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As I set to compose this article, I am also considering the devastating news from a dear beloved friend who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. One of the most difficult questions any pastor can be asked is, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” I still remember the phone call from my niece to inform me that my only sister had been called home due to ALS. I recall the agony in her voice when she said, “Uncle Bruce you are a pastor. Please tell me why God allowed my mother to suffer this way?” There are theological answers,...
From the Bible in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, the apostle Paul writes, “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to Scripture, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to Scripture.” Looking closer at this Scripture, we...
In his book “Ordinary Church”, Joseph S. Beach has a section titled “The Ordinary Pastor of an Ordinary Church.” When you have gone through the process of “Church shopping,” one of the first things you probably considered was the Pastor. The first point regarding Pastors that Mr. Beach makes has to do with what Pastors are. They, first and foremost, are human beings, folks trying to make their way through life just like you. Secondly, your Pastor is also a fellow “regular” Christian (no super Christian), someone trying to follow Christ j...
We are currently going through Senate Confirmation Hearings for a Supreme Court Nominee. In recent decades this questioning has often focused on the candidate’s view of privacy. This was a veiled (recently, not so veiled) way to ask the candidate about their views on hot-button issues. One of the effects of this activity on the national stage is that as Americans we become increasingly more protective of private matters in our lives—areas in which we believe no one or no entity has a right to intervene. This is a thought that I fully und...
Especially after the loss of a loved one, our thoughts are often directed to the brevity of life here on earth. As I advance in age, time seems to rush by faster & faster each year. Surely, we all need to be very aware that are days are numbered here in this temporary existence. And, Christians should most assuredly fix their eyes toward Heaven and hold fast to God’s promise that after we depart this earth, we will live eternally in Heaven with our Savior Jesus Christ. In the beginning when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, sin then filled the w...
By and large, humans are innately self-centered. We are consumed with the pursuit of pleasing ourselves, doing what we want and getting what we want. So often our priority in life is SELF-LOVE. We are self-focused, self-indulgent, self-centered, self-absorbed, self-important, self-promoting, etc. Our perspective is inward, and we exude a single-mindedness toward self-satisfaction. Let’s face it, even if we don’t say it out loud, we all generally think “life revolves around me!” With the explosion of technology and social media, particularly wit...
