What Is Your Bible Emphasis for the Year?
This week someone asked me, "What is your Bible word for the year?" For many years I have adopted a word, a book, or a truth from Scripture as my...
A Prayer at the Door of a New Year
One of my favorite authors through the years has been F.B. Meyer. His writings have stirred my thinking and warmed my heart. Recently as I browsed through a bookstore, I...
Finding a New Beginning
Someone has rightly observed, "Life is a series of new beginnings." Thankfully for the believer, our God is the God of new beginnings! The Creator who alone could make something...
“For the Gospel’s Sake”
Businesses, churches, and organizations often choose an annual theme for their work. Several years ago I began selecting a passage of Scripture, Bible word, or specific emphasis for my own...
A New Year & New Adventures with Christ
There is no adventure like the adventure of following Jesus Christ! It is the grand adventure of a lifetime and it leads to an even greater adventure in eternity. In...
What Will This Year Hold?
Some "woke" theologians have decided of late to criticize the well known commentator Matthew Henry. While there are some things I would not fully agree with in his writings, I...
5 Pieces of Advice I Was Given
In nearly twenty years of serving on a church staff I sat in hundreds of staff meetings and training sessions. Some were functional and others were philosophical. One of the...
Days, Years, and Our 2022 Schedule
Welcome to 2022! Moses wrote that "we spend our years as a tale that is told" and today we have begun another chapter in that story. In that same Scripture,...
2 Resources for More Bible Preaching
“…they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.” (Acts 8:4) If ever there was a time for more preaching, it is now. As we look around, we...
Takeoff and Landing
Air travel has become more than a luxury for our mobile society. It has, for many, become a necessity to business and commerce. Like the Roman roads of Paul's day...
Selah | Hitting the Pause Button
Selah | Hitting the Pause Button There are moments when we all need to hit the pause button. Life races on and, if we are not intentional and careful, we...
3 Things To Remember At The End of This Year
The end of the year is often a reflective time. Dr. Frank Sells, one of my favorite Bible teachers, used to warn us of becoming "morbidly introspective." If our reflection...
Some Advice For Your Bible Reading This Year
We are one week into the new year. How are you doing with your devotional Bible reading so far? Many believers begin at the first of the year with some...
Use A Journal This Year
It was quiet in the house and I was sitting in my favorite chair, reading and reflecting. The little, leather books around me were not published volumes. No one else...
A Day Of Firsts
Today is the first day of a new month, the first day of a new year, and the first day of a new decade. God has allowed us to live...
The Greatest Challenge I Have
A few days ago, it was my great joy to untangle the many strands of Christmas lights that somehow magically weave themselves into ridiculous knots during the off season. Why...
New Growth In The New Year
Henry Longfellow was once asked how he managed a long and happy life. He pointed to an apple tree and said, "The secret of the apple tree is that it...
Make This Week A New Beginning With God!
Today we stand on the threshold of 2019. How gracious God has been to us! If the Lord allows us to live until tomorrow, we will turn another page in...
Do You Have A Favorite Book Of The Bible?
As many of you know, my favorite book of the Bible is the New Testament book of Philippians. But, like one of my college professors, I too would have to...
24 Reading Recommendations For The New Year
In Thomas Jefferson's Library at the Library of Congress This week a dear pastor friend and I corresponded about helpful books to share with others. As...
A Goal for 2018
How are you doing with your goals for the new year? It is just the first week but how quickly we can forget and fail in the very areas we...
A Prayer for 2018
When God speaks to us it is natural to respond to Him. The Bible should lead us to prayer! Several years ago someone gave me a book about praying the...
A Word for 2018
There is power in one word from God. I hold a personal conviction that the very words and every word of Scripture are given by inspiration of God. They have...
A Scripture for 2018
Many of us have made definite commitments to give renewed attention to God's Word in the new year. For me, that means something different every year. I try not to...
The First Step
The first day of a new year. What will we do with it? It will never get any easier than today to take action. Never. Do you want to learn...
January 2018 Itinerary and a Prayer Request
If God lets us live until Monday we will begin a brand new year. What a privilege to serve the Lord! Below you will find our scheduled meetings for the...
The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards
Christmas and New Year are a time for family and fun. But for a believer it is a season of faith. A time to turn our eyes to Christ and...
Seven Tips for Bible Reading
I often hear wonderful messages on the subject of reading the Word of God. The Scriptures are so wonderful! We may grow stale, but the Lord is perennially fresh! We...
How to Make the Most of the New Year
A special hour-glass sits on the desk in my study. It was a gift from my family and means a great deal to me. It actually measures fifteen minutes of time...
6 Things to Do in the Last 6 Days of the Year
The final week of the year is perhaps the strangest week of the year. It is like living in limbo. One year seems all but gone and the next is...
A Personal Invitation to CORE 2017
One of Satan's greatest tools is discouragement. I am afraid that many preachers are so disillusioned with the condition of our nation that they wonder if there is anything they can...
Still Enjoying the Journey
About four years ago I began blogging. I have been more regular at times than at others, but it has been a good exercise for me. Many friends have been...
2015 – The Year of the Bible
Last January the American Bible Society released a study of the most "Bible-minded" cities in the United States. Our city was ranked number one. Knoxville, Tennessee was listed first in...
My Thoughts on the Last Night of the Year
It was a joy to be with our church family tonight in the last hours of 2014. We came to the Lord's table together and our hearts were turned toward...
Genuine Prayers = Meaningful Prayers
How to Make Prayer More Meaningful The new year brings with it fresh thoughts about our devotional life. We all need to give more time and attention to prayer. To...
How to Make the Most of the New Year
Another "how to" post? Not exactly. There will be no formula. No equation. No list. No step by step instructions. But there is a truth - one powerful truth -...
“At the Gate of the New Year”
It is Christmas, 1939, in London, England. King George VI addresses the British Empire as he does every year at this time. In his speech he quotes a beautiful poem...
Dealing with “Down Time”
Down times can often be down times. Activity, or lack of it, has a great deal of effect on our emotions. The closing days of a year are a very...
