The Pastor’s Point

Throughout over a decade of ministry, God has allowed me to walk through moments of crisis with many people that I dearly love. Sometimes the crisis comes in the form of the unexpected loss of a loved one. At other times, it comes as the result of the hurt caused by someone close (such as an unfaithful spouse, an abusive parent or a rebellious child). The circumstances have all been different, but the pain has all been much the same for those who are experiencing it. It seems like every time I receive one of those dreaded phone calls from someone who is, all of the sudden, facing a traumatic situation in their life, that I pause to pray the same prayer.  As I drive to be with the ones who are hurting, at some point I pause to whisper a prayer to the Lord pleading, "Father, I do not have the ability to help these hurting people or to give them the comfort they need. Please give me the ability to be Your minister to them. Enable me to give them Your comfort." The Lord teaches u...

" Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field ;   and afterwards build thine house ." (Proverbs 24:27) The thought of a new year prompts each one of us to consider new goals for growth. As we enter into this new year, God has some insight as to how we can properly prepare ourselves to grow forward.  Without a doubt, this is a desire each one of us have. None of us want to become stagnate; we want to grow and do more for God. We have already considered two of the ways to prepare for a new year. The first is to  Prepare with a purpose .    The Bible simply says, " Prepare thy work without ." Before we just dive into trying to do things, we must first stop to ask  why we are doing what we are doing .  Once we have this firmly established, you can move onto the second step which is to Prepare with a Plan .  The Bible instructs us to " make it fit for thyself in the field ." If all you have are goals and you do not develop a...

" Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house ." (Proverbs 24:27) The thought of a new year prompts each one of us to consider new goals for growth. As we enter into this new year, God has some insight as to how we can properly prepare ourselves to grow forward.  Without a doubt, this is a desire each one of us have. None of us want to stagnate; we want to grow and do more for God. Last time, we considered the first of three ways to prepare for a new year: Prepare with a purpose . The Bible simply says, " Prepare thy work without ." Before we just dive into trying to do things, we must first stop to ask why we are doing what we are doing . Once you have taken time for this first step, the next step is what we will look at here. Prepare with a Plan After your purpose is established, you are told to " make it fit for thyself in the field ."  If you will accomplish God's purpose for your life, you ...

" Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house ." (Proverbs 24:27) A new year brings along with it a fresh sense of purpose and hope.  This time of year has become one of my favorites because it is a time of reflection, renewal and readjustment. The thought of a new year prompts each one of us to consider new goals.  None of us want to be stagnant or backslide. It is safe to say that we each aspire to grow more and to do more for our Lord. Christians have been given the greatest reason for living in the world.  Yet, we so often live as the most directionless people.  So many live without any contemplation about the direction God wants them to go in life or how He intends to help them get there. As we enter into this new year, God has some insight in this verse as to how we can properly prepare ourselves to follow His direction in the new year. Over the next three posts, let's consider three ways we may prepare f...

In case you haven't heard, Christmas falls on a Sunday this year.  When I looked ahead at this year's calendar in the fall of 2021, I was so excited for this opportunity.  How appropriate it is to be able to observe the day we traditionally celebrate the birth of our Savior together as the church! Yet, as we have drawn closer to Christmas this year, it has been shocking to see Christians all over our country actually opposing the corporate assembly of the church on Christmas Sunday.  My first inclination was to think this was coming from the liberal sect of so-called Christianity - you know, the same groups that have been cancelling church for the sake of convenience for quite some time.  But, that is not the case here.  Good, Bible-believing Christians have convinced themselves it is okay to "cancel church" this year.  What are their reasons?  "We can worship Jesus from home as a family."  "We are prioritizing family time, which is also important...

The time has come around once again for American citizens to prepare to exercise their God-given liberty to vote.  If I am being honest, there certainly is nothing appealing about wading through the cesspool of candidates and issues that are being pushed on our society today.  But, as believers it is our responsibility to do so. We are called to stand for the truth that sets men free. It was Jesus Himself who told us, " Render to Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's ." (Matthew 22:21) This would include, of course, the matter of voting. Beyond the biblical mandate, there is a civic mandate for the citizens of this country to vote.  Our government was formed to function of the people, by the people and for the people. Men and women have died to secure this freedom for us. Therefore, it behooves us to exercise our right to vote, however much we may disagree with candidates or issues. As you prepare to vote this November, there are...

It is hard to believe that summer is drawing to an end and a new school year is already upon us.  The hustle and bustle of preparations are fully underway.  As you prepare to start a new school year, let me share with you some simple steps you can take to simplify your life. Schedule One aspect of new school year that tends to complicate life is adjusting to a new schedule.  During the summer months, your kids develop new habits like sleeping in, having excessive times of recreation and altogether not keeping a steady schedule. (By the way, this is what makes summer so great for kids, right?)  So, it can be a great challenge to get your kids (and yourself) back to keeping a consistent schedule for school. You will greatly simplify your life for the upcoming school year by taking some time to write out a new schedule for your family.  Take time to evaluate what is most important in your life. (For example, God should come first, family time second, etc.)  On...