I am Not in Control

I received an iMessage the other day that may be common in the world we live in but one that no father wants to get from his daughter. “My school’s on lockdown. A convict is on the loose and has been seen on our campus.” My daughter goes to school over 500 miles away in that vast wilderness called “Texas.” Of course, there was nothing I could do to protect her, so I began to pray, but I was still trying to figure out what I could do. Maybe I could…no,...

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Urim, Thummim, and the Danger of Misinterpretation

The mystical interpretations some pastors preach never ceases to amaze me. I was tuned to a different radio station while running late for work one day this week. Because of the later time, I was able to hear a preacher I would not normally catch. I did not know who this preacher was but I was not really surprised that I heard some truly poor exposition that I felt I needed to address for two reasons: 1) to correct the poor handling of Scripture,...

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The Funniest Thing I Heard Today - 7.28.2014

"Now, back in Fort Smith there's a 'sportin' lady' named Big Faye. She was shot twice with this thing. But....she dresses out at about two hundred and ninety so none of the bullets found their way to any of the vitals. But against ordinary people, this gives good service." Rooster Cogburn, played by John Wayne, on Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne's second to last film) while talking about the Five-Barreled Ladies Companion gun....

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A New Beginning

Starting today, I am the new pastor at Rosemont Baptist Church in Montrose, Colorado. I am honored that this church has not only voted to have me lead them as pastor, but today the church will participate in an installation service, during which a representative from the church and myself will be signing a covenant outlining our responsibilities to each other. I anticipate being a moving and meaningful part of the service tomorrow. I will...

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Removing the Dead Wood from Our Lives

We are messy when we start. I have been removing dead trees from our land for about a month or so and it strikes me this job is similar to the work Christians must tackle in their own lives. We had some dead, rotting trees standing, and in some cases, laying on or beside healthy, green, growing trees. When the two exist together it is messy, ugly, and, frankly, a bit dangerous. Rodents or snakes could live in the mess laying on the ground. Winds...

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Changes to The 2 Timothy 2:2 Objective

Today I have integrated the 2 Timothy 2:2 Objective website and the blog into one web presence. It is my hope that this change will provide users with more information than just the blog. The website was not being visited very much and additionally the hosting service literally disappeared (and took my website with it). Over the coming months, I hope to add more information to the pages of this website. I would like to have more relevant postings...

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Gathering Illustrations

In a previous post, I wrote about sermon preparation and the importance of the sermon illustration in that process. Sermon illustrations are pretty easy to come by if one is paying attention. The problem for me has been how to keep track of the illustrations I have found along the way but have not been able to use yet. How can I file those illustrations to be used in the future? What system is the best way to access my sermon illustrations? In...

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One. Weird. Day

Confession. I did not go to church yesterday. Not really. Instead, I had the weirdest...day...ever. Let me start from the beginning. My wife and I had some work we HAD to get done around the house and we were not going to be able to do it anytime in the next three weeks or more. We attempted to do the work on Saturday but, without going into a myriad of details, that was not successful...at all. Sunday was a warm day and I viewed it as "having an...

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22 years and going

Today is my wife and I are celebrating being married 22 years. Technically, it is our 5 1/2 anniversary (we were married on Leap Day) but it has been 22 years nonetheless. We were married when were 22 years old, so I have been married to my wife as long as I have not been married to her. From here on out, I will have been married to her longer than I was not married to her. My wife is an amazing woman. She is incredibly intelligent, she is very hospitable, she is a great mother, she is amazingly beautiful, and she is the kindest woman I know....

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A Tough Decision is Coming

I usually do not spend my time dealing with political issues but today I need to post about an upcoming issue I believe each American Christian will have to deal with in the near-future. I am sure many of you have heard that today Arizona's Governor has vetoed a bill that would have allowed business owners to refuse service based on religious conviction. This law was written to allow business owners to express their First Amendment rights. This...

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