How accurate is the Bible? This is a question I often get asked as a Pastor. In fact, sometimes it’s not asked, it’s put in the form of a statement that goes something like this. There are quite a few objections to the Bible’s being accurate. A few of them include… Continue reading
Fasting is a spiritual discipline that has, certainly in the USA, fallen by the wayside. Richard Foster, in his Celebration of Discipline, makes a humorous but very sad comment regarding the American attitude toward fasting. He said something like this – In our culture (American) if we don’t eat three full meals a day with several snacks in between we believe… Continue reading
It was 1992 and I was a youth pastor at a local church in Wyckoff, NJ. A father of two kids in my youth group asked me a question, “Hey Jeff, you’re a youth pastor, so tell me why so many kids can’t function today when they come out of college and into the work place.” I asked him Continue reading
It was on a short-term mission trip that I was asked one of the best questions I’ve ever been asked as a pastor. It was our last night on the Six Nations Indian Reserve. There were 26 of us, 19 teens and 7 leaders. We had finished building two cabins, a 100′ water line, shower house and dock on the Grand River. We also shared our faith with scores of children. We were all sitting around a campfire, when one of the teens asked… Continue reading
In my last post I covered option # 2 of 3 on why the innocent suffer or why is there evil in the world? Today, I’ll finish up with option #3 – God Exists and Evil Exists. Within this option there are actually three choices: Evil is greater than God and therefore… Continue reading
In my last post I tackled option #1 of three options on why evil exists. Today I will cover option #2, “God Exists and Evil Doesn’t.”
This option is almost not worth discussing, but because groups like Christian Science continue to promote this view it’s necessary to review it. The pantheist would argue… Continue reading
Randy Alcorn, in his very readable and insightful, “The Treasure Principle” lists Treasure Principle Keys relating to our attitudes on giving. I’ve reproduced his list here:
1. God owns everything. I’m His money manager. We are the managers of the assets God has entrusted – not given- to us.
2. My heart always goes where I put God’s money. Watch what happens when you reallocate your money from temporal things to eternal things.
3. Heaven, not earth, is my home. We are citizens of a better country – a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:16).
4. I should live not for the dot but for the line. From the dot – our present life on earth – extends a line that goes on forever, which is eternity in heaven.
5. Giving is the only antidote to materialism. Giving is a joyful surrender to a greater person and a greater agenda. It dethrones me and exalts Him.
6. God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving. God gives us more money than we need so we can give – generously.
If you would like to watch any of the three sermons on giving you can view them by clicking here. They are titled, Buried Treasure, The Myth About Giving, and Getting Started.
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As I 
mentioned in a recent blog, we have three choices as it relates to the problem of evil in the world and whether or not there is a God strong enough or loving enough to rid the world of evil. Today I’ll tackle the first option:
Evil Exists and God Doesn’t – the atheist solves the problem of why the innocent suffer by… Continue reading
Before I get to the three options regarding evil that I mentioned in my last blog, I want to point a few things out about evil and it’s existence. I often get asked the question, “Why did God allow evil in the first place?” That’s a great question.
I have given this considerable thought over the years and I’ve read what many have written about this subject. Let’s begin by taking a look back to Genesis 1 and make a few notes.
Gen. 1:1 says that God created the heavens and the earth. Since there is evil in the world, one could easily conclude that God must have created evil. Continue reading
I can’t think of anything in recent history that has shaken our nation to the emotional core more than the shootings of these young children in the small community of Sandy Hook in Newtown, CT. Perhaps the one other event that comes to mind is September 11, 2001, now simply known as 9/11.
I know our church family was rocked by this tragic news. It was particularly poignant since the news broke on Friday, December 14, 2012 and two days later our children were Continue reading