Mental Musings

This past Saturday I got a call from our senior pastor letting me know that he was sick and would not be able to preach on Sunday. Our small groups pastor who usually preaches on these occasions was on a hunting trip out of town. So I quickly put together some ideas from my own bible studies and prepared a sermon. As I was working on the sermon, I realized that exactly one year prior I got a last minute call that our guest preacher was sick and would not be able to preach. Our senior pastor was out that week and our small groups pastor was involved in an all day event and would not have time to prepare something. And so I shared with the church that it was, in the immortal words of Yogi Berra, "Déjà vu all over again." Sadly our sermon plug-in for our website is not working, so I cannot share the audio of the sermon with you. I have requested a video copy from our multimedia team and will post that as soon as they can edit it for broadcast on our local cable channel....

This is part 4 in a study of Romans 12. Begin with part 1:  Sacrificial Lifestyle .   What are the marks of the true Christian? Romans 12 spells it out in detail beginning with verse 9. This verse just happens to be my life verse because it begins a very practical guide of how we should live as believers. Most theological studies of the book of Romans will point out that Chapter 12 is the transition from the doctrinal information found in chapters 1-11 and begins the practical section of his letter to the Roman Believers. This demarcation between the doctrinal and practical can be found in several of Paul’s letters. This division does not indicate a belief by Paul that theology is separate from practice. In fact, Romans 12:1 makes it very clear that Paul saw doctrine as the foundational knowledge that was necessary for the practice of the Christian lifestyle that he expounded on in chapters 12-16. Just as chapter 12 is a pivotal point for the entire letter, vers...

Recently Donald Miller made some waves with his blog post: I Don't Worship God by Singing. I Connect With Him Elsewhere . His main point is that he does not attend church often because he is not an auditory learning and therefore does not get much out of listening to others sing or speak. I have heard many people justify reasons that they do not attend church. Rather than argue with someone about their reasons for not attending, I wanted to share with you reasons that I attend church: other than the unmistakeable fact that I am a pastor and it is expected of me to attend church. Being in one place with others who are gathered for the same purpose, to bring honor to God, allows me to get my priorities straight. Life is not about what I want, what is best for me, or what will make me happy. Life in and of itself is an expression of my great love for the Creator. That love compels me to worship Him privately publicly. Yes, I can worship God on my own, and I must do so b...

Having read through the bible so many times, there are days when it seems that I am just going through the motions of reading without any comprehension. That is why I think it is wonderful how God directs me to so many great writers right about the time I need it most. Not to detract from sermons, but I am a visual learner, meaning that I learn more by sight (reading) than I do by listening.  Probably something to do with being ADHD. I never want to be guilty of following any person other than Jesus. I never want to be guilty of listening to any voice over His. But there are times when a fresh perspective, a creative insight, or even an old-fashioned view of God's Word is exactly what I need to move from the plodding drudgery of my own spiritual walk into the glorious splendor that God has in store for me. Again, I don't want anyone to misunderstand, I am not advocating that we have liberal minds when it comes to God's Word, but rather that we do not have closed he...

Facebook started 10 years ago today on February 4th. While many people have had a love-hate relationship with Facbook, its many changes, its privacy policies, its targeted advertising, etc., I wanted to share with you what Facebook has meant to me and to my family. As a pastor who has lived away from family and childhood friends for more than 25 years, Facebook has been a lifeline to these individuals. Before Facebook, and the other social media that followed, I had to rely on phone calls, emails, and hopefully a face-to-face visit once a year for 4 or 5 days. Each time I saw friends and relatives it was as if I stood on the outside looking in. I no longer felt a part of my own family because so much had changed for them since I was last with them. They had experienced joys and sorrows together without me there. They had made memories that I would never get to be a part of. They celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, and even weddings together that I could not attend. It w...