The after-midnight phone call. The inconclusive doctor’s report. The rumors of cutbacks in the workforce. Unknown trials may be the most difficult of all. The unknown test threatens to paralyze us—to prevent us from the victorious Christian life we want to have. Wouldn’t it be great if we could muster the courage to stand up to... [read more]

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). When I started preaching in Los Angeles, I was replacing a man who was an amazing preacher and who  was deeply-loved by the congregation. I was scared to... [read more]

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”  (Jeremiah 29:11). The school year flies by, doesn’t it? When I was young, I marked the school year by the sports we played. Instead of fall,... [read more]

With gas prices on the rise, a man at a Seattle KOA campground attempted to steal a few gallons from a recreational vehicle parked next to his. He inserted a siphoning hose into what he thought was the gas tank and began to suck on the other end to get the gas flowing. What he... [read more]

“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (James 4:17). James, the half-brother of Jesus, had a unique perspective on the life of his older brother. He grew up with him. Apparently, their childhood was uneventful. We have no record of Jesus performing any miracles... [read more]

As you know, I was employed in the “secular” world a long time before I finally submitted to God’s call to preach. After a dozen different jobs in almost every corner of the continental U.S., I know the drill. New hires meet with Human Resources to fill out all the paperwork. At the end of... [read more]

At the end of World War I, there was a large group of soldiers so traumatized by war—so shell-shocked—that they could not remember who they were. They had “lost” their identity. Families of these lost souls assumed that their loved ones were killed in action. Some of them received letters to that effect. But the... [read more]

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Every Christian is familiar with the details of the crucifixion. After all, it is one of the... [read more]

So far in our study of being a church that looks like Jesus, we’ve seen some biblical principles to guide us on the journey: First of all, we have to make every effort to maintain our unity (Ephesians 4:3). The church is made up of different kinds of people and it is very easy to... [read more]

Three years ago, Dr. Glenn Pemberton, a professor of Old Testament at Abilene Christian was one of the featured presenters at Austin Grad’s annual Sermon Seminar. Pemberton spoke on preaching from the psalms. If you don’t know Glenn, then you can’t really appreciate how he truly lives the psalms. Some time back, his house burned... [read more]