Featured

I have never lived on a farm—never milked a cow, never plowed a field, never waited for the harvest. I am a city boy. This puts me at a disadvantage, at times, when I read the parables and illustrations of Jesus in the New Testament. Many of His images in preaching came from a context of farming—…

Every human is guilty before God because of his/her sin and cannot run away from this guilt and condemnation. Each of us is destined to death, but through our faith in the gracious intervention of the Son of God who took our sins on Him, we can be saved. On the cross, we were rescued and redeemed,…

The Articles of Faith of the Church of the Nazarene are statements of how we as Wesleyan-Holiness people understand God’s revelation to humanity through His Holy Word. Articles V to X describe the journey of humanity from sin to holiness. Article V, “Sin, Original and Personal,” describes how…

The loud sobbing was coming from somewhere in the blackness of the sanctuary. In the darkness, I found a dear friend laying across the seats crying uncontrollably, pleading with the Lord for mercy. For many years now, I have led the congregations I have pastored in a Tenebrae service on Good…

Many collections of Bible stories for children that I have seen and used include the story of the short man of Jericho (Luke 19:1-9). We even sang a song that emphasized the man’s shortness. When I taught Sunday school children, their interest in Zacchaeus’ promptness to give back to others…

I grew up poor in North Carolina. My mom married my dad when she was 16; I was born a year and a half later. We moved around a lot, often living in places with no air conditioning or phone service. My parents were both addicts. My mom was a blackout alcoholic, and my dad’s drug choice was heroin.…

John Wesley’s sermon “On Working Out our Own Salvation” addresses a subject that caused concern for those in Wesley’s day as it does in our time, too. Surely, like me, you remember many people who have been part of the church but abandoned the fellowship and are no longer following Jesus Christ as…

Those who have had the opportunity to fly understand that the flight to a destination and the flight back home don’t necessarily take the same amount of time. In fact, on long distance trips such as a transatlantic flight, the duration of each route can vary considerably. Some have mistakenly…

In the times we live, many truths that past generations accepted are being questioned. It seems that today, words and affirmations do not have any value unless we can verify them. We should recognize that skepticism is not necessarily bad—it is part of the process of believing and essential to…

We have many good things today because of people who invested their lives in making something that most people thought was an impossible reality. The twentieth century has offered many great scientific advancements, and the twenty-first century will continue to surprise us with even more…