When looking at the Epistles, it is essential to understand how the Bible is presented to us. In the Old Testament and the Gospels were giving a very historical and geographical presentation of Jesus so that we come to know about Him and to know what He has done for us. The gospels give us […]
Creating a New Community Mindset
I have just finished a study on the Sermon on the Mount in my Wednesday night class, which led me to take a closer look at the Gospel of Matthew as a whole. Matthew is centered around five sermons or discords that Jesus gave and three of the five are directed toward His disciples. The […]
Does Attending Church Really Matter?
Some of the fondest memories that I have as a child happen at the church. I grew up in a Christian home and my parents believed in attending church faithfully. There is no doubt if there had been a church attendance award my family would have won it because there was not a time that […]
Be His Church
I have been pondering about something that I think about a great deal, and that is the condition of the church. As a pastor going into a new year I all way evaluate not only myself but the condition of the church. In doing this, I begin to read several things and also listen to […]
Praising Him for the Small Things
I have found that many times we fail to praise God over things that seem small to us but I do believe that if we praise God in the small things that God will do the greater things in our lives. For me, this happened this week. I am the type person that hardly ever […]
Good-Best=Better
As a preacher the moment you tell a church congregation to turn to Malachi 3:7 they know you are going to talk about tithing. I mean, after all, that is the go-to when it comes to tithing and giving to the church. The truth is that the verses and chapter go much deeper than money. […]
The Benefits of Coming to Church
I was sitting here at my desk this morning and thinking about all that happened Sunday and what God has been doing here at SDC. I was reading Hebrews 10 and came across verse 25 that says, “not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so […]
The Danger of Misinterpretation
A few weeks ago, I used for my text Ephesians 3:14-21 which is actually a prayer that Paul is praying for the believers in the church. In the study of the message, something occurred to me, and it is the misinterpretation that we have on certain scriptures within the church. Such as Matthew 18:20 where […]
Building On a Firm Foundation
Over the years I have been involved in the building of houses, churches and other buildings and I have had the honor of pastoring many people who worked in the building industry. One of the things that I have learned about in construction is the importance of the foundation. The foundation is not the pretty […]
Connect, Grow, Multiple
WOW! God has been moving here at South Decatur. Now I know when a pastor says that the first thing that people think is how many people the church has added during that time. The truth is that though we have grown in people, that is not the thing that has been so awesome. Though […]
Advise for Young Pastors
A couple of days ago I found out that one of my former youth pastors had taken a church and was becoming a lead pastor for the first time. After congratulating him, he asked me what advice would I give to a young, first-time pastor. After considering the question and praying on it, I gave […]
Is it time for a new Church Growth Plan?
I have been a pastor for the past twenty-four years and in that time I have gone to more than my share of church growth conferences. I have spent a great deal of time and money trying to figure out the secret to what makes one church grow and another church doing the same thing, […]
XO Marriage Conference Insights
I just got back from our second annual XO Marriage conference at the church and it was an incredible weekend. Marriage is the second greatest relationship that we have in life and one that we must continue to work to improve. Linnie and I have been married for over thirty years and we still learn […]
A Great Lie
One of the great lies that the world has set forth is that “life is too short for you not to be happy”. Now let me just stop here and say if this world is the only hope you have then maybe you are right but if you believe in something more then the truth […]
The Hope of His Coming
This past Sunday we started a new sermon series called “Advent” as we entered the Christmas season. The word advent comes from the Latin word Adventus, which is translated from the Greek word parousia which is used in the New Testament for the second coming of Jesus. The word Advent means to “wait.” Now for […]
Naked Marriage Series
For the last several weeks I have been preaching a series called “Naked Marriage” during Sunday worship. The goal of this series is to help people see that marriage is one of the most precious and valuable relationships that we have here on this earth. The goal was to help people have the tools to […]
We must Grow Up
As a student of the Word of God and of theology, in general, I have found that two of my favorite theologians are John Wesley and Karl Barth. I know for you theologian enthusiasts this is a weird combination. When it comes to Barth, I connect to his understanding that revelation comes from God, and […]
Obtaining and Maintaining Peace in Your Life
In the world that we live in one of the things that seems to be so elusive to us is peace. I mean we live in a world where it seems that drama and chaos is everywhere and none of us is immune to being caught up in its grasp. Even when we try not […]
What Makes a Christian?
This is a question that I do not believe is asked in the church or understood by many within the church. So many have come to believe that salvation is nothing more than a response that we have a feeling of guilt that we feel when coming to church. Believing that just because they ask […]
Why go to Church?
What does it mean to be faithful to the house of God in 2017 and does it really mean as much as it use to? That seems to be a question that many churches are asking. Over the last decade, the church world has done many different things to try to encourage people to attend […]
