Last week, Linnie and I celebrated our twenty-first year as pastors of SDC. I can honestly say that when we first arrived, we never thought that twenty-one years later we would still be the pastors of such a great group of people. The truth is that, for many years, pastoring meant moving every couple of […]
Discouragment in Ministry
One of the weapons of the enemy used against those who are doing ministry is discouragement. For pastors, this is something that we all deal with at some point or another. The discouragement of people not showing up the way that you thought they would, or the congregation not responding to the sermon the way […]
Study and Preach
Second Timothy is the last letter that the Apostle Paul would write before his execution by the Romans. He is writing to Timothy, his spiritual son, and he is as if he is giving him last-minute instructions on how to be a minister of the gospel. In chapter 2, verse 15, Paul tells Timothy, “Study […]
When Good Men Do Nothing
In the 1933 a man with great charisma came to power in Germany and through his evil actions more than 7 million people were murdered and millions more killed in the war that he started. Now most of us know the evil that Hitler did, and he is responsible for millions of deaths, but what […]
God’s Cruise Control
In Romans 5 starting with verse 12 Paul begins to contrast the righteousness through Christ and the condemnation of Adam. He shares how that sin came to all of us through the sin of Adam, original sin, but that through Jesus we can be freed from that sin, because of Grace. No matter how bad […]
I hear the Sound
In 1 Kings 18 we find the showdown between Elijah and the prophets of Baal. Now Baal was the god of prosperity and symbolized by a brazen bull, much like the bull that is on Wall Street today, sorry that just hit me. By the time we come to chapter 18 the people have lived […]
Warning to Preachers
In Jeremiah we find that he is working withing a society that is prospering and yet living in sin. Those that should have been preaching truth and the word of God have become what Jeremiah calls “lying prophets”. He does not call them this because they were preaching on behalf of other gods, they were […]
Importance of Kid’s Ministry
One area the church has had problems with over the last couple of decades is getting men engaged in the church. Because of this, many things the church does do not attract men to the church. Men need a challenge, an adventure, and to understand the reward. Too often, we have made Jesus a hallmark […]
Does the Church Even Care?
The last message that Jesus gives to the disciples, and to all of us who are followers of Christ, is “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Now that is ready straight forward that we are to go and tell everyone about Jesus. Matthew also records the […]
Let us Show Honor
In 2 Timothy 5:17, the Apostle Paul is talking to young Timothy, who is over the churches in Ephesus, and he says, “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in teaching.” The word honor is τιμης (to-ma) in Greek, and it means value or […]
The Danger of Haughty Spirit
One of my favorite personalities to study in the Bible is the Apostle Paul. We see the apostle Paul as a great theologian, church planter, writer, and apostle, but in his day, he was not thought very much about by the mainstream church. Paul had to defend his apostleship throughout his ministry and declare to […]
Your Choice
James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God, and God will draw near to you.” James’s statement is one of the most powerful statements in the Word of God. James was the brother of Jesus who did not believe in Jesus until after the resurrection when Jesus revealed Himself to His brother. James makes this statement, […]
Gone but not Forgotten
I have been the lead pastor of SDC for over eighteen years, and one of the downsides to being a long-term pastor is that you end up doing a lot of funerals. I have done over sixty in my years here at the church and have almost witnessed a generation of the church pass away. […]
Revive us Again Oh Lord
As we look out over the church today, we are experiencing a move of God that has come to our nation. Universities like Asbury and Lee experienced sovereign moves of God as students gathered for spontaneous worship and prayer. I want to share a few things about Revival, what it brings, and how it comes […]
Revival is Meant to Spread
In the last few weeks, we have all experienced, some of us from afar, the great move of God happening at places like Asbury University and Lee University. Over the last couple of days, the administration of both schools and others has changed how they hosted the revival. They have said it is for the […]
Anointing, Presence, and Glory
One of the things that I have learned over my thirty-plus years of serving Jesus is that there is no limit to how much God will reveal Himself to those that hungry after Him. There is no limit to the depth that we can go in God, and the only thing that can hold us […]
What I Learned from the Prophets
In the last several weeks, I have been reading through the prophet books of the Old Testament. I have been reading about the men that God used to share hard truths with the people, and as I read through these, there were some common threads that I came away with that I want to share […]
You have to Listen
At the end of Paul’s letter to the Colossians, there is a mention of the epistle of the Laodicean church (4:17). Now, do not worry if you have not read Paul’s Epistle to the Laodiceans. It is not in the Bible, and As a matter of fact, there is no copy of the letter, which […]
Absent of Leadership
One of the things that I see us losing in our society is excellent leadership. Finding men/women that will lead is becoming more and more difficult in our culture. In this canceled culture, more and more people in leadership positions do not truly lead when dealing with conflict. Maybe it is due to all the […]
Preach to me Preacher!
In 2 Timothy, Paul is at the end of his life and knows that his time is about up, so he writes a letter to his spiritual son Timothy. Paul tells Timothy that there is coming a time that people will no longer want to hear true sound doctrine preached but rather will want to […]
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