A lesson of not just wee little importance


This Sunday at the church in Cluj, Lord-willing, I’ll be teaching on Luke 19:1-9, and the story of Zacchaeus in his very personal encounter with Christ. It’s a story you heard in Sunday School as a kid if you went, but my hope is that you’ve also studied it as an adult, because there is much to learn from it for your walk with Christ. Look for a recording of the study to appear on this site perhaps as soon as Sunday afternoon.

Back 2 Cluj

This afternoon we returned to Cluj, to get back into the ministry here after a 7-week, 3 state trip in America, during which time we had blessed ministry at 8 churches. It was a great trip and we very much enjoyed the time ministering to and with our brothers and sisters in Texas, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. We’re looking forward to seeing what God does in partnership with teams later this year who might join us in Cluj for evangelism.
Now, after a couple days to try to adjust to jet-lag, etc., we’ll be back into our regular ministry schedule, and looking forward to proclaiming the message of salvation in the Easter season.
Our family is glad to be back, and our daughter Briana is reunited with her precious kitty, Phoebo, which is making both of them happy.

Today’s evolutionist response exposes the cloudy-mindedness of atheism

So in response to my recent comments on the implausibility of the theory of macroevolution, an atheist who identified himself as having a doctorate wrote, claiming that if I accept microevolution, then I must accept macroevolution, because they are essentially the same thing, being only different in magnitude. Now, that isn’t true, because they are entirely different in process, not just scope. Microevolution happens from one generation to the next in creatures as a result of rearrangement or loss of existing genetic information. For macroevolution to exist, there would have to be ADDED genetic information over the generations, which is impossible, hasn’t ever happened, and is not happening in the modern world. It must be accepted on faith alone, despite all the evidence to the contrary.
But even if the doc were right and the only difference between micro and macro evolution was the amount of change that happens and the amount of time it takes, to suggest that this means accepting one proves the other exposes the cloudy thinking necessary for one to become an atheist. It is like saying, if you believe there are men who can run 8 miles per hour and men who can jump 6 feet off the ground, then you must accept that there are men who can run faster than an indy car and men who can jump over the clouds, because the process of running and jumping is the same, only the magnitude changes.

Thought for the day

The world has never known a belief system more illogical than the evolution of species from a common ancestor by chance happenings apart from God’s design. Nor has the world ever seen a belief system whose adherents were more belligerent and arrogant than the atheists who defend the implausible hypothesis of macroevolution.

Go for the Gold


Sometimes Christians say, “Just getting into heaven will be enough for me. I don’t seek a crown or reward from the Lord when I get there.” But Jesus, along with every New Testament writer, admonished us strongly NOT to think that way. We are told we should seek heavenly rewards, and one strong example of that is the parable Jesus told in Luke 19. That passage is the focus of the message I brought this morning at the church my Dad is pastor of here in Kentucky. You can hear the audio of that message here.

Fulfill your ministry

And say to Archippus, “See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.”
–Colossians 4:17

Reading Colossians a few days ago, this verse gripped me. There in the closing of the book is Paul’s admonishment of a servant of Christ who apparently was dropping the ball. God had given him an open door to serve in some form of ministry, and he, for whatever reason, wasn’t being faithful to complete the work he had been given. So he needed a word of encouragement.
The verse gripped me, because I realized how often I, as well as many others, have needed to receive a word like that. Look at your life for a moment, and see if you need it, too, today.

The ministries that we do, which are jobs that the Lord Himself has given us, are works of service for His glory that He expects us to fulfill. He provides the grace, strength, guidance, stamina, and resources necessary to fulfill the task, as we turn to Him. So see that you get to the work He gives you without stall, without delay, and without giving up. And finish well.

Is there a ministry God has told you to start that isn’t started, even though He already opened the door? Then get to it.
Is there a ministry that you are no longer giving your whole heart to, and now you are slacking off because of disappointment or discouragement? Then get back to it. If He wants you to stop, He will close that door or open another that He asks you to go through. And He will be faithful to see you through on the job for as long as He desires.
Is there a ministry you have quit, or are about to quit, without His first releasing you from the task? Then make sure—see to it—that you keep on the job until He takes you off it.
“Fulfill your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:5)

Sunday at Five videos

Here are couple of brief videos from the special time of worship in Dallas this past Sunday evening, at “Sunday @ 5” a new monthly gathering of people from the DFW area gathering to glorify God in worship. It was a blessed time, and those in the Dallas area will be blessed, I believe, if they attend the next one March 7. If you’d like details, write me and I’ll pass the info along.

A friend in Haiti writes… ‘you always hear wailing in the distance’

Our church in Garland has a missions team that arrived in Haiti last evening. The trip had been planned before the earthquake, by a God who already knew it was coming. So the team isn’t doing the same kind of ministry they thought they would when they answered the call to go.
Here is what our friend Jeremy has written about the trip so far–it gives a view of what it is like and how to pray for God’s servants there.

Last night:
My #1 assesment is apocalyptic the devastation is vast as an ocean. The unity is strong among our 3 man team, which is good, because we are being stretched beyond anything we could have imagined. We have already 2nd guessed our being here, because of the immensity of the challenges these people face. But I believe this will drive us deeper in our trust of the Lord. We will have 2 trust Him more than we ever did before and we will be tested like never before. This is a desperate dangerous place. Yet God is on the throne and there’s no place I would rather be. He called us here 2 b stretched and refined and 2 b light in this place. I pray we can live up 2 it. When we are weak, He is strong. He will see us thru.

Update 2 early this morning:

Just experienced our 1st aftershock! Crazy ! This city never sleeps! Dogs forever barking and roosters constantly crowing , seems like u are always hearing a wailing in the distance. Don’t see how anyone could ever rest. This is challenging, but i know God will see us through. We will have 2 find our rest in him.

The Blessed, Happy Life


Here is today’s message from Calvary Chapel Garland, in which I taught on Psalm 1, looking at the road to a truly happy life, and the alternative road to avoid–the one that leads to a wasted life. Hope you enjoy the message.