Christian Living

The miraculous history of the United States of America is due in part to the sacred fire of the American pulpit. It has been the preachers who have unashamedly preached the whole counsel of God’s Word.

One of my favorite of the American founding fathers is Patrick Henry. I remember visiting his estate at Red Hill several years ago in Eastern Virginia. In the museum, was a copy of his last will and testament.

The picture above illustrates an important truth about priorities and relationships. It’s a multi-tiered fountain. Imagine, if you would, your life as a fountain, and each of the levels are your priorities.

Summer is almost as good as a new year for the fresh energy it gives us in setting goals and planning times of renewal. Of course, summer means different things to different people. To students, it means “freedom.” To farmers, it means “work”!

Recently, in my personal worship, I came across two great truths that stirred my heart and caused me to contemplate some meditative thoughts. The verses are in Psalm 111 and 112, they are both incredibly rich with significant truths about the kind of experience God wants each of His children to enjoy with Him while they journey through this life here and now.

As we come to the beginning of our 31st Anniversary and Spiritual Leadership Conference at Lancaster Baptist Church, I thought I’d take a quick moment to suggest a few ways that you could more fully benefit from this conference—whether you are with us in person or taking advantage of the live streaming.

Over the course of my life, I have been a reader. I enjoy books and the learning process, and I have found that few things in life have benefited me as much as my time in good books and the truths I have extracted from them.

Whatever the reason, we are so often focused on the next calendar item that we fail to appreciate the company of God or those with us at the present moment.

We love the “if/then” proposition: “If” you do this, “then” I will do that. We love living as though the philosophy of “what goes around comes around” is true.

God uses what we have, not what we don’t have.

I returned from my most recent missions’ trip to the continent of Africa at the beginning of April. On this twelve day trip, I was able to visit three different countries and preach numerous times. While this wasn’t my first trip to this great continent, it was one that profoundly impacted me. Allow me to share some things I observed, as well as some things God showed me.

They call him “the maniac of Gadara,” and the story of his deliverance is one of the accounts given in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Certainly it is recounted this many times in Scripture because it gives a clear picture of the power and authority of the Lord Jesus over the powers of darkness.

Two of the greatest preachers that ever lived pastored in London at the same time. Charles Spurgeon and Joseph Parker both had large churches in those days.

If there is anyone in the world who has reason to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it is a born again Christian.

Scientists tell us that lightning flashes around the world some 6,000 times per minute. The Bible teaches us that, like a bolt of lightning, our lives appear like a flash and then we are gone forever.

The Bible teaches us that we are to direct our thinking toward those things that honor God and are good for us. Part of the reason for this, is that our thinking takes us somewhere. When we direct and align our thinking with the Bible and wisdom, we find life and peace. However, when we allow our thinking to become negative and worldly, we discover outcomes that diminish us and hurt others.

Several weeks ago a devastating storm ripped through our city. Over 1,000 houses were destroyed, and tragically, four lives were lost. I was out of town for a youth rally when the messages began lighting up my phone. Church members were asking if we were okay.

Everyone has faith in something or someone. We place our faith in the vehicle we drive to work and the simple appliances that we use. It is truly amazing how many things that we place our faith in throughout our daily lives.

This year, my church’s theme is taken from two passages of Scripture, one in the Old Testament and one in the New. The first is Psalm 46:10 which says: “Be still and know that I am God.” This verse is especially applicable to those of us in ministry. If we do not know God well, we will struggle with trusting God fully and submitting ourselves to Him.

We know that a biblical perspective on our finances is based in the awareness that God is the ultimate owner of everything and has entrusted resources to us to steward, or manage, for Him. Our job, then, is to be faithful stewards.

It’s easy to talk about faithfulness and to assume we are faithful just because we have the desire to be. But what does faithful stewardship look like in terms of our day-to-day lives?

Over the years, I have observed five habits consistently present in those who wisely handle finances.