If we don't guard our hearts, we can easily become discontented with the things and people that we are most familiar with. This is no less true when it comes to the things of God. We must not be guilty of offering mindless sacrifice.
Read MoreThere's something behind us worth celebrating, but we must look to the future. Eastland Baptist Church has a legacy and an impact we can be proud of. This should compel us to look to the future with hope.
Read MoreMost all of us have strong opinions. However, we’re not necessarily thoroughly persuaded, which is the Scriptural command. Opinions often come from and are constructed by social cues and culture. Persuasion comes from Scripture.
Read MoreLife is full of vulnerabilities, and one of life's greatest vulnerabilities is loneliness.
Read MoreSalvation is by grace through faith alone. It is in our nature to try to merit God's favor, but we can't. We have liberty. However, we should not become evangelists for our liberty. Liberty understands freedom, but doesn't use it for selfish indulgence.
Read MoreBless the Lord
Read MoreThere is so much injustice in the world, but we are in no place to judge God because we don't have all of the facts. He has His own plans and His own timetable. He makes all things beautiful in His time.
Read MorePaul and Barnabas demonstrated incredible courage and resilience through rigorous missionary work and even returning repeatedly to dangerous locals. Such ruggedness is languishing in modern culture, but it must be part of Christian character.
Read MorePaul's efforts in taking the gospel to the known world were truly extraordinary. However, in kind and type, they should not be unique. To cause trouble in the body of Christ is incredibly dangerous and ignorant because we do not know the extraordinary lengths God is going to, through people, to accomplish His plans and purposes.
Read MoreTime is a resource one cannot acquire more of. It cannot be saved. There's no such thing as a time account. If you waste enough time, you end up wasting seasons. Waste enough seasons and you end up with a wasted life.
Read MoreIn Acts 13, Paul preaches his first significant sermon recorded in the book. 400 miles from the start of their missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas began preaching the gospel in Antioch of Pisidia. Paul's message was calling people to a point of decision so that they might be saved. God is calling His people to truth, and He's asking us not to forsake it. Certain truths we reject to our peril. To marginalize any truth is to diminish our lives. Knowing truth helps and saves no one. That truth must move one to a point of decision.
Read MoreIt is vital that, as Christians, our orthodoxy be followed with a lived out doctrine that can be observed. Visibility gives us viability.
Read MoreA life given to the pursuit of pleasure and mirth will never fulfill. It is a destination that can never be reached. It will always leave you grasping for more. It is the journey, not life's destination, that deliver the best life.
Read MoreActs 13 marks the beginning of the missionary endeavors of the early church, which became their primary purpose and focus.
Read MoreIn a world that has completely engineered all discomfort from life, something is lost. Not only are we weaker people physically, but we are also weaker spiritually and fail to fully realize and manifest the total sufficiency of Christ and His grace.
Read MoreLessons from Ecclesiastes | The Practice of Rejoicing
Read MoreSolomon requested wisdom from God, and God, in turn, made him the wisest man who ever lived. Because Solomon could have asked anything of God but instead asked for wisdom, God gave him the things he didn't ask for in addition to the wisdom he did. Solomon had everything a man could ever wish for including power, wealth and prosperity. We would expect to find an old man full of peace and happiness. However, in Ecclesiastes we find an old man full of anxiety and emptiness. Solomon at one point in his life had a sensitive heart that was dependent on God, but a heart that had is not the same as a heart that has.
Read MoreWaiting in Tarsus
Read MoreA Man with Two Diseases
Read MoreThere is wisdom for us in understanding and aligning ourselves with the purposes of God. There is incredible foolishness in and consequences for aligning ourselves against Him.
Read More