Our church is going through the Advent this year for the first time.  Different traditions organize and preach this series differently, but they all celebrate the Hope, Love, Peace, and Joy that first arrived with Jesus first coming as we look forward to His Second. In Isaiah 9.6-7, a prophecy about the coming Redeemer, this young child (Jesus) is described as the "Prince of Peace."  I don' t know about you, but when I hear “Prince of Peace”, I don't think of some manly-manimal ready to conquer the world with all His might.  Perhaps that is because my concept of what a "Prince" is has been perverted by the almighty gods of this world named Disney and Mattel.   As a Father of a girly-girl daughter, I have watched every Disney &  Barbie Princess movie there is at least 10 times each.  What my daughter views as a "Prince", sadly, [...]

I recently read that Holiday shoppers will spend an average of $1,044 on gifts this year, up nearly 92% from 2009.  As a nation, that translates into several billion dollars.  There is no denying that Americans spend a lot of money during the Christmas Season.  So how am I supposed to respond to this as a Christian or a pastor?  I appreciate what Doug Wilson recently wrote about a right orientation toward Christmas and gifts.  Conversely, a normal knee-jerk response for many evangelicals is to rage against the idols of consumerism and demonize all things Santa.  Sadly, the children are left confused and Christians are dismissed as uptight penny-pinchers competing for piety points by giving their Christmas money to more "worthy" causes. As a pastor, I don't know if I am concerned about my kids learning about materialism from the world as much as I am about them learning it [...]

Last week I preached a sermon on the second half of Joshua 8.  Like all of my sermons, the point of it can be summed up by saying, confess your sin, go to church, read your Bible, and enjoy God.  The text of Joshua 8 describes Israel renewing their commitment to God.  Joshua leads what amounts to a worship service by copying the entire law on rocks and reading every word of God's Law aloud to entire congregation.  As he publicly reads the promises and warnings of God and the people, young and old, respond with a resounding, "Amen"--affirming every word.  Sadly, as I charged people to renew their own commitment to God's Word, I realized that the majority of people listening to me probably didn't even have their own Bibles with them. Inspired by the mountain top worship service in Joshua (not really), after church our family with some [...]

Lesson #28:  Confronting Sin One of the most difficult things a leader has to do is confront sin.   This past week I preached on Joshua 7 where the sin of one man, Achan, brings "trouble" upon the entire community.   In most sermons like this, mine being no exception, the main focus often rests with Achan--the man who hides his sin and destroys his family.  What many who read this passage often ignore, the one thing the church planter needs to pay special attention to, is Joshua--the leader who has to deal with it. If the biblical pattern for God's leader's is any sign, then the church planter should expect sin to rear its ugly head.  It happened to Moses and Joshua in Israel and in happened in the early Church with Peter, James, and John (See Acts 4).   The leader will have to decide whether or not they are going [...]