MUSINGS OF A PASTOR AT 51: NO LONGER ASHAMED OF WHO I AM Today is my 51st birthday! I am no longer ashamed of who I am. My only begotten son, Joshua and I have traveled to the mountains. We are sitting outside by a fireplace. It is a glorious morning of sunshine, a slight cool breeze, the remnants of the leftover effects of a huge snowstorm a couple of days ago, matched with the stillness... Read more
DID JESUS HAVE FEAR LIKE US? Did Jesus have fear like us? Recently, Pastor Jimmy Evans, preached a guest sermon at Ed Young’s Fellowship Church in Texas, in which he discussed why Christians face fear and how to overcome anxiety in their lives. Evans said, “Jesus had more fear on His way to the cross than any human being has ever experienced,” Evans explained. “If you’ve ever been fearful of anything, Jesus understands it.” I get what Pastor Jimmy... Read more
THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION AND WHETHER GOD’S WORD “WHIPSERS” ABOUT SEXUAL SIN My family has been Southern Baptist all my life. My dad was a bi-vocational Southern Baptist pastor/dairy farmer in Kentucky. I am a graduate of Liberty University and Dallas Theological Seminary and I have been a church planter for the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. I have now been the pastor of that same Southern Baptist Church, Vanguard Church in Colorado... Read more
THE MERGER OF BAPHOMETS INTO MAINSTREAM CHRISTIANITY Mainstream Christianity and what is acceptable to Christians is changing rapidly. The merger of baphomets into mainstream Christianity is yet another example. What is a Baphomet? Six months ago, my response would have been, “IDK.” I have now served the same Southern Baptist church, Vanguard Church, in the same city for the past twenty-five years. I am a Southern Baptist, a graduate of Liberty University, and Dallas Theological Seminary.... Read more
STANDING FIRM IN GOD’S GRACE BY STANDING FIRM IN MARRIAGE Marriage has been under attack in our society for some time now. God’s Word teaches that marriage is between a naturally born male and a naturally born female for a lifetime. “How do we stand firm in our marriages?” Peter says to us… 1 Peter 3:1 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, What does it mean to be subject to... Read more
STANDING FIRM IN GOD’S GRACE by PUTTING AWAY SINFUL HABITS I remember when I was 8 years old and my dad was the pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Knob Lick, Kentucky in 1980. I had recently given my life to Jesus Christ, and I was in Sunday School class that morning. My teacher asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up. We went around the room and answered the question, at... Read more
THEME: STAND FIRM IN GOD’S GRACE THE BENEFITS OF SALVATION THROUGH JESUS CHRIST 1 PETER 1:13-2:3 When we come to God and God redeems our souls, we have many errant thoughts about ourselves, Him, and how to have a real relationship with Him and others. Our salvation that is permanent and guaranteed through the finished work of Christ, then must be “worked out” in our lives, emotions, thoughts, and eventually actions and relationships. The Bible... Read more
GOD’S LOYAL LOVE FOR YOU Peter knew what it was like to fail in His faith and yet God not give up on Him. My hope is, by the end of this article, you do too! Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from... Read more
DO YOU EVER FEEL EXILED IN YOUR OWN LIFE? The life of faith in Jesus will have its challenges. The people in Peter’s Day had lost confidence that God’s grace could be found through the Christian faith. They were wavering on the finished work of Christ on the cross. The suffering of their present day at the hands of Nero was leaving them in the throes of doubt. Understandably so! What is it in your life that causes... Read more
LIVING OUT PEACE IN AN ANXIOUS WORLD It is possible in spite of great grief, sorrow, loss, discouragement, confusion, pain and broken relationships, to learn how to live in the peace of Jesus and return to peace when ambushed by the anxieties and the brokenness of this life. All of us battle anxiety. All of us struggle to live in the peace of Christ. All of us struggle to remain in perfect peace. However, the Prince... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In