Have you lifted your hopes and dreams to God in prayer? 1931 was a long and boring year. The stock market crash of 1929 plunged America into the depths of the Great Depression, and most businesses struggled to stay afloat….
Your life is not about you. Suppose you are an extra in an upcoming movie. You will probably scrutinize that one scene where hundreds of people are milling around, just waiting for that two-fifths of a second when you can…
Recently, we signed my 3-year-old son up for his very first soccer league. A few months before the league began, I got the email: “We need more coaches. Please consider volunteering to coach your child’s team.” I waited a few…
Are you ready for Easter? Easter services are typically one of the highest attended church services of the year. The crowd will be bigger than normal. There will be more visitors than normal. For some people, this may be the…
You are busy. You have more to do than you have time to do it. So how do you manage to squeeze in personal development time into an already packed schedule? I love reading books, but I have more books…
One of my greatest joys as a pastor is the honor of officiating weddings. I will never forget the first wedding I ever performed. I was clueless about what to say. I had no idea what a wedding should even…
There is no such thing as a perfect sermon. No matter how much preaching experience you have, you can always improve. The best preachers are those who stay humble and hungry to get better. How do you evaluate your sermons? You…
Years ago, I brought a group of high school students to a Christian conference in California. The first night, hundreds of high schoolers packed into the gymnasium to worship God and hear a message from the guest preacher. The preacher…
I listen to a lot of preaching because I believe I can learn from everyone. Good or bad. Recently I listened to a pastor who began his sermon with a passage of scripture. He read through the entire passage. I expected…