This past Saturday, a large crowd of Americans assembled in Washington, D.C. for a crusade titled, "Restoring Honor."  The purpose, according to Glenn Beck, was not politics.  It was deeper than that!  He talked about prayer, divine providence, tithing, charity, worship, revival, grace, visions of biblical events, divine destiny, America, historical figures such as John Newton, and most importantly –...

The present culture in which we live views the gospel as a ticket to happiness.  Therefore, we have a push today to replace the true gospel with the social gospel.  Is the gospel of Christ a social band-aid?  While that may seem like a far fetched view by many true Christians today, consider the words of a group of people who attend different random congregations: -  There is no fire and brimstone here.  No...

My little girl, Karis, first saw the ocean when she was two years old.  I still remember that moment!  It was awesome.  I got down next to her, pointed out to the large ocean as we stood next to the pier, and said, “Karis, who created that ocean?”  She responded with her little voice, “God.” It all started when Karis was three years old.  We went on our annual pilgrimage to Wrightsville...

In 1998, my wife and I traveled to Zimbabwe on a mission trip with a group from our church.  While in Africa, we met a missionary family that had been serving there for several years at that time.  After spending time together during our stay, we got to hear about their calling to the mission field.  The story was quite emotional and the heartache was tremendous for their family.  After the couple felt God's call on...

Many people today hold to a theological position that claims God often has nothing to do with the pain and suffering that we endure in this life.  Those that hold to such a view claim that our pain, suffering, and trials are the byproduct of bad choices made by humans who misused their free will.  This position claims that God often has nothing to do with such evil and suffering.  While I can appreciate people who try to...

The annual Southern Baptist Convention is always preceded by the Pastors' Conference on Sunday night and Monday.  This year's Pastors' Conference was very helpful for pastors on many different levels.  Several different types of messages were preached that addressed struggles in ministry, doctrinal issues, and Great Commission efforts. Overall, the Pastors' Conference was profitable, but there was one sermon that...

Recently, a pastor in our town openly stated, "I hate denominations."  Once upon a time, you could have expected to hear such statements from those who refuse to associate with the Southern Baptist Convention (hereafter SBC) at any level. The strange thing about this statement is that it came from a man who pastors a church that claims affiliation with the SBC.  Although it may have been a rare thing in the past, it...