Articles

Every move is forever, or so it seems. When we arrived in San Diego two and one half years ago, Lise and I were setting up for what we thought would be a long, and perhaps, final work in our ministry career. The elements were certainly in place: a great congregation with tremendous growth potential; a wonderful ministry team and staff; and, of course, the jewel of American cities, San Diego.Who kn...

The windshield wipers couldn't keep up. It was about 10 p.m. and I was riding in the church van with Jimmy Shepherd and Bob Aldridge who was driving. We were returning from taping one of the TV programs and were caught in a terrible rainstorm. Bob was carefully watching for a flooded road ahead and all of us were amazed at the power of the rain that fell on us in torrents. As we followed the ...

Owners of the Vdara hotel in Las Vegas are confronting a serious problem. The south-facing side of their building is both concave and covered with energy efficient window glass designed to reflect the sun’s heat and keep temperatures down inside the hotel. Problem is that the rays reflected from the windows arc across the pool area outside in what has been dubbed a “death ray” wi...

An interesting part of my wife’s history is that she graduated high school with Garth Brooks. They were class-mates and knew each other from classes they took together and from having been involved in some of the same school activities. Shortly after Garth’s first hit single came out we got to visit with him on his bus in Saltville, Virginia. He and his band were playing a free concert...

Have you ever wondered why God required the Jews to give 10% of their wealth as an offering or “tithe” in the Old Testament (Lev. 27:30-32)? First of all the number “10” in Jewish numerology indicated wholeness or maturity but as far as proportion was concerned, 10% of your wealth represented sacrifice. This was true then as it is today. For example: 3000 years ago if you gave 10% of your flock, h...

Jesus expects wholehearted obedience from His followers. Hebrews 5:9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, Jesus expects us to deny ourselves in following Him. Luke 9:23 And He was saying to them all, If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. Jesus expects us to grow in knowledge....

Through a simple exercise of eating and drinking together, Jesus gave us a means of remembering His sacrifice each week. My belief is that He provided this “supper” knowing we would need to be reminded often of this life-changing legacy of love. As things that are truly good have great value, reminders of such things will also be valuable. That’s one of the reasons I like to see ...

The Complex Season of Christmas The seasonal spirit of Christmas resounds all around; Sales gimmicks for the Young and the Old abound; Bargains by the bunches blend with Gifts galore; Magnetic messages draw crowds to every store! The Cry is “Save our economy,” rather than “Save souls!” Growth of sales and promotion of purchases are coveted goals; Glistening lights, snow men...

It is December. The Thanksgiving holiday has come and gone and Christmas is now coming into broader focus. With the season comes the Christmas carols, now being played regularly over the airwaves. Soon will come the television specials, many of which will feature current talent performing more carols. As a matter of fact, for most of this month our entire nation will be inundated with the songs of...

Along with many other scriptures, I love the message of Jesus in Matthew 11:28 –30… “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." I love that passage more and more each year because I...

Sunday, December 5th will mark the beginning of the new quarter for our Bible Class program. The insert included in the last Sunday announcement sheet lists the new classes and their location. We owe a debt of thanks to those brothers and sisters who serve this congregation in the education ministry. Let's support their efforts in the following ways: 1. Be There The church meets for study, worship...

The word “love” is used nearly 200 times in the New Testament. It describes one of the most basic fundamentals of the individual’s Christian faith. It is easy to “say” that “I am a loving person” but in reality the Apostle Paul gives us some specific characteristics of love that can and should be demonstrated in our lives. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 4Love is pat...

Next to the statement, “I love you,” I believe the most encouraging words to hear are, “I’d love to…”.I was reminded of this a while back when a regular Bible class teacher had to drop out because of work commitments and I had to find a mid-quarter replacement for this class.Finding Bible school teachers is always a daunting task for the Sunday morning program but a good teacher for a children’s c...

It is a sobering fact that we daily make decisions, and then our decisions make us! Most of life’s decisions are determined amidst three basic arenas: the principles we choose to keep; the people with whom we choose to associate; and the laws we decide to obey. Knowing even Truth is futile unless we decide to do it! Also, it is important to remember that not to decide is to decide!! Many yea...

Once when I was nineteen I found myself pushing my motorcycle along the side of the road because I had run out of gas. Imagine my surprise when a tanker truck pulled off of the highway in front of me. The driver jumped out and came back and asked if I was out of gas. Learning that I was, he quickly produced a plastic container from somewhere, climbed up on top of that big tank, opened a hatch and ...

It is believed that most of the ideas behind the night we now call “Halloween” originated with the Celtic religion of Druidism which flourished for around 300-350 years between the second centuries BC and AD. For the Druids, this night meant that the “lighter” part of the year was coming to an end and the “darker” part was beginning. They further believed that o...

One of the greatest teachings in all of the Bible is often the one some folks have the most trouble believing. I’m writing about the fact that many struggle with believing that God forgives them based solely on their faith in His Son. This is a great irony, since forgiving us is the whole reason why He sent Jesus and then provided the Bible to show us that this has been His intention through...

One of the clearest teachings in Jesus‘ New Testament is that all of us have sinned and fallen short of God‘s glory. Several passages such as Romans 3:23, James 3:2 and 1st John 1:8 & 10 make this clear. But what does this teaching mean to you? Some want to make this teaching mean that since everyone has sinned, no one has the right to correct or even address sin in another person&...

An astronomer was observing the setting sun. His telescope suddenly brought into view a hill seven miles away where two boys could be clearly seen stealing apples. It was obvious by their actions that one boy was stealing the fruit, while the other boy was “keeping watch.” The humor or the tragedy of the entire event was that they assumed they were successful stealers, when to Professo...

Some say, that the baptism Jesus commissioned in Matthew 28:18-20 is, “an outward sign of an inward grace”. This sounds very nice and quite religious, but though I have heard it for years, I cannot believe that it is true. My problem is that this teaching just isn’t found anywhere in the Bible. I have asked some who make this claim to show me where it is taught, but as yet none o...