A couple of weeks ago, I received an email that said, "I need to confront you." That friend was the third person to confront me within seven days. All of them about different things. Who enjoys being confronted or criticized? I certainly do not and I'm guessing you don't either. Yet confrontation and criticism happen almost daily. Brothers and sisters criticize each other....

While eating dinner several years ago, we saw a storm roll in quickly with black clouds and strong winds. The pine and sweet gum trees outside the dining area began to lean over as if they were being pulled to the ground. A few seconds later, the house shook and a deafening crash reverberated through the room. I slowly walked to the front room to view the damage. The vaul...

This coming Sunday will be our seventh Lord's Day of worshipping exclusively through online streaming. While we are deeply grateful for the technology that enables us to still sing, pray, and hear the preaching of God's Word together in our own homes, many of us miss being physically together to shake hands, give and receive hugs, hear each other's singing, and taking comm...

A close friend of mine, who pastors in a large southern city, is grieving. One of his associate pastors died suddenly after only a week and a half battle with the coronavirus. The grief of that entire church is compounded because they aren't even able to gather and grieve at a funeral. Grief is obvious and expected when we lose someone we love. While the pandemic has peop...

I was afraid and quarantined once before. As a sophomore in high school in Brownsville, TX in the mid 80's, typing class was required. Yes, we used actual typewriters (like the one used by Ron Swanson)! Little did I know when class started that it would turn out to be ground zero for a disease outbreak in our city. I had the honor of being the second person diagnosed with...

It was a great idea. It was a godly idea. It was a community building idea. Why wasn't it working? Why were there so many roadblocks? We were convinced the problem was spiritual warfare. The evil one must have been trying to discourage us from doing what God wanted. When I was pastoring at another downtown congregation, we believed God was calling the church to share lif...

As the New Year begins, many people want to grow deeper in their faith and commit to, or recommit to reading the Bible and praying regularly. Some of you already have a well-established practice and method; but others of you may not know where to start, or haven't quite found the rhythm that works best for you. Since I have been asked over the years how I go about my Bible...