You are not alone in this world. You were never meant to be alone. Faith is supposed to come to us through a long line of men and women who know God and love Him. Sadly, few of us have a heritage like that. Some of you are first-generation Christians. Your parents...
Imagine if your children inherited a terminal disease from you. Wouldn’t you do everything in your power to find a cure for them? This is not an imaginary situation. Our kids have inherited something much worse than a terminal illness. They have inherited a sinful...
A few years ago, I spoke at a Christian youth retreat. They asked me to preach on John 15, the passage where Jesus teaches about the vine and the branches. Jesus’ primary call to His disciples in that passage is that they “abide in me.” Jesus begins to explain what...
Our response to the Word of God has been the central issue from the beginning of history. At the beginning of Genesis 3, God has already made Adam from the dust of the ground, and made Eve from Adam’s rib. God’s perfection is completely reflected in a perfect world....
The word “preaching” has been twisted and redefined in two ways: “Preaching” is something that pastors do from the pulpit. The early Christians understood that “preaching” was something every Christian was called to do as they...
As a pastor (and I hate to admit this), I sometimes cringe when I look back at sermons I have preached. I am particularly burdened if I ripped a text of Scripture out of its context and used it to preach my thoughts, rather than God’s thoughts. Here is a text which I...
A New Kind of Christian? Consider these four questions. I have asked these same questions to Christian groups many times. I ask people, if their answer to the question is “yes,” to raise their hands. Here we go: Question 1: Do you believe the Bible is God’s Word? In...
Family Mission trip update October 22 God has blessed our ministry here in the former Soviet Union. During the past 10 days We have held conferences for pastors and parents in Chisenau, Odessa, and Kiev. The Moscow events begin tonight. I thought I would describe one...
The church service finished about fifteen minutes ago. You are talking with a group of Christian friends, when a visitor approaches you and says, “I have some questions. Can you talk to me?” You and your friends are eager to help. “Sure, what’s on your mind?” “Well,...