter of the Law to fail. Luke 16:17 I was talking to my dad on the phone this past Saturday and he asked me what the message was going to be about on Sunday. I told him that we were going to talk about Jesus' confrontation with the Pharisees in which He addressed their manipulation of the Law of God. I went on to say that that is exactly why people don't like lawyers today, they can use technicalities and loopholes to get guilty people off. My father, who has been a lawyer for most of his life said, "Yeah, that is why people hate lawyers and they don't like them until they need one." That, my dear father, will preach. You see the same thing is true about people and their view of the Law of God. No one likes it or wants to have anything to do with it until they see what its true purpose is. In Luke 16:14-18 Jesus "lays down the Law" for the Pharisees and other religious le...

The other day I was scrolling through my newsfeed on Facebook when I ran across a link that a friend of mine had posted to a blog post. The post was clearly dealing with the issue of homosexuality, that much I could see from preview. It also looked like it may be coming from a slightly new angle so I clicked on it to investigate further. One of the primary arguments that the author was making was that many Christians are very literal in their interpretation of the Scriptures on issues such as homosexuality. However, when it comes to other issues like alcohol, gluttony, divorce, etc. we beg for "a little context." Now, let me say this, on that particular point I absolutely agree with the author and applaud her boldness in pointing it out. One of the things that frustrates me the most is that we, as evangelical Christians, like to categorize sins and typically the really bad ones, the ones God abhors, are the ones that someone else is guilty of. I want you to hear me very clear...

Note: Today's post is from one of my dear brothers in Christ, Ryan Burris. He has been called to the ministry and is currently pursuing his Master's of Divinity at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also a youth minister, a gifted preacher and, as you will read, a wonderful writer and expositor of God's Word. I hope you enjoy his thoughts on this important subject and are blessed and challenged by his message. Christian Ezekiel 3:1 He said to me: “Son of man, eat what you find here.  Eat this scroll, then go and speak to the house of Israel.” A new year is just around the corner, and with that comes resolutions.   Consistently, one of the top New Year’s resolutions is going on a diet or losing weight (which typically includes dieting).   Our culture is crying out for new, more successful diets with quicker results, and this is not necessarily a bad thing.   While I am not a dieter myself, it seems as though most diets that I have heard of a...