Church

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. -- Isaiah 9:6-7 Nearly every person I’ve ever met has wanted peace – shape or form. Isaiah predicted the coming of the Prince of Peace. Jesus promised to leave us with his peace. The Apostle Paul said one of the results of the Holy Spirit’s influence in our lives would be the presence of peace. In fact, when the angels announced birth of Jesus 2,000 years ago, they did so by promising this: Luke 2:14 … “Peace on earth, goodwill toward men.” I’m not one to argue with a sky full of angels, but for many of us we don’t experience all…

Do you know of more words that provoke a wider range of responses than the word “father”? Simply saying the word “dad” can make one person feel honor and love, or make another person angry and bitter. For me personally, I was blessed with a great dad who loved God, loved my mom, and taught me to love and appreciate the church. He never taught me how to change my own oil, but with modern engines that’s about impossible these days anyway … When I mention fathers and dads, you have similar feelings towards your father. For others, what are you thinking? -- My dad was never really there for me. -- My dad never paid any attention to me. -- My dad never showed me any affection. -- Truth is, not all human fathers lived up to expectations of children. We are living in a day and age where…

Years ago I read a little paperback by JB Phillips entitled, “Your God is too Small.” Written in 1961, he challenges many misconceptions Christians – not non-believers – have about God. His premise is simple: For many of us, our view of God is way too small. Admitedly, there have been times in my life when I've had a small view of God. In my younger years, I was tempted to view God as a cosmic vending machine – put in the right prayer, hit a button, and out pops your preferred answer. Another small view of God is to think of him as the principal in high school. Stick to the rules or else you’ll end up in his office and that won’t be any fun. Those are very small views of God – and wrong views of God. How big is your view of God? While I don’t…

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. People seem nicer, with the two exceptions being Black Friday and checkout lines. Christmas music with words about Jesus gets played in stores other than Chick-fil-A. And who doesn’t love pictures with Santa? How do you feel about Christmas? Our theme for our Christmas series is “Coming Home for Christmas.” Depending on your experiences growing up, that may or may not give you the warm fuzzies. But this series is not about returning home to Wichita or Wisconsin. It’s about the story behind the story. It’s about coming home to the One who created you, loves you, and wants to be in a relationship with you. One of the best-known Christmas passages in the Bible doesn't appear in the Gospels but in the Old Testament book of Isaiah. Isaiah is an interesting character in the Bible. He’s known as one…

Mr. Trotter was my freshman basketball coach. Short and squatty, he once told us during practice, "I only yell because I care." I didn't think so at the time (or even today), but he must have been one of the most caring people ever! One of his favorite phrases to use, yelling or not, was "dog meat." He could use that phrase as a noun or adjective, even turning it into a verb on occasion. "Hensley, that pass was dog meat." He never called you by your first name and if he didn't like what you did, it was "dog meat." Needless to say, Coach Trotter wasn't the best motivator I've been around. Many of us fall into the trap of using external motivators to motivate ourselves and others. Reward or incentive, fear or guilt. These external motivators provide a momentary bump but are hard to sustain. More importantly, many…