I heard about a group of children who were asked their views on marriage, and one of the questions they were asked was this, “Is it better to be single or married?” Let me share with you a couple of their responses to that question. Lynette, age 9, said, “It’s better for girls to be…
You know, we as Christians claim some pretty remarkable things about ourselves. We claim that we have been “born again”. That we have been radically changed from the inside out. That the very presence of God himself dwells within us. Those are words that an unbelieving world hears with a great deal of skepticism. They…
If we were to go around the room this morning, I wonder how many of you could tell me all the details of your auto insurance policy? For example, what is the deductible if a rock flies up and cracks your windshield? Or what is the maximum dollar amount your policy will pay if someone…
I heard a humorous story recently about Willie Nelson, the country singer. As the story goes, during the 1970’s, Willie bought a golf course just outside of Austin, Texas. He said the great thing about owning a golf course was that he could decide what was par for each hole. He pointed at one hole…
I was reading recently about the wealthiest preachers in America. The preacher at the top of that list (I won’t give you his name) has a net worth of somewhere between 300 and 750 million dollars. The list includes preachers with million-dollar homes who get paid tens of thousands of dollars just to show up…
I heard recently about a high school election where a teenage boy was trying to get his friends to vote for a particular girl. He said, “She’ll make a great leader. She’s got all it takes: looks, brains, popularity and a great smile.” To which one of his friends responded, “She’s got all it…
There are some people who spend their entire lives searching for that one elusive dream. For example, the great explorer Ponce de Leon went to Florida searching for the Fountain of Youth. The Spaniards went to Mexico searching for the Seven Cities of Gold. Many have searched in Tibet for Shangri-La, a place of eternal…
I remember when I was a kid, all the old people would talk about “the good old days”. Now, I find myself in that category of old people because I’m one of those folks who looks back and think about the good old days. Apparently, I’m not alone. A survey was taken among people 50…
This morning, I want to begin a new sermon series that I anticipate will carry us through the next several months. We’re going to be taking a look at the book of I Corinthians. Recently, I heard someone jokingly refer to this book as I Californians. Because, the truth is, California and the city of…
You cannot read through the Old Testament without noticing that the concept of captivity is a major theme. There were, of course, the children of Israel who spent about 400 years in captivity in Egypt. And then later, the Jews spent 70 more years in Babylonian captivity. Altogether, the words “captivity” and “captive” are used…