Instruction for Equipping the Saints

Instruction for Equipping the Saints2 Timothy 4:1-5December 3, 2023 In his book, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, Oliver Burkeman writes: The average human lifespan is absurdly, insultingly brief. Assuming you live to be 80, you have just over 4,000 weeks. Nobody needs telling there isn’t enough time. We’re obsessed with our lengthening to-do […]

Treasure Hunting

For some children (ok, for some adults too), “Christmas season” is a code term for “hunting season” — as in “let’s hunt through all the closets and crevices in the house to find unwrapped Christmas presents. Even as a child, that was never my temptation. But one year I did find myself outside a store, […]

The Character of People who Equip the Saints

The Character of the People Who Equip the SaintsTitus 2:1-8November 26, 2023 When the Lord revealed His plan for leaders in the church, He did the opposite of what the world typically does — He called the church to identify leaders on the basis of character more than competency. Look at the lists in 1 […]

The People Who Equip the Saints

The People Who Equip the Saints1 Timothy 1:12-17November 19, 2023 Three years ago Chris Young was named as the General Manager of the Texas Rangers. At that time he talked to longtime Ranger broadcaster, Eric Nadel, and said something like, “We need you to stay our broadcaster because we are going to win a […]

The problems with false teaching

Alexander Strauch has written that “Motivated by Satan and his demonic forces, false teachers have been creating counterfeit gods and theologies from the dawn of human history.” Scripture certainly attests to that reality, beginning with the first false teacher, Satan, and his solitary pupil in Genesis 3. Intuitively, it seems a good idea to avoid […]

One Goal for Equipping the Saints

One Goal for Equipping the Saints1 Timothy 1:3-5November 12, 2023 I hate to rush right past Thanksgiving and Christmas, but in a few weeks you will be thinking about new goals for a new year. What kinds of things might you consider? One writer has some suggestions for you: Read less. It makes me think […]

Are You Now Being Perfected by the Flesh?

The sermon I preached for the ACBC National Conference in October, “Are You Now Being Perfected by the Flesh?” is now available on the ACBC website. The message is from Galatians 3:1-5 and focuses on the sufficiency of the Spirit to address every issue of life — and every issue that might arise in a […]

Four truths to remember in trials

To live in this world is to suffer. As Job noted, “For man is born for trouble, As sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). You know that. You know the suffering of broken cars, broken bodies, and broken relationships. And you feel the burden of that brokenness; sometimes it is heavy, other times lighter, but it […]

Thirteen Core Values

Thirteen Core Values for Equipping the SaintsSelected ScripturesNovember 5, 2023 When we train counselors and disciplers, we frequently talk about our motives — why do we do what we do? We understand that there is a connection between what is inside us and what we do — our inner man determines what we […]

What the Spirit has done (and does)

The Galatians overlooked and minimized the work of the Holy Spirit of God. They acknowledged that He was instrumental in their salvation, but they were determined to bypass His work for their ongoing sanctification — they believed that they were capable of sanctifying themselves without His efforts. The temptation that derailed their walk with Christ […]

Set Free

All day Tuesday American flags were flown, songs were sung (how many times did you hear “God Bless the USA” or “America the Beautiful?”), hot dogs and hamburgers were consumed, parades were held, and as an exclamation on the day of rejoicing in liberty, fireworks were set off. Tuesday was a day of freedom. Yet […]

Having Hope While Living in a Broken World

Having Hope While Living in a Broken WorldRomans 8:18-25April 23, 2023 We live in a broken world and we have seen it too closely this week: Two teenaged students in Granbury died suddenly and tragically this week. Ruby Sargent’s last sibling passed away last week. One of our members experienced an accident at work that […]

Transformed by the Resurrection

Transformed by the ResurrectionJohn 21:15-25April 9, 2023 “If you ask where God’s glory is most seen, I will not point to creation, nor to providence, but to the raising of Jesus from the dead.” [Spurgeon] We make much of the resurrection. For good reason. It is one of two fundamental pillars of salvation: We are […]

Preparation for Resurrection day

Preparation for Resurrection DayJohn 12:1-11April 2, 2023 Some of the great adventures in the history of the world are the trips men have taken to the moon. While we look back at the ventures with a sense of awe because of the technology that was used to get astronauts there — the quests were filled […]

Jesus is the answer

In Colossians 2:8 Paul warns about the dangers of the base and elementary philosophy of the world. What are those principles? He is non-specific, but the most basic philosophy of the world is this — anything must be made supreme so that God and Christ will be minimized. The base philosophy of the world it […]