Balancing Truth and Grace

This week I read the following article:http://www.sermoncentral.com/article.asp?article=a-David_Kinnaman_11_05_07&ac=trueAlthough the article is addressed to pastors, it contains some really good teaching about balancing truth and grace that all of us can use in our interactions with both believers and unbelievers. I hope it gives you some good food for thoug...

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Spiritual Temperaments

Here is an interesting article by Myra Perrine regarding spiritual temperaments:http://www.sermoncentral.com/article.asp?article=a-Myra_Perrine_10_29_07&ac=trueIn this article the author describes how we all relate to God differently and there is a link to an inventory that you can use to help you discover your spiritual temperament. I encourage you to take the inventory and then I'd love to hear...

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The Imprtance of Team

I knew I was going to miss Denny when he retired, but it really hit me hard last night after the retirement celebration. In a sense, I felt like I'd just lost a family member or a good friend. These last four years of working together with Denny have been by far my most rewarding years of ministry. After being pretty much on my own for many years as a pastor and church planter, it has been such a...

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Theology and our Worship

I just ran across this article that deals with the importance of theology in our worship:http://www.pastors.com/RWMT/default.asp?id=310&artid=10533&expand=1 As Peter Beck so clearly points out, our theology determines whether or not we're able to worship in spirit and in truth. Without a proper view of Jesus, our worship cannot meet that standard.Sometimes I think we take it for granted that...

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"Lord" is not fading here

There was a very disturbing article on the front page of the Sunday Arizona Daily Star with the headline "'Lord' is fading at some churches. (http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/179570.php)The article begins with this paragraph:God has no gender. And the Lord? There's not much Lord in this churchservice.The article goes on to describe how several local churches have virtually eliminated the word...

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Amazing Grace

My wife and I went to the the new movie "Amazing Grace" over the weekend. I thought that it was a great movie - not only was it well-made, but it was saturated with great principles for life. But there was one line in the movie that I just can't get out of my head. Towards the end of the movie, William Wilberforce went to see his old pastor, John Newton, for some advice. And during that exchange,...

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Worship "Concert"

I had the privilege of attending the Chris Tomlin "concert" last Friday night at the Dodge Theater in Phoenix. One of the highlights of the night was that Chris, Matt Redman and Louis Giglio spent nearly an hour talking to a small group of pastors and worship leaders about worship a couple of hours before the concert started. Although we got some good ideas that we can implement in our church, what...

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Set Free

After looking at Paul's description of redemption in Ephesians 1:7-10 on Sunday, I was really struck by the fact that our daily Bible reading for that day also focused on the whole concept of redemption. In Romans 7-8, Paul gives us an even more detailed account of how we have been set free from slavery to sin. Aren't you thankful that Jesus has paid the price to set us free from a way of life that...

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The Gospel According to Jack Bauer

Many of you out there probably know what a big "24" fan I am. In fact, it was really hard last night to decide whether to go to the U of A basketball game or stay home and watch the premier of "24". But since I could record "24" on the DVR, I went to the game, which may have not been the best decision, since my Wildcats lost. But at least today's a holiday, so I can watch last night's 2 hour premier...

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Three Funerals

A friend sent me an interesting email this morning. It centered on three funerals that were held last week - one for former President Gerald Ford, one for James Brown and one for Saddam Hussein. I'm not sure who originated these thoughts, but I thought they were well worth our consideration:"All three men, President Ford, James Brown, and Sadam Hussein had choices in their destiny. Today they have...

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Lofty Goals

As those of you who were there last Sunday know, I've challenged us as a congregation to shoot for some pretty lofty goals this year:To read through the entire Bible this year (See www.thornydalechurch.org for a link to the reading schedule)To memorize the Book of Ephesians as I preach through that book.I've had several people comment about the fact that those are some pretty high expectations. And...

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