What is peace? You may think it’s something like relaxing on the beach with your toes in the sand and a drink in your hand that has a little umbrella in it. The sun is shining perfectly at 76 degrees, and there is a slight breeze, and you don’t have a care in the world. If you have children they …
You send a two page email to a long distance friend, and all but the last 6 or 7 lines you are describing a single issue in your life at the moment. Do you think your friend would get the impression that this issue is important to you? Would you believe that almost half of the Gospel of John in …
Why do you stop for gas at Bucee’s (for non-Texans, these are the world’s largest convenience stores) when the little Exxon station is a lot easier? Why do you pay $85 for a concert ticket when you can watch a few good songs on YouTube? Why take a Disney cruise with the kids when they can binge the Disney channel …
When you worship with a bunch of other believers, you can look around and connect to all kinds of stimuli. It might be a stage and screen, lighting sometimes bright sometimes dim often colorful, hearing each other singing and clapping and Amen-ing. It might be an ornate altar, stained glass windows and the sounds of a pipe organ echoing through …
Abilities are natural talents you’re born with, skills that God gives so that you can always do what God wants you to do. When Moses was leading the Israelites on their 40-year journey to the promised land, God designed a deluxe tent structure for their worship called the tabernacle. He told Moses, “I have given ability to all the skilled …
The temple of the Jews defined their worship and directed them to Jesus. But for some, it distracted from Jesus. How does today’s Christian worship compare?
Do you have any rescue stories? Maybe you bolted after a runaway pet, or snatched your child from a busy street? If you hang around me long enough, sooner or later in my preaching and teaching you will hear me tell the story of my runaway grand-dog, Cole. He’s still alive today, but barely, after I had mistakenly left the …
What if you won’t be able to buy a house any time soon in this market? What if your friend isn’t interested when you invite them to church? What if you decide to get married but really don’t want to share the bed, the fridge and the thermostat on the AC? What if? What if? What if? We ask these …
The battle of Jericho is an epic story of faith and victory, but did it really happen? Skeptics say no, it is merely a folk tale. The Bible speaks clearly. The walls of Jericho collapsed when the Israelites marched around the city, worshiped and shouted. Archaeological discoveries confirm it. Historically, when a city’s wall is breached, either an army uses …
The city of Jericho is one of the oldest cities in the world, located about 15 miles northeast of Jerusalem. Jesus visited there often on his travels. 1400 years earlier, God’s commander-in-chief Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan River to take possession of the land of Canaan as God has promised. But Jericho stood in the way. The massive, …
