What’s Wrong with My Bible?!

“Ancient words, ever true, Changing me, and changing you! They have come from God’s own heart! O let the ancient words impart!” A disciple of Jesus is characterized by a love and hunger for God’s Word.  As Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).  As Isaiah put it, the …

Imperfect but Heroic Parenting

“Do as I say, not as I do!” Yesterday’s Father’s Day celebration may have stirred up gratitude or bitterness, treasured or sour memories, contentment or regret. Jesus tells us to be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48). But we know that our earthly parents are less than perfect, and we have managed to match them in …

The War Within

Do you find yourself in a cycling battle with sin?  Have you found that your efforts to amputate sin in your life are met with rapid regrowth and recurrence of that sin?  Do you find yourself crying out, O wretched man that I am!  Is victory over your sin apparently in reach, but practically elusive? “I do what I do …

What’s the Gospel Worth to You?

In God’s amazing, deep riches of wisdom and unfathomable ways, He uses the persecution of His people to promote the gospel rather than hinder it!  It seems counterintuitive; yet, attempts to silence Jesus’ disciples with ridicule, hatred, and even violence has the effect of throwing fuel on a fire, instead igniting an unstoppable movement for the good news! The gospel …

“Butterfly Effect”: The Ripple of the Faithful

Have you heard of the butterfly effect?  In 1972, mathematician and meteorologist Edward Lorenz asked the question: “Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?”  From this question arose the concept of the butterfly effect; that is, that a tiny change can have a massive impact somewhere else. Despite one’s conclusions about the …

Anxiety and Depression: For Further Study

We have just completed our series on anxiety and depression at Grace Baptist Church!  My hope and prayer has been that our time reflecting on and wrestling with these emotions together would help each of us to examine our circumstances and emotions, realize we are not alone, and begin to see the magnitude of help that God offers in His …

Contemplating Easter

“Then Jesus bowed his head and died.”  My son gasped.  Each night we read to our children from our children’s Bible, and the timing has been great!  We worked through the last days of Jesus’ life just in time for Easter to come.  We want our children to know the real message of Easter – not bunnies and eggs and chocolate.  …

Depression: Where is Your Treasure?

On top of all the blues and overwhelmingly sad and empty feelings, one of the great struggles of depression can come when you can’t even identify its origin.  Have you ever felt that way?  “I’m sad, and I don’t even know why.”  Or perhaps you recognize that much of life is going well, but you have no idea why you …

How Could God Do This?

Betrayed. Nothing else could describe what our son was feeling as we brought him into the clinic and into the room where he would receive the dreadfully anticipated shot that we had tried to prepare him for since about a week prior.  How could his parents do this to him?  He had even been good that day, and we were …

How Can I Possibly Sleep at a Time Like This??

Reiterated from Sunday’s message. Click here to listen. We’ve all been there: lying awake at night, our minds swimming in our troubles, emotions aflare, desperate for hope and help, or just downright distressed!  To sleep would be both a blessing and a defeated surrender, yielding to the hopelessness of our troubles and an inevitably terrible outcome.  We might even feel …