life. faithful.

  You probably know the story of Lazarus--he was sick, and his sisters sent word to Jesus. Jesus loved these three siblings...but He waited two more days after He got word about Lazarus' illness. By the time Jesus got to the town of Bethany, He received word that Lazarus had been dead and in the tomb for 4 days. This is the story that gives us one of the most fun sentences to read in the King James version: " Lord, by this time he stinketh" (John 11:39) Don't ask me why that amuses me, I guess I just have an odd sense of humor... Anyway, the story of Lazarus ends when Jesus commanded Lazarus to walk out of the grave, and that was exactly what happened. Tucked into the story, though, is something that caught my attention recently. We met Mary and Martha before the story of their brother's death, when Jesus had visited Bethany earlier. That visit showed Martha rushing around, doing all the work to make sure Jesus and His disciples were comfortable and fed, while Mar...

 I'm sure you see it--God reassuring us that He always keeps His promises. In this case, in the murder of Charlie Kirk, we see God working as He did in the life of Joseph: " As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people. " (Genesis 50:20)  The physical outcome for Charlie was different from what Joseph experienced, but the promise holds true. What man meant for evil, God is using for good. Through that horrific death, God is drawing people across the world to Himself. I've heard estimates that 100 million people watched the memorial service. And while I don't agree with everything that was said, I am incredibly thankful that so many people heard the gospel preached without shame. We're being told that we're at a turning point (and that's another place I can see the hand of God in this story, in the simple choice of a name for an organization that h...

 I was listening to a debate the other day between John Lennox and Peter Atkins, two Oxford professors with very different views on the Christian faith. If you're a nerd like me, you might enjoy watching the debate here . At the end of their debate, they were asked a question that boiled down to "Why do you believe the Christian faith is or isn't the right one?" John Lennox is a mathematician trained at Cambridge, Oxford, and Cardiff. He is also a Christian apologist who often speaks on how science and the Christian faith can coexist. If you've spent much time here, you know my views on the so-called conflict between science and faith, so I truly enjoy listening to Dr. Lennox (though I have to admit that I believe we likely disagree about a few things). When I heard the question and then Lennox's answer, it promoted this post. In the United States, the Pew Research study from 2022 said that 81% of people believe in God. I tried to find a number worldwide, but ...

  Who is this man? The Jewish chief priests and elders accuse him of crimes their people say deserve his death, yet he doesn't open his mouth. They say he is claiming to be the King of the Jews, staging a rebellion, yet he just stands there, silent. He listens to the crowd calling out for his crucifixion, be he doesn't defend himself. What kind of man does that? Who is this man, that he just walks like a lamb to slaughter? He is mocked and beaten, spit on and with thorns pressed into his brow--and yet he doesn't resist, doesn't protest, doesn't respond to those mocking him as King. He is offered wine to dull his pain, but he refuses. What kind of man can take such pain? Who is this man, who even when hung on a cross doesn't curse his executioners? Even now as he dies they mock him, yet his only response? " Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing. " He hangs on a cross, yet he promises the criminal beside him that he will be...

  Our nation--and our world--is in a very dark place right now. Everywhere you turn, you see chaos, confusion, fear, despair, loss, and hopelessness. People are lost. People are broken. People are living with shame and regret, desperate to hide the parts of themselves they are afraid for other people to see. In their desperation to hide, they are running toward the darkness... " Still some people preferred the darkness over the light because their actions were dark. Some of humankind hated the light. They scampered hurriedly back into the darkness where vices thrive and wickedness flourishes." (John 3:19b & 20) When people are ashamed of their actions, they hide them in the dark. They don't want them exposed to the world--it would be embarrassing, humiliating for people to see all the things better left hidden. They cling to the darkness because they are afraid of what will happen if light shines on the things they are ashamed of. People fear things they don't kn...

There's a verse in 1 Peter that I hadn't really noticed before. It's funny how that keeps happening to me...books and chapters I've read many times, on pages with underlining or notes, but all of a sudden I read a verse that I've somehow missed. This time it was while we were studying at church Sunday morning: "For the time for judgment has come, and it is beginning with the household of God. If it is starting with us, what will happen to those who have rejected God’s good news?" (1 Peter 4:17) I've been listening to Pastor Allen Jackson a lot lately. I highly recommend that you do the same, but I'll warn you first--he's probably going to step on your toes. One thing he has been pointing out a lot lately? We as professed Christians can't blame the decay in our nation on "them". Our nation is in free-fall because we--those who claim to be followers of Jesus--have failed. We have let a nation founded on biblical truth and biblical...

 Thomas...oh, Thomas. His life as a follower of Yeshua is so often overshadowed by the title, "Doubting Thomas," due to his insistence on needing to see for himself the proof that his Messiah had risen from the dead. Yet here he is, shown in a very different light. Jesus was telling His friends that they were about to head back to Judea, the place where the people had already tried to kill Him at least twice. Thomas tried to be the voice of reason--"Hey, um... the last time You were there, they tried to stone You to death, remember?" Yet despite the reminder, Jesus was choosing to go back. We remember him for his doubt, but here we have a very clear picture of a different side of Thomas: "Let’s go so we can die with Him." (John 11:16) Too often in the United States, we forget that followers of Christ are not promised a life of ease. In fact, the Jewish Messiah we follow--the One who was despised and rejected by the very people He came to save--promised the...

Every once in a while, I read a verse of Scripture and think, "I wonder when that got put in there..." because it catches me as something I've never noticed before. As we are nearing the remembrance of Easter, one of those verses caught my attention: " When Jesus was on the earth, a man of flesh and blood, He offered up prayers and pleas, groans and tears to the One who could save Him from death. He was heard because He approached God with reverence. Although He was a Son, Jesus learned obedience through the things He suffered   And once He was perfected through that suffering He became the way of eternal salvation for all those who hear and follow Him" (Hebrews 5:7-9) As they prepared to enter Jerusalem, Jesus knew what He was about to face. He even pulled His disciples aside to tell them plainly (because He had already told them a couple different times and the just didn't get it) that He was about to be mocked, tortured, executed, and raised from the d...

For the past few years, our little church has been reading through the Bible in chronological order. We took the outline put together by the Blue Letter Bible that schedules the whole reading for a year. I think it took us almost 3 years to make it through the first time... and this time through is taking even longer! I have to tell you, though--it is a wonderful study, and you're invited to join us. We meet in the tiny white building across from the salebarn in Green Forest. Breakfast and coffee at about 10:15, then the study right after. Come sit around the table with us. Eat, talk, laugh, cry, and truly study God's Word. Right now, we are starting Paul's letter to the Ephesians. I was reading through the first three chapters this morning in preparation for our study this weekend. When Pop introduced the letter Sunday, he asked us to read and take note of how many times Paul wrote about things being "in Christ." Just in the first few verses, you can see why he p...

  I've just spent a weekend serving on the Higher Ground Experience , where so many have seen first-hand the power described in this song. If you're facing heartbreaking, mind numbing struggles in your life, know that "There’s power in the presence Power in the blood, powеr in the name of Jesus And Hе has more in the hem of His garment Than the camp of the enemy There is a life changing Grave shaking, dead raising power in the room Heart-healing, hell-stealing No ceiling power, so tear off the roof"

  There's a small country church in our community that makes it a point to love on people through loving on the school. They show up in support all the time, but one of the main things they do each year (usually more than once) is by taking over the concession stand for a home basketball game night. They run the stand for every game that night, and they don't charge anyone for anything. When I was teaching, kids would be talking about the "free concessions" all day for those games. They would talk about everything they would get since it was free. I tried to make it a point to remind them that the concessions weren't free--they were just being paid for by somebody else. Because during those games, that church keeps track of everything they give people--and at the end of the night, they pay for everything. Those nights are far from free. If you've ever had dinner at a basketball game, you know how much it costs to even get a simple, basic meal: typically $2 fo...

 On my drive in to work Monday morning, I heard a couple of songs I've heard a bunch of times but haven't heard in a while. The combination stuck in my head and spurred thoughts I want to share. First the lyrics that stuck out, then my thoughts: *** " There's a sign on the door, says, "Come as you are" but I doubt it 'Cause if we lived like it was true, every Sunday morning pew would be crowded But didn't you say the church should look more like a hospital A safe place for the sick, the sinner and the scarred and the prodigals Like me Well truth be told The truth is rarely told Oh am I the only one who says   I'm fine, yeah I'm fine oh I'm fine, hey I'm fine but I'm not I'm broken And when it's out of control I say it's under control but it's not And you know it I don't know why it's so hard to admit it When being honest is the only way to fix it There's no failure, no fall There's no sin you don...