Articles
Thoughts from the Back Pew on COMMUNION
What, if anything, makes communion different from the rest of our worship service? Should communion create feelings and/or emotions in me other than those I have during a regular service? Most messages during communion focus on what Jesus has done for us and...
Ask the Right Question – Getting Rid of WHY!
If you have been impacted this year by COVID, you may have found yourself at times asking, “Why is this happening?” “Why now?” Or “Why do some businesses get to prosper while others aren’t allowed to open?” Why? We all are asking these types of questions today and are...
One of My Best Defenses Against Depression
Down in the pit of depression, we struggle to see that far. We can’t feel the warmth of God’s love in that icy place. We have no assurance that God’s even there. I get that low sometimes. I’ve believed and loved God for most of my life, and I write about Him all the...
Talking About Abortion from the Pulpit
Working in the pro-life movement, I hear many stories of women that have experienced an abortion struggle with shame and regret silently in our churches. Lifeway Research published that 36% of women were attending a Christian church once a month or more when they made...
Can We Really Finish 2020 Victoriously?
I’ll never forget my first and only Ironman triathlon finish. It was actually my third triathlon. My first was an Olympic distance and my second was a half iron man, and I had just turned 55. The training to complete the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and the...
All They Wanted for Christmas
So what is it that YOU wanted for Christmas? (Please don’t say for the pandemic to end, though that was probably on the list for many this year!) Some of you probably have items from Amy Grant’s Grown-Up Christmas list song just dancing through your mind…no more lives...
Five Ways to Encounter God in the Ordinary Rhythms of Your Life
I just don’t feel God’s presence in my life. For pastors, counselors, and others in ministry leadership, this is one of those common refrains heard on a regular basis. And yet it’s amazing how a simple phrase can indicate such a deep sense of crisis. In our churches,...
The Federalist Press Number 86
To the Citizens of the United States We have bear witness to many events within the time of the 45th President of the United States. The many events that have transpired take on meanings for us citizens seemingly dependent upon what ideology, faction, or encampment...
Why Vision is Not Enough
Our mission as Christians was the same yesterday as it is today and will be tomorrow. The world, however, is changing faster than ever before, and keeping up feels impossible. The realities of human life—from how we develop relationships to how we use technology to...
Ministry to the Poor
A Look at What God Can Do When the Church Says 'Yes' CityServe Imperial Valley (CA) Each week, in a region close to the Californian/ Mexican border, Lupita Bawarski helps lead a CityServe ministry in the Imperial Valley of California. When talking with her, she will...
How to Eat Your Bible…What Does that Mean?
I vividly remember a point in my life when the Bible was completely foreign to me. I had heard and understood the gospel, confessed my sins to the Lord, believed in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, attended church regularly, prayed often, participated in small...
The Joy Switch
Have you ever lost it—at a time when things were humming along for you? You were feeling good—until someone said or did just the thing to set you off. You got derailed, pushed out of your sweet spot. You stopped listening and started reacting. You no longer felt like...
There’s something I need to say.
Back to the Good Stuff
When we refuse to sacrifice our time for the sake of busyness or of keeping up with the person next to us, we can get back to the good stuff. We can enjoy the rewards that come from instilling these values in our children. We can get back to the simple joys...
Three Ways to Help Your Severely Depressed Loved One Part 2
Love. Even if we’ve never cracked open a Bible, most of us know evangelical America’s favorite verse, John 3:16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. The verse sums up the essence...
Our Churches and the Great Commission
Thoughts from the Back Pew All Christian churches preach and teach the “Great Commission,” the command Jesus gave to all of us to go and make disciples. The Greek word translated “go” is in the present-perfect verb tense and more accurately can be translated “while...
Three Ways to Help Your Severely Depressed Loved One Part 1
Severe depression is, by definition, an unhealthy, unnatural state of mind, inherently and wholly illogical. It really and truly doesn’t make sense. And that’s what makes it so difficult for those who’ve never dealt with it (and even many who have) to understand....
The American Orphan Crisis
Every Church Can Do Something I remember the first time I learned about orphans as a young boy. It was from a late-night infomercial highlighting starving orphans in Africa. It hit me hard then, and still today, I cannot fathom not having a loving family to take care...
The Scarlet Ribbon of Redemption
As Adam and Eve left the Great King’s royal garden in Eden, they carried with them not only the consequences of their rebellion but the promise that God would ransom them, and all Creation, from the clutches of sin and death. Like a scarlet ribbon ever unraveling from...
Hope for the Holidays When Your Heart is Breaking
When Christmas Isn’t Joyful On the morning of December 14th, 2012, I sat by the soft glow of my Christmas tree in the pre-dawn stillness. The tranquility of the moment stood in direct contrast with the scene unfolding before me in scripture as I read Matthew chapter...
