Back in February, while I was shaking hands after service, a young boy approached me with his dad. The little guy had a question for his pastor: "What can I do to help the church?" I smiled and said, "That's a great question. What do you like to do?" I'll never forget his response: "I like to give money to the church." After asking about cloning rights, I gave him a few suggestions and he bounced off with his parents. I still smile when I think about that conversation. Generosity, in every area of life, should come naturally to a Christ-follower. A generous person is a changed person -- changed by the love and mercy of God.
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What does salvation mean to you? For many of us, we define salvation in very personal, limited terms. Jesus died for me, therefore, I will live with him. Jesus is my Lord and Savior. I have a personal relationship with Jesus. "Jesus loves me, this I know..." In some ways, these views of salvation fit very nicely with the very reasons why we needed saving in the first place. We tend to be self-absorbed, superficial people. At the root of our sin problem is pride: we are the problem. It's not the devil or the corruption in Washington or the declining moral standards in Hollywood. The problem is not out there somewhere; it's me. I am the problem. In addition to the forgiveness of sins, the transforming work of Jesus on the cross should also bring about a change in perspective. I see myself differently. I see God differently. I see…
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I grew up in a distinctly non-charismatic fellowship of churches. Many of our preachers thought you had to be boring to be non-charismatic, and unfortunate interpretation for any audience. As a result of our lack of charisma, personal or theological, we didn't talk much about revival. Revival is what the Pentecostals did under a tent, with a sweaty preacher stalking back and forth. "Normal" Christians kept their cool -- and did a really good job, I might add. Since we didn't talk much about revival, we didn't see much of it either. Recently I've read several articles (again) about the decline of church attendance among various denominational groups. The tribe of my youth is one of those who have experienced continual decline. The result has been not only few people attending church but fewer churches to attend. It's not unique to any one particular fellowship, tradition, or denomination. If we…
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When I was in middle school, my favorite watch was a calculator watch. It had a display screen and the buttons of a small calculator. For its day, it was a high-tech portable device. Unless it's a fairly simple equation, I still use a calculator (on my phone) to figure out most math problems. As much as I love calculators, I'm also glad that there are still people who know how to do long division -- otherwise we might not have calculators anymore! I feel the same way about studying the Bible. While it is good that we live at a time when resources are plentiful, there is still no substitute for reading the Bible. In other words, books written about the Bible are not the same as the Bible itself. Rather than rely on other people to provide you with spoonfuls of the Bible, learn to read it and…
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As a pastor, I have sat across from countless individuals - in my living or at Starbucks - and listened as they shared their longing to live for something more than what they were currently experiencing. The doldrums of life had sucked all the enthusiasm out of them. By coming to me, they were hoping I could wave a magic wand and suddenly fill them with inspiration and purpose. If I had asked them to sum up their current existence in one word, they might have said: Boring Routine Dull Drifting Meaningless No one sets out in life to live like this. None of us ever had a morning where we woke up and our first thought was, "I hope today is a mediocre day." Yet, somehow, somewhere, that is the direction our life swung in. Ironically (or unfortunately), many of the individuals I've met with considered themselves Christians. They…
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