We bring a lot of stuff to worship. Some of it gets left in the pews: Bibles, toys, assorted pillows, footstools, snacks/candy, sweaters and checkbooks, to name a few. Some of it we shouldn’t bring: #nodrinks. This short read isn’t about that. It is about what we must bring in order for our worship to be acceptable. We need to bring the…

What would you do with a precious commodity? We go to great lengths to protect what is most important to us—our possessions, our family members, even ourselves. What are we doing with one of our most precious and often overlooked gifts? What are you doing with your heart? Here are three suggestions. We should be guarding it. “Be on guard, so that…

Johann Georg Faust sold his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasure. Barend Fokke was a 17th century captain for the Dutch East India Company. He sailed from the Dutch Republic to Java in 3 months and 4 days, cutting the normal travel time in half. This made people think that he had sold his soul for such speed on the water. He would later…

People have really given us Christians a bad name. When those on the outside look toward what they can see of Christendom, all those that claim to follow Christ, it is no wonder that they take offense if you blend together the worship extremes. On one end, you have enormous and opulent buildings with tradition steeped worship in Latin. At the other,…

24 is the new 18. That’s what a growing list of scholarly works is claiming.  The delayed maturity of young adults is both nature and nurture. Nature, stating that the brain is still developing until the age of 24. Nurture, citing that young adults are not reaching full independence due to a long list of financial difficulties. Whatever the reason, it seems…

How many of us have special dishes? The ones we get out when company comes over. Not the paper plates and red solo cups. I’m talking family heirloom, top shelf, the kids/husband aren’t allowed to wash them dishes. For some of us, it may not be dishes. It might be a coffee cup, or cups. Some item in the house that is…

Though this word is never specifically used in the Bible, it has become what most associate with Christianity or even religion in general. Most believe that if you adhere to a Christ-based religious belief system that you are obligated to go around doing good deeds or acts of benevolence. While there is some truth to that, there are also some misunderstandings. When…

This question gets asked often. Perhaps you have thought of it yourself.  A preacher preaches, a shepherd shepherds, an evangelist evangelizes and deacons serve. A missionary missions? What is it that they are off doing besides tourism? Paul answers this for us in his letter to the Thessalonians. From First Thessalonians chapter two we can see three things that a missionary should…