If I asked you a question about your own devotional life, would you be uncomfortable? Some Christians spend little—if any—time with the Lord on a daily basis.

It’s true for people, and it’s true and for churches: the passing of time does not guarantee the development of maturity. When it comes to church growth, it’s easy to fall into a pattern of measuring only numeric growth or decline.

When it comes to making purchases I am a research guy. By that, I mean that before I reach the store I have used my computer to research what my best purchase would be.

Do your new year’s goals ever feel repetitious? Do you find yourself making the same goals year after year with little progress? It may be that the weakness isn’t so much with your resolve as it is with your plan.

I’ll never forget hearing Dr. Tom Malone say, “When God wants to do something great, He starts with the difficult. But when He wants to do something miraculous, He starts with the impossible.”

I’ve always liked hearing oxymorons. They are often ironically humorous. The word oxymoron itself comes from oxus which means “sharp” and moros which means “dull.”

It’s inevitable! This Thanksgiving season we face several harsh realities–our biased media, high prices, indefinite restrictions as a result of COVID-19, and I can go on and on.

We live in a day of amazing confusion. But what makes the confusion especially disorienting is that those who are creating it don’t act bewildered or perplexed. Instead, when we point out what seems obvious, they tell us with a straight face that we are confused, that these issues are more complex than we could understand, that the problem is with us.

I recall the first time a little girl asked me to sign her Bible after I had preached in the fall of 1972. Signing my autograph was easy, but I knew it was customary for preachers to put a verse beneath their names.

As we recently celebrated our 70th anniversary as a local church, I have been thinking of the role that a local church has played in my life. I am so glad that my parents taught and showed me the importance of belonging and being faithful to the local church.