Monday, August 30, 2010

The sweet smell of sweat in Haiti

We showed this 5 min. video at church Sunday morning to report how God has been at work in Haiti since the tragic earthquake. It's an encouraging update on how college students are giving their time, talents, and treasure to serve the Lord and make an eternal impact.

The reference mentioned at the beginning of the clip is from Ezekiel 16:49. (It took me and Natalie a while to find this one. It's quoted from the NLT).

Click to watch: "Haiti: the sweet smell of sweat"

Friday, August 27, 2010

Great news for Bible study

Today is a great day for Bible study, with two exciting new resources.

1. The ESV MacArthur Study Bible. After much anticipation, the MacArthur Study Bible is now available for the ESV. Here's a description of this excellent Bible study tool:
An “essentially literal” translation, the ESV Bible combines “word-for-word” accuracy with readability, literary excellence, and depth of meaning. Timeless, trustworthy, and relevant, the ESV has become the fastest-growing Bible translation.

The ESV MacArthur Study Bible is an essential resource for growing Christians. It can transform your personal time in God’s Word by clarifying difficult passages, bringing unseen cultural and historical details to life, and helping you understand and apply biblical truth. It features:
  • Complete ESV Bible text
  • Nearly 25,000 explanatory notes from Dr. John MacArthur
  • Bible text in 8.7 point type, 7.6 point study notes
  • More than 140 two-color maps, charts, timelines, and illustrations
  • Complete introductions to each Bible book
  • Concise articles on How We Got the Bible and Introduction to the Bible
  • 80,000 cross-references
  • An extensive concordance
  • A section of full-color maps
  • Bible reading plans
2,144 pp. Hardcover.
Size: 6.625 x 9.1875 inches
Here's a short video of John MacArthur explaining the product. I watched this video at Shepherd's Conference in March, and particularly surprised to hear his glowing compliments of the ESV translation.


The ESV MacArthur Study Bible is now available through Amazon for only $29.69 and free Super Saver Shipping.

2. Biblia.com Bible study online. Today also marks the release of an amazing free Bible study tool online called biblia.com. Many of us have grown familiar with the great website biblegateway.com, but here we have a program even more robust, which links users directly to any books they own in Logos Bible Software.

Here's a screenshot:


The Logos Blog announcement explains,
Biblia.com offers thousands of resources for searching and reading online. Everyone can use a small collection of books (including more than a dozen bible translations). A free account allows access to dozens more free books. And Logos 4 users can access their library online, complete with synchronization of “last read” position between Logos 4, the iPhone/iPad, and Biblia.com! (The list of books available online is subject to publisher permission, as with availability through mobile applications.)

In the future, everyone will be able to purchase content at Biblia.com and use it wherever they choose: online, on mobile devices, in Logos Bible Software 4, etc.
Go over to biblia.com and see for yourself.

We are so blessed to live in an age with so many Bible study resources at our fingertips. May we use these tools not simply to grow in head knowledge, but to grow in holiness and intimacy with our Lord.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Visual Latin 50% off

From the makers of Modern Parables comes a great new product called Visual Latin. Here's their announcement...
VISUAL LATIN IS NOW PRE-SELLING!

We're excited to announce you can pre-purchase the first 10 lessons of our new Visual Latin curriculum for only $25! (We won't offer it at this price for long.) If you're a parent who wants your children to have fun learning Latin, if you're a school that needs a Latin teacher, or if you always wanted to know what "habeas corpus" means, this is the class for you.

Kick the tires by watching a complete lesson for free at VisualLatin.com. And please forward this email to friends who would be interested. Even if you think you'd never want to learn Latin, go watch the first lesson (it's only 7 minutes): you'll get a few good laughs. Or download the four free intro lessons now.
 What exactly is Visual Latin? Their blog explains...
It’s a combination of short videos and exercises that work together to teach your children (or you) Latin. The curriculum is designed so that it requires no knowledge of Latin either by the student or the parent administering the class. Basically, you just hit play and start learning.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Logos 4 Mac Giveaway

Logos Bible Software is giving away thousands of dollars of prizes to celebrate the launch of Logos Bible Software 4 Mac on October 1. It's kind of a birthday party of sorts. Prizes include an iMac, a MacBook Pro, an iPad, an iPod Touch, and more than 100 other prizes.

I don't own a Mac, but I've been extremely pleased with Logos 4 on the PC, and am happy that all you Mac users out there finally get to have your own version.

Logos is having a special limited-time sale on both their Mac and PC base packages and upgrades, so this is a great time to expand your digital library. Stop by and check it out.

Related posts:

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Discipleship can be painfully slow

Here's a fascinating story about Mark and Lisa P, missionaries to an unreached people in Thailand. Over the past seven years, they were able to help local farmers with agricultural techniques and quickly gained respect in the village. But when their conversation turned to the gospel, the locals tuned out. It's another reminder that "a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him" (1 Cor. 2:14).

One thing I appreciate about this article is that the International Missions Board admits just how hard and discouraging the work of missions can be. We often hear the tear-jerking stories of conversion and the unprecedented revivals in faraway lands (as we should). Yet we can begin to assume that as soon as the gospel is proclaimed, people always respond and churches flourish. But we dare not forget how painfully slow discipleship can be.

Mark and Lisa have learned a valuable lesson through all this: "We have to trust God in His leadership, no matter what task He gives us, and we have to be faithful to that, even when it is frustrating and we can’t see the results...I think we knew that, but He let us experience it."

What a tragedy it would be if these missionaries, in an effort to boost their professions of faith and baptisms, began to dilute their message, making the gospel slightly more palatable to the locals. No, I think we see in Mark and Lisa true faithfulness to the gospel which will have far greater eternal results than any man-made method or measure of success.

You can read the whole article here.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Stetzer on young SBC leadership

Ed Stetzer has been writing a series on young leadership in the SBC. He touches on the very things I've heard out here in California at our first, second, and third regional open forums. He accurately identifies what's driving young leaders away from our convention -- or at least causing them to lose interest and focus their attention elsewhere.

Stetzer lists several contributing factors:
  • How the SBC has treated young pastors
  • Mega meetings like Catalyst and T4G
  • Methodological disconnect
  • Theological frustration
  • Lack of relevance
  • The 'kids table' still exists
His article elaborates on each of these points. Wow, it almost sounds like he's been eavesdropping on our open forums. Stetzer's closing words are excellent:
"As I’ve said to many other denominations: 'What you celebrate, you become.'  If you celebrate controversy, narrowing parameters, and anger, that is what you get. Instead, if we celebrate rising leaders, the future, biblical fidelity, and God’s mission, we become focused on those very things."

You can read his whole article over at Between the Times.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Third SBC Open Forum

On Thursday, July 22, Walter and I hosted our third of five open forums across the state to discuss the future
of the California Southern Baptist Convention. The meeting was well-attended and resulted in some great discussion. Here were a few highlights for me:
  • The next generation. Much time was spent discussing the nature of the next generation. Southern Baptists have bemoaned for years now the lack of fresh blood and the graying of hair at our annual meetings. But what will it take to actually attract the next generation? Once again, mentoring was a hot topic. There are some young leaders starving to be mentored by wiser, godlier, more experienced pastors. We also admitted that many young people view the SBC as something of a "relic." It's still not clearly worth saving. It may already be too late to convince some, but other young men seem open, if only we can prove there is something worth preserving. This is a generation that is willing to ask hard questions, and won't be satisfied with trite answers, or the way things have always been done. As one middle aged pastor said, younger pastors are not just a younger "us." Their DNA is different. We cannot take for granted they will value the same things the older generation values, or continue to do things the way they have always been done.
  • Associations. With several Directors of Missions present, more time was spent talking about regional SBC associations than at our previous two meetings. While DOMs have many other responsibilities, they see one of their irreplaceable roles as helping SBC churches protect their property. It was purported that some men are maliciously taking SBC pastorates only to draw the churches out of the SBC. I was disturbed to hear this, but have no idea how often this is occurring. It seems to me this whole conspiracy could be averted if pastors, DOMs, or state staff would better equip search committees to ask the right kinds of questions before calling a new pastor.
  • Openness. Another common concern was the level of openness at the state office in Fresno. Local church leaders and associational staff seemed refreshed to have such a candid open forum. But many wondered if the state staff is also willing to participate in this conversation. Though we're grateful for their service, we would like to see our state convention be less resistant to change. This is something any of us can be guilty of, and it is a way we hope the Lord will grow our convention in the months and years ahead.
  • State Task Force. Walter Price announced that he would like to form a state GCR Task Force at our annual meeting in October to do further study and bring specific recommendations to the state convention. Many were very excited to hear this, and believe it's a step in the right direction.

    Well, those are the highlights. Below are more detailed notes taken by Michael Cook, Director of Missions for the Pacific Southern Baptist Association. Thanks, Michael, for putting this together...

    NOTES FROM THE OPEN FORUM: FUTURE OF CSBC
    Held at First Baptist Church, Beverly Hills
    Thursday, July 22, 2010, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
    Dr. Walter Price, President, CSBC, Facilitator
    Stephen Jones, Second VP, CSBC, Asst. Facilitator

    Introductory Remarks:
    Dr. Price related that previous Open Forums were held in Fresno and San Diego. The scope of discussions in Open Forums included the CSBC's current status, needs, and preferred future. Dr. Price believes that ministry partners in our CSBC need to find and implement new ways of working together. Also, he believes that the generational participation in our CSBC life and ministries must be broadened for the health and growth of our life and cooperative work together.

    In 2009, Dr. Price focused on younger pastors (under forty years old). In 2010, Dr. Price is conducting Open Forums in multiple locations. Also in 2010, Dr. Price intends to lead the Messengers of the CSBC's Annual Business Meeting to authorize the appointment of leaders who will serve on the CSBC Great Commission Task Force to do its work in 2011.

    Insights from the participants in this Open Forum:
    After this introduction, Dr. Price asked for insights from the participants in this Open Forum. Participants offered the following observations.

    -A comprehensive survey of CSBC life and ministry should be considered, including the CSBC Constitution / Bylaws, structure, and operations.

    -While CSBC's organization, operations, and partnerships may change, we must remain committed to the Bible and orthodox theology, i.e., to the Apostles' Doctrine that is the faith once delivered to the saints.

    -Regarding the proposed formation of the CSBC Great Commission Task Force, we will need the skills of leaders with the sharpest and wisest minds of leaders young and old who will be drawn from a variety of our diverse churches. This Task Force should not restrict its research to existing SBC structures and ministries. It should seriously examine the life and work of organizations and denominations that are being effective in advancing God's Kingdom through multiple generations inside the Kingdom to reach multiple generations outside the Kingdom.

    -Even if we in California were to completely dissolve the CSBC, so many of our churches need the fellowship and kinds of ministries that the CSBC offers that it is very likely that another ministry organization surely would be devised to do many of the services that our CSBC currently provides for our California churches.

    -In the opinions of many of our associations and churches, especially the smaller ones, the CSBC offers tremendous assistance to them. These associations and churches highly value the CSBC receive its services, participate in its ministries, and support it financially. These smaller entities do not possess the staff expertise that the CSBC has, nor do they have the financial resources to purchase equivalent expertise in the market place. The Cooperative Program funds our CSBC staff that meets many of these entities' needs.

    However, too many of our churches think that the CSBC's existence and ministries are irrelevant to their lives and work. As a result of the low valuation of CSBC life and ministries, pastors (especially the younger pastors) and their churches show a low level of commitment, participation, and financial support for the CSBC.

    The CSBC needs do the following to improve the delivery of its services and increase its value to our churches:

    >Devise, communicate, and implement a process for our churches to identify their needs and then to notify the CSBC of their needs.
    >Eliminate ministries that are not valued and utilized by our churches.
    >Add ministries that our churches request.
    >Reduce overhead and costs of operations.
    >Continuously learn and evaluate the dynamic needs of our churches and provide dynamic services rather than maintaining static fixed ministries that perhaps once were relevant but now are no longer helpful.
    >Transform communications methods that will effectively inform our local churches of the services that our CSBC offers.

    -Rather than working exclusively with CSBC / SBC entities, the CSBC and local CSBC churches should consider partnering with ministries that are not necessarily Southern Baptist but are like-minded with us doctrinally. In some cases, this theology of sharing ministry resources should extend to sharing facilities with non-Southern Baptist churches and ministries. Also, in some cases, Southern Baptist facilities should be sold at a discount or even should be gifted to non-Southern Baptist churches and ministries that are doctrinally like-minded with Southern Baptists and that have proven to be effective in advancing Christ's Kingdom through evangelism, discipleship, and church starting. This theology is a Kingdom theology that truly honors Christ.

    -Too often the Gospel that we preach in California has been incomplete, weak and ineffective to truly save and transform souls. Our churches must not dilute or otherwise compromise the plan of salvation and other biblical truths for any reason. We should not delude ourselves into thinking that drawing or sustaining a crowd is an end unto itself.

    -The CSBC's future will be interfaced with the futures of its ministry partners—California's many associations, SBC, NAMB, IMB, etc. Future planning of all aspects of CSBC life and ministries must be flexible to become and remain compatible with the lives and ministries of its ministry partners that also are / will be in dynamic transition.

    -There exists anxiety / concerns about the potential for the national centralization of funding and decision making that could jeopardize the autonomy of our California ministries and usurp our local control and decision making. California Southern Baptists want ministry partnerships to reach Californians for Christ, not domination or usurpation by our ministry partners. Our sentiment is not ego based but stewardship based. God has blessed California Southern Baptists with His commission and with tremendous resources. There is the saying, "The one with the gold makes the rules." We do not want this worldly proverb to be fulfilled in California by any national ministry group being allowed to marginalize our ministry roles and responsibilities. We do want to be equal partners with our national ministry partners.

    -There is concern that there might be wasteful duplication of services and expenditures of funds if the CSBC, NAMB, and IMB all three offer to our churches and associations the same services or nearly the same services. On the other hand, such duplication of services would provide the churches and associations multiple organizations from which to choose assistance.

    -All California Southern Baptists should be grateful to God that we have only one state convention. States with more than one convention experience strife and difficulties in their fraternal relationships and ministries that we in California have not had the misfortune to endure.

    -Our CSBC churches will continue to need assistance from our local associations and from our CSBC staff. Generally, the closer geographically and relationally that an assisting organization is to the local church, the better and more consistent will be the delivery of that assistance over time. Therefore, any changes in the relationships of our CSBC's ministry partners must not jeopardize the delivery of effective and efficient services to our local churches.

    -There exists confusion about the role of the CSBC. While our affiliated CSBC churches enjoy the assistance of our CSBC, the pastors and leaders of our churches must remember that our churches are autonomous, and ultimately our churches are responsible for themselves and their respective lives and ministries in order to carry out the Great Commission. Our churches' relationships of interdependence must not devolve into an unhealthy dependence upon others. While ministry partnerships are beneficial, each of our churches needs to provide for itself financially. Each congregation must develop and manage its strategies for missions and ministries. These functions of the local churches must not be abdicated.

    -There exists confusion in our churches about the funding, utilization, and functions of the Cooperative Program. How does the Cooperative Program work? What does it do? How much Cooperative Program money stays in California? Why do a very high percentage of our churches' contributions to the Cooperative Program remain in the CSBC? Internationally, there are so few churches and so many unsaved and unchurched people. Therefore, why isn't more of California's Cooperative Program money being distributed to the International Mission Board to proclaim the Gospel internationally?

    -Many younger pastors are associating, and working together, but many are not networking within the CSBC structure. Since the 1940's and 1950's, there seems to be progressively less commitment by each successive generation to denominational identification and structures. This trend is also true in the CSBC. Perhaps some of this decline is related to the increasingly competing demands placed upon younger pastors—bi-vocational ministry with its time and labor intensity, providing for his family in a tough economy, fierce focus on starting a new church or reviving an old church that reduces or eliminates denominational interests, etc. Nevertheless, if denominational life and ministries in the CSBC are to be preserved and strengthened, pastors younger and older will need to lead their churches by precept and example with respect to participating in CSBC life and ministry. Church members normally will not be fully committed to CSBC life and ministry if their pastor himself is not fully committed to CSBC life and ministries and passionately communicating and demonstrating his commitment.

    -Pastors need to mentor others to become leaders. Older pastors must do a better job of befriending and mentoring younger pastors. Older pastors must invest time and attention in the young men in their churches. Younger men need to know that they are respected and appreciated by the older men for who they are and for their God-given talents for service and leadership. Likewise, younger pastors need to show respect and listen to the wisdom of the older pastors.

    -While older pastors may tend to participate in CSBC life and ministries with its attendant conferences and meetings, younger pastors tend not to participate unless they perceive that their vital ministry goals are being advanced. Younger pastors do not want to meet on a statewide basis simply for fellowship. They have other methods for fellowship, such as electronic social networking, etc. For the younger pastors to begin to participate, the CSBC must offer opportunities for ministry and training that will excite and motivate younger pastors to invest their time and money.

    -The conduct of CSBC meetings that requires the utilization of Roberts Rules of Order is a format that discourages many younger pastors who want what they consider to be less rigid and more creative and fluid processes of communication and decision making.

    -Younger pastors are often discouraged / frustrated by debates and contentions over what they consider to be disputable matters. Examples of such include glossalalia, and Calvinist leaning views verses Arminian leaning views. The CSBC should major on reaching the unsaved and unchurched and leave the disputable matters in the sphere of the personal choices of individual believers.

    -Younger pastors, like older pastors, are passionately interested in biblical truth. However, younger pastors seem not to be passionate about the same topics as their older counterparts. Here lie areas for developing intergenerational dialogue, respect, and collegiality.

    -CSBC should offer various CSBC leadership positions to younger pastors.

    -CSBC should offer some level of financial assistance to younger pastors and church planting pastors who want to participate in CSBC leadership positions and various CSBC meetings and training events.

    -For the CSBC to assist local churches to start many more new churches, the CSBC needs to develop and implement an aggressive process to identify, train, and fund new church planters.

    -Pastors need to prepare their churches' for their eventual departure by a call to a different ministry, retirement or death. The churches need to know how to live and work together between pastors and how to call a new pastor, when the pastor search becomes necessary.

    -Too many of our churches are relationally and functionally isolated from the unchurched people in their neighborhoods. To connect with our communities in ways that impact the unchurched for Christ, our churches must identify the needs of the unchurched and change their churches' lives and ministries as necessary to effectively deliver the Gospel. This task requires passion, training, and skill. Our CSBC staff and organizational resources can assist our churches with training and supplemental resources. However, our CSBC cannot do the outreach work that ultimately remains the responsibility of each local church.

    -Our churches are rich with God-given resources to proclaim the Gospel, start new churches, do mission projects and trips, etc. Each of our churches needs to assess its resources and generously share them to expand Christ's Kingdom. Hoarding must be repented. Unselfishly sharing and investing our resources must become our normal theology of church life and ministry and our common method of operation.

    -Some churches have become so dysfunctional and so resistant to repentance and / or to transformation that they cannot sustain their lives. Others may be located in communities that literally have migrated away. As much as our CSBC might want to assist all of them, some churches will wind up and dissolve despite our best efforts. The CSBC Church Legacy Alliance program is an excellent tool for these churches to safeguard their property for the continuation of Southern Baptist life and ministries. The Church Legacy Alliance honors local church autonomy while assuring these local churches of the support of their ministry partners in their local associations, the CSBC, and the California Baptist Foundation.

    -Our faithful forefathers have left us lands, buildings, and equipment worth a fortune for us to utilize for the advancement of Christ's Kingdom. As faithful stewards in our day, we must continue to utilize these resources for Christ's Kingdom and protect them from opportunists who often by subterfuge steal them away. Again, the CSBC Church Legacy Alliance program is an excellent tool for churches to safeguard their property. The Church Legacy Alliance honors local church autonomy while assuring the local church of the support of its ministry partners in its local association, the CSBC, and the California Baptist Foundation.

    These notes were prepared by Michael Cook, Director of Missions, Pacific Southern Baptist Association. In his judgment, they are an accurate and reasonably complete record of this Open Forum. However, others who were present at this Open Forum may have other notes and recollections that would correct or expand these notes.

    Related posts:

    Saturday, August 7, 2010

    Luckiest people on earth

    This video is great. A lot of commenters say the last scene is from a movie, but it's still classic.

    Thursday, August 5, 2010

    Three planets snuggle up


    Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest, 
    sun, moon and stars in their courses above, 
    join with all nature in manifold witness 
    to Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

    The course of the stars and planets is wonderfully predictable and a reminder of God's faithfulness.

    You'll want to take a moment in the next couple nights and step outside to look at the sky. As you scan the western horizon, you'll see a rare astronomical treat. With great precision, three planets will snuggle up close together in what astronomers call a "convergence." The brilliant planet Venus will appear alongside two lesser lights, Mars and Saturn.

    Two-planet convergences are noteworthy, but three planets are quite rare. Of course, these planets will still be millions of miles apart from each other, but from our angle, they will form an exciting planetary trio in the sky. Space.com gives more detail:
    A wide variety of different conjunctions and configurations involving the planets typically occur during the course of any given year. It is rather unusual, however, when three or more bright planets appear to reside in the same small area of the sky.  


    ...So far as viewing this upcoming planet cluster, the only drawback for prospective observers will be that these three planets will be visible for at best for only about 60 to 90 minutes after sundown before they start getting too low to the horizon to be readily observable.


    ...to avoid being disappointed, I would strongly suggest also using binoculars to scan the west-southwest sky for the three planets, especially if it is rather hazy (as midsummer evenings often tend to be). 


    ...on the evenings of Aug. 7-8, Venus, Saturn, and Mars will fit inside a 5-degree circle. Your clinched fist held at arm's length, for instance, is equal to roughly 10 degrees; the pointer stars at the end of the bowl of the Big Dipper are separated by just over 5 degrees).

    Enjoy this rare celestial event, and remember the faithfulness of our God!

    Related posts:

    Reflecting on Prop 8

    Al Mohler has written a helpful piece on the overturning of Proposition 8. Here are a couple excerpts...
    The importance of the decision handed down yesterday by U. S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker in California’s Proposition 8 trial will be difficult to exaggerate. Proponents of same-sex marriage immediately declared a major victory — and for good reason...

    ...The religious liberty dimensions of the decision are momentous and deeply troubling. While Judge Walker declared that the religious freedoms of citizens and religious bodies were not violated because no such body is required to recognize or perform same-sex marriage, the very structure of his argument condemned religious and theological objections to homosexuality and same-sex marriage as both harmful and irrational...
    You can read the whole thing here, which I recommend to understand the legal arguments used during the proceedings, and to understand the next step in the constitutional process.

    We are witnessing major moral erosion before our very eyes. Yet the deepest need for our state is not a return to morality. It is a saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. I grieve over these developments in the Prop 8 case, but realize that a "moral," heterosexual family is no closer to the gospel than an immoral, homosexual one. Ultimately, we all need to be broken over our sin, admit our fallen condition, and trust wholly in Christ. He is our hope, our rest, and our righteousness.

    No one can predict what the long-term implications of this ruling will be to churches, non-profit organizations, and individual Christians. We can expect the moral and ethical dilemmas to continue to increase. I have to guard my own heart not to grow anxious but instead to take comfort in Jesus' words, "In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world" (Jn. 16:33).

    But whether Prop 8 prevails or is permanently overturned, I pray this cultural battle will result in more people bowing the knee to King Jesus and surrendering completely to the only One who can save.

    Related post:

    Wednesday, August 4, 2010

    Welcoming Christ from a distance

    One of the highlights of my day is arriving home from work, walking toward the house, and seeing bright little eyes peering out the window with a nose smashed against the glass. Often there are shrieks and giggles as the kids scurry off to hide and surprise me. Daddy’s home!” my wife exclaims. Moments like this make me so thankful to be a dad.

    It’s interesting that even before the door opens and I hug my family that a kind of ‘welcome home’ party has begun. We’ve greeted each other in our hearts, though still at a distance. And that is precisely how we should treat the return of Jesus.

    Hebrews 11 describes many of the heroes of the faith who caught a glimpse of future joy, but didn’t immediately obtain it. Many endured great suffering in this present world. We learn of men and women like Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Rahab. What these people shared in common was that all “died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth” (Heb. 11:13).

    In other words, their noses were firmly pressed against the glass. The promises of God had become so real to them that they actually greeted them in their hearts. They gazed expectantly at the coming of Jesus the Messiah with all His promised blessing.

    How’s your faith in God? Do you spend most of your time focused on the worries of this life, or on the hope of heaven? Are the cares of this world smudging the glass, or are you peering out expectantly at Christ’s return?

    Remember, there is a free gift of salvation to everyone who will turn from their sin and trust in Jesus’ death. His rising from the dead is proof we can be forgiven and spend eternity with God. 1 Peter 1:8 says “though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.” Does that perspective describe you?

    Very soon, we will see Him with our own eyes, and all who have truly trusted in Jesus will get to spend eternity with Him. The welcome home party is about to begin!

    This article first appeared in today's Minister's Message of our local newspaper, the Hi Desert Star.

    New Blog

    Today I'm closing up shop and launching a new blog called Pinch of Clay. You can visit it by clicking here . Please stop by and...