America is becoming a graveyard for churches. Across the land stand tombstones that were once church buildings. Some of these churches failed to accomodate changing neighborhoods. Others became unfaithful to the Word and God gave them up. Some destroyed themselves - they committed ecclesiastical suicide. It is these of whom we are going to study.

Galatians 5:13 - 6:5 is a passage full of huge themes that we won’t have time to cover, and since our primary focus is on the “one another’s” of the New Testament, we’ll focus on those phrases in context throughout the passage. I see the overall theme of the passage as being walking together in the Spirit. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »

As we’ve journeyed through some of the “one another’s” of the New Testament, I’ve become more and more convinced that these are some of the Bible’s most difficult teachings to keep. I can look in my own life each week and see examples of times I’ve not honored these principles. But to ignore them will destroy the fellowship of God’s people.

We (beginning with me) must use them as an evaluation tool of our willingness to relate to one another differently than we would if we did not belong to Christ. This week’s “one another” is again really three “one another’s.” In fact, they spread out over two chapters of Romans, and I want to allow James to illustrate the truths. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »

We’ve been going through the “one another’s” of the New Testament on Wednesdays at Bethel and it’s been a nice journey so far. I think the Scriptures themselves can simply break our hearts over the need for a close bond of fellowship within God’s family.

The first was “love one another,” which had to do with extending an unconditional, God-like love toward other believers as a witness to the world that we are Jesus’ disciples. Last week was “wash one another’s feet,” which emphasizes service to other believers. It’s humbling to picture Jesus stooping at our imperfect, dirty feet to cleanse us in His rich fellowship.

This week’s study is from Romans 12:10 in which Paul says, “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another.” I think it’s a challenging admonition. Loving and serving are tough, but this one is equally tough because it requires us to give up so much of our selfishness. I think there are three key ideas conveyed. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »

In our midweek Bible study last night, we went through a supplementary study on creation and evolution. There were many things I wished I’d had time to cover in the Sunday messages but simply couldn’t. In preparing, I studied areas of science that fascinate me. I wanted to have some basic knowledge on everything from the fossil record to quantum physics (like I said, fascinating!). I was so blessed by the exchange. People asked questions, gave their thoughts, and generally expressed their faith in Scripture as God’s perfect Word.

At the end of the night, I decided to close discussion on the issue. This Sunday, we’ll be moving on to the more personal nature of Genesis, chapter two. I couldn’t help but to add this one thought, however, after reading Job 38. The creation-evolution debate is much like the theological battle that took place between Job and his friends. They reason with one another about the nature of God and God’s world. Then God finally speaks.

What does He say? To summarize the chapter, it is “Were you there when I created the worlds? Then how do you think you know anything?” He goes on to illustrate His majestic and dynamic creative power. Can you make the sun rise? Have you ever seen the center of the earth? Can you make an intricate snowflake? Can you make rain or suspend clouds of water over the earth? Good questions! We can study, we can observe, and I believe we ought to explore the amazing world God created around us. Science is good, until it goes to our heads.

God ultimately settles the argument. We might say in modern vernacular, the buck stops with Him! God, the Creator and only eyewitness of creation, knows exactly what happened in the origin of all things. So at the end of our quantum theories, evolutionary theories, and Big Bang theories, all of which are questioned and debated regularly by men more skilled than I, God sits above the circle of the earth, stretching out the universe like a curtain and calling out, “Seek me and find me with your whole heart!” The debate ultimately ends with worship!

Today marks our tenth anniversary as a married couple. I’ve done quite a bit of reflecting back on that very special moment when we were pronounced husband and wife by my father-in-law. I showed up at the church a few hours before the wedding and it was pouring down rain. I wanted to wait until it slacked off and until I could be sure I wouldn’t see Angie a moment too early. She was inside wondering if I was re-considering!

I wasn’t re-considering, and I haven’t since. I wouldn’t trade the last ten years for anything in the world. We’ve had a precious daughter, served a couple of great churches as Pastor and wife, Angie has earned two degrees (I’m on the very long-term educational plan), and we’ve made a whole lot of great friends along the way. We’re thankful to God for the fruitfulness of these years and can’t wait to see what God has in store for the decades to come.

A marriage, when lived out biblically, is designed to show the world how much Jesus loves His church and how much they can accomplish together in the redemption of lost mankind. I wouldn’t dream of putting forth the image that we have one of those perfect, never-had-an-argument, syruppy-sappy, always romantic relationships. If you do that, nobody believes you anyway and you probably get on everyone else’s nerves. Nonetheless, I’m proud of the marriage we have. We don’t ever have to question one another’s faithfulness and commitment, and we’re slowly learning to communicate and to compliment one another in a way that glorifies God. I’m so very thankful for all God has blessed us with… to Him be the glory!

“I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died: That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.” -Judges 2:21-22

When I first entered ministry, I had a dream of serving as Pastor of a church as quickly as possible. That hasty attitude led me to two very difficult experiences. I encountered churches that were saturated with problems, and to be frank… problem people. I watched as “church people” took the “one another’s” of the New Testament (”love one another…,” “accept one another…,” etc.) and tried to do the opposite of each one.

One day I felt I was at my wit’s end. I called my father-in-law and mentor, Danny Kirk, to ask for help. I remember asking how I could possibly go on pastoring such difficult people. I’ll never forget his reply to me as he said, “Brandon, you’ve got to love’m warts and all.” Now that’s good advice.

Why does God place us in the middle of such difficult people? So that He may “prove” us thereby. So that we won’t forget that ministry is all about difficult people. And to see if we’ll use difficult people as an excuse to give up. God has placed people in your life who rub you the wrong way to test your reactions. Is He tempting you to sin? Not at all. Rather, He’s giving you an opportunity to prove your character by not sinning.

Now I hardly think that very many people in our lives could be compared to the brutish and idolatrous Canaanites of Joshua’s time, but we can certainly learn the principle that our surroundings and circumstances are really part of our trial in life. God is preparing us to compete for a crown, even through people who seem like obstacles now.

By the way, if you seem to be surrounded on all sides by difficult people, it may be because you’re a difficult person yourself! Check your life. How do you think God wants you to deal with the difficult people in your life today?

“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” -John Wesley

Ever feel overwhelmed? As a Pastor, I sometimes feel that the ocean of activities and tasks to be accomplished are never ending. I dream great dreams about leading a church that ministers to children, raises up leaders, greets the community in a friendly manner, serves the poor, witnesses to the lost, preaches and teaches the Scriptures faithfully, stands against righteousness, ministers to the needs of every member of every kind of family, calls a teenage generation to godly living, and offers opportunities for believers to grow in fellowship with one another. Who can do it all, let alone do it all well?

You, no doubt, could rattle off your own string of demands and expectations from every angle. So how do we cope with such a lenthy to-do list in life? I believe John Wesley spoke with great wisdom when he essentially said, “Just keep doing what you can do, as long as you can do it.”

Paul admonished us to “redeem the time, for the days are evil.” The truth is, we can’t do it all, and we don’t have much time, and we have to sleep sometime. So why not do as the Boy Scouts do and “do a good turn daily.” Squeeze the most out of every moment but don’t spread yourself too thin. If you can’t grow a mile today, grow an inch. Just make progress. Remember that the snail made it into the ark because of perseverance.

What can you do to change the world? Voice an opinion, say a prayer, witness to a lost soul, serve someone in need? God will open a door of opportunity at a time. Be ready to walk through at any moment of your life.

“And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.” -Acts 2:44-45

Luke did not record the history of the beginning of godless communism but rather the beginning of a caring community. As can be seen in Acts 6, noone was forced into relinquishing their possessions, rather most of the people simply volunteered their wealth for the benefit of others. At the time Luke wrote the book of Acts, Israel was experiencing tremendous poverty. People were starving within the church, so those who had extra made provision for those who lacked.

The Church is and ought to be a caring community of devoted followers of Christ, looking out for the needs of one another. Perhaps a need is financial, perhaps one needs comfort during a loss or support during a crisis. The truth is, one of the great privileges of belonging to the church is that of belonging to a community of blood-bought believers. The Church is far more than a support group, it is a rescue mission for the lost and hopeless. It is an emergency room for the spiritually sick. No, it’s more, it’s a resurrection facility in which dead souls come to life with the promise of eternity with the risen Lord!

Who needs the Church today? Everyone! Do you value your community of believers? Do you belong to one? If not, unite yourself with a Bible-believing, Christ-honoring Church this Sunday and give all that you have for God’s glory and for the benefit of others and of His Kingdom’s work.