"Gas prices are outrageous. I should probably sell my SUV and buy that Escort I saw advertised in the paper, but that might be just too smart for me to do it.” Although I had just met Duane waiting in line for the log flume, he and I struck up a good conversation. He was telling me about feeling the pinch of traveling 30 miles to work everyday. “But I can’t imagine driving around in that little thing,” Duane laughed. My brothers and I were at King’s Island celebrating his bachelor party Read more [...]

Last night I was leading our prayer group at church. Someone asked if my wife and I had sold our house yet. Tired of being asked about it I responded, “No, but it’s all in God’s timing. Keep praying we’ll sell it.” Like many with “for sale” signs in their yards, we weren’t getting many offers on our place. The goal was to be closer to the church, but months had gone by with no bites. Perhaps I showed my true feelings with my curt response at the prayer meeting. And I don’t know Read more [...]

One of my biggest pet peeves as a pastor is the number of people that do not bring their Bibles to church. Every time I preach I begin by asking the congregation to open their Bibles to a particular passage. I then follow with, “And that is on page 707 in your pew Bibles.” Even then, only a handful of folks will reach for the Bible in front of them. Of course, I can always count on a cell phone blaring the popular song of the moment at least once a month. It seems that people have their phones Read more [...]

I ran across a list of statistics found at the Center for Missional Research website. Two stats in particular struck me: First and foremost, approximately 1.6 billion people have never heard the eternally significant good news in this sentence: "For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). Second, if all members of historically Christian churches in the United States had raised the amount Read more [...]

This article grabbed my attention yesterday. Ethnic and racial minorities now account for about 1/3 of the United States’ population, breaking through the 100 million barrier for the first time. On a national scale, Hispanics are the fastest growing, followed by Asians. There are more minorities in the United States today than there were people in 1910. And four states along with the District of Columbia have more minorities than members of the majority white population. I pastor in a region Read more [...]