How many of you have ever heard someone say they’re not interested in going to church, because it’s full of hypocrites? What’s really sad is that according to a study conducted by LifeWay Research 72% of people surveyed actually believe that churches are “full of hypocrites.”

Of course, I like Zig Ziglars response to that claim. He invited a friend to church with him one day and he friend said, “I would come, but everybody knows the church is full of hypocrites.” Zig responded, “Oh it’s okay, there’s always room for one more!”

It’s a sad reality that much of the world views the church this way. In some cases I think it’s really just an excuse. But there are times when it’s true. Take the first century church in Corinth for example. In A.D. 56 the church there was in serious trouble. Sad to say, the problems didn’t stay within the church family; they were known by the whole community outside the church. Read more…

Almost everyone loves to travel—we enjoy planning a trip, taking a vacation, or just watching the travel channel and learning about exotic locales. But few people have ever visited Timbuktu. This city of about 20,000 lies on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert in west-central Africa, in the country of Mali. Somehow, through the years, Timbuktu developed a reputation for being the most remote and inaccessible place on earth. I don’t know if that’s true, but what I do know is—God wants to bring the gospel to the primarily-Islamic people of Timbuktu.

From here to Timbuktu, the Lord intends for His word to be proclaimed across the entire globe. There is no nation, no tribe, no hamlet on the face of the earth that God doesn’t want the gospel to go. Jesus told his disciples, “You will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8 NLT). In other words, “You will be my witness from here to Timbuktu. You will be my witness from here to the last place on earth.” Read more…

Several centuries before Christ, Alexander the Great came out of Macedonia and Greece to conquer the Mediterranean world. He didn’t know it, but God was using him to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah. On one of his campaigns, Alexander received a message that one of his soldiers had been continually, and seriously, misbehaving and thereby shedding a bad light on the character of all the Greek troops. And what made it even worse was that this soldier’s name was also Alexander. When the commander learned this, he sent word that he wanted to talk to the errant soldier in person. When the young man arrived at the tent of Alexander the Great, the commander asked him, “What is your name?” The reply came back, “Alexander, sir.” The great conqueror looked him straight in the eye and said forcefully, “Soldier, either change your behavior or change your name.” Read more…

The last couple of weeks we’ve been exploring the New Testament book of Ephesians.

Last Sunday we began a new series exploring the New Testament book of Ephesians. As I said last week, Ephesians is all about identity—specifically your identity in Christ.

I’m reminded of a pastor who visited a nursing home that had several residents with Alzheimer’s in it. He went around and greeted the people who were very glad to see him. He spotted a lady who use to be a member of his church, walked up to her and asked, “Do you know who I am?” She smiled blankly then said, “No, but if you go to the Front Desk, they can tell you.” Read more…

A few of weeks ago, Modesto Christian Church held their end-of-summer celebration for the kids who attended their summer children’s program. Ashley and I arrived early with our three kids and I helped pack a couple cases of water bottles into a cooler while Ashley and the kids played on the playground equipment. When I was finished I walked over toward the playground and spotted Ashley sitting on a bench with her back to me. Walking up behind her, I affectionately rubbed her shoulder and patted her on the back as I surveyed the playing children. Then, suddenly, I spotted something strange. Sitting on a bench on the opposite side of the playground was Ashley giving me the stink-eye. Total embarrassment washed over my face as I looked down to see that the woman whose back I was affectionately patting was not my wife! I apologized immediately and intentionally neglected to mention that I was the pastor at Blooming Grove. We ended up having a good laugh about it later, but that was one the most embarrassing experiences.

Has a case of mistaken identity ever gotten you in trouble? Or perhaps your trouble is with your own identity. Read more…

Did you hear about the young college graduate who was interviewing for his first job? When the HR Director asked him what he was looking for, the young man explained that he hoped to get an executive position with a starting salary of $100K, be placed in a corner office and he wanted his own secretary. The HR guy responded by offering to add a matching dollar for dollar to his 401K as well an company car of his choice, probably a BMW. Then asked, “How’s that sound?” The young man replied, “Are you kidding me???” The HR guy said, “Of course I am but you started it.”

When it comes to our career, most of us have our dream job and then we have our real job. Abraham Lincoln put it this way: “My father taught me to work.  He did not teach me to love it.”  Can you relate? How did you end up in the job that you have? Are you happy with your career choices so far? Do you look forward to going to work each day? Have you ever considered the link between your work and how that impacts your walk with Christ? Your job is a big deal to God. Read more…

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle once said, “The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” It’s that bitter-sweet time of year again… time to go back to school. Our youngest child, Abby, is starting kindergarten this year. It’s hard to believe that she was only seven months old when we moved here, yet she’ll be turning five in a week. We got her registered a couple of weeks ago and met her teacher. She’s looking forward to seeing all of her friends, but I don’t know how she feels about being in school all day. It reminds me of one little girl, just home from her first day of kindergarten, who was asked by her mother, “Honey, what did you learn today?” The little girl replied, “Not much. I’ve got to go back tomorrow.” Read more…

How many of you know what the letters DTR stand for? I didn’t know what DTR stood for until this week. Now I’m familiar with LOL, OMG, YOLO, and ROFLMAO. But I hadn’t heard DTR before. I actually looked it up on urbandictionary.com. But for a young man in a relationship, these letters strike fear in their hearts. They dread the DTR talk. It makes single men so uncomfortable they will only use the initials DTR. The objective is to postpone, run away, and put off DTR for as long as possible. In fact many men are so afraid of the DTR, they will self-destruct the relationship when they sense the DTR talk is imminent. Now do you want to guess what DTR stands for? D.T.R. stands for Define the Relationship. This is an official talk that takes place at some point in a romantic relationship to determine the level of commitment. You define the relationship and decide where things stand. Is it casual or is it committed? How serious is this relationship and where is it going? And how you feel about the DTR talk is determined by how committed you are to the relationship. If the relationship is one of convenience that you want to keep casual, then you will feel uncomfortable. You might feel anxious, shift in your seat a little bit, or you may even have a fight or flight response. Read more…