Renew

On Mondays, I sometimes slip into the "I'd rather be an ice cream truck driver" blues. Anyone who is a pastor will understand these "after Sunday  doldrums." Of course, you don't have to be a pastor to wonder why in the world we put up with one another in the body of Christ. Plenty of people are throwing in the towel, or just moving on to the next group of misfit believers. Why have I stayed?  I was born on Sunday, August 6th, 1967 (in the same hospital as Brad Pitt, but that's for another post). The next Sunday I was in church. Since then, I can count the number of times I have missed Sunday worship on one hand (and that's really not an exaggeration). I am a son (and grandson) of a preacher man and now I'm a preacher with a son (and two daughters). My whole life has revolved around this wonderful, marvelous, but not yet "without spot or wrinkle" Body we call the Church. With all that my parents went through as leaders in the Church, ...

I'm starting a sermon series on the book of Judges tomorrow. It is a confusing and sometimes offensive book to many. Murder, treachery, immorality, slavery, sorcery, genocide fill its pages. Why do I think this book deserves a close study? Why would I even say it is needful in our day? Because our time is much like their's when "everyone did what was right in his own eyes." In both places where this phrase occurs (17:6 and 21:25) it is linked to the telling statement: "there was no king in Israel." This points to the theme of Judges, an apology for the Davidic monarchy. Without a righteous king to rule, people slide into ruin, apostasy and chaos. Indeed, as the book progresses, things go from bad to worse. The only hindrances to hellish conditions are the judges that God raises up when the people cry out for deliverance. If we are not able to rule ourselves righteously, we will be ruled by another. If we do not master ourselves, we will be mastered. Our...

My friend Eric Metaxas asserts, "If strong marriages are the foundation of a healthy society, we've got a lot of repair work to do." He cites several alarming statistics. In 2010, for the first time in our history, married couples no longer form the majority of American households. In 1950, married couples made up 78 percent of all households. In 2010, they made up only 48 percent of American households--a nearly forty percent decline! Furthermore married couples with kids comprise only 20 percent of households in America. This makes me, a man married to the same woman for 18 years with three kids, a rare breed in America. Dare I say an endangered species? I am not trying to toot my own horn. I am making a humble plea for couple to get married and remain faithful to their wedding vows. Examine the raw data. Fidelity in marriage results in more wealth, better health, and more prosperous children. The statistics all point to the same conclusion: If you want your kids to...