“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.” Exodus 20:4 (NIV) In my opening days as Executive Director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, I shared my “7 Hopes.” You might want to go back and read those. […]
Jesus told us that we would have trouble in this world. “You will have suffering in this world!” (John 16:33 HCSB) Not maybe, but you will. Why? In part, we have trouble in this world because of the presence of evil. Again, Jesus said, “I have told you these things to keep you from stumbling. […]
This weekend we will celebrate Father’s Day. I love being a husband and a dad more than anything else I do, but sometimes the challenges are great. In fact, the Apostle Paul pointed to two hard things a father is assigned to do. “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave […]
As a pastor, I seemed to always face the temptation to dread the summer because of the “summer slump.” The truth is too many times as churches and as leaders we “throw away the summer.” We decide that there are too many distractions, too many vacations, so we must wait for the fall. The problem […]
Manuel Noriega, former dictator of Panama who became a Christian in prison, once said as he pointed to the Bible, “There’s the book that tells me what his will is for my life. It has changed me.” Dr. Rick Byargeon, Old Testament scholar, teacher, preacher, and my friend, asked his wife for his Bible hours […]
Summer means several things—no school, family trips, baseball, heat, and here in Louisiana, hurricanes. But, summer for churches means Vacation Bible School. Would you stop right now and pray for churches investing in children this summer through Vacation Bible School? Some estimate that 2/3 of Americans plan to send their children to a VBS this […]
The miracle of the feeding of the 5,000! It’s impressive. From nothing, Jesus fed the multitudes. Again, we see Jesus do that which otherwise seems impossible. Like the other miracles, this miracle confirms who Jesus is, confirms what others are saying about Him, and what He has said about Himself. As you might have heard, […]
“How do you handle criticism?” Somebody asked me that one time. I think I failed the test. I said that “Criticism doesn’t really bother me if I know I’m doing the right thing.” I don’t think I knew what I was talking about. At that time I had been criticized, but I hadn’t been criticized […]
The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. (Psalm 19:9-10 NIV) Several years ago (2012) Elvis Presley’s Bible sold at an […]
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