Why Do Bad Things Happen To Me?

When I was younger, I didn’t understand these verses. I waited and waited and waited for God. At last he looked; finally he listened. He lifted me out of the ditch, pulled me from deep mud. He stood me up on a solid rock to make sure I wouldn’t slip. He taught me how to sing the latest God-song, a praise-song to our God. More and more people are seeing this: they enter the mystery, abandoning themselves to . . . Read More »

God’s Offer: Forgiveness, Grace, Righteouness

I have three questions for you to begin today. Question 1: Have you experienced God’s forgiveness?  That means you lived with guilt and shame because you knew you had sin in your life, and you couldn’t do anything to get rid of it.  That guilt and shame seemed to stick to you like cement boots.  They wore you out.  Then you prayed and asked God to forgive you and you felt God forgive you.  The cement boots were shattered.  . . . Read More »

The Tensions Between The Church and The World Has Reached The Tipping Point

Here in 2023, we have started an important conversation, all centering around a very popular question in today’s world.  What is the point of church?  This is an important question, and we have been learning just how essential the church is, how we should view it, how God views it, and just how critical the church is to our Spiritual development, and to the community around us who don’t have the same eternal destiny of those inside the . . . Read More »

Engage Bob, Engage! Do Something!

As a family we watched great movies as the girls grew up.  To name a few, Barbie [not the greatest for me], Minions, Megamind, Star Wars, the Marvel movies, and the Incredibles.  One scene in the Incredibles, we still joke about.  It’s the scene where the family is at dinner.  Dad was in his office and completely disconnected from the family.  The kids were at the table and started fighting as the mom tried to get them to . . . Read More »

How Religion Will Steal Your Courage

When our girls were in elementary school, it was a great time for them.  Great school, great teachers.   The girls were always happy to go to school and always happy to come home.  Then they hit third and fourth grade.  That’s when everything began to change.  Now, they had homework.  They would bring home a work sheet to fill out.  It seemed overwhelming for them.  And some nights, they spent more time being frustrated about the worksheet than . . . Read More »

Unapologetic and Ferocious Courage

Why can’t we fully experience God’s grace?  Because we make our sin and failure a bigger deal than God’s grace.  And until we make God’s grace a bigger deal than our sin and failure, we will struggle to fully experience God’s grace.   This is important because experiencing God’s grace is the foundation to being redeemed and forgiven.  That was Sam’s point last week and it was so well done. Let’s get practical.  There are basically two parts to . . . Read More »

For Freedom, You Must Face A Battle

Have you ever seen the movie ‘Groundhog Day’?  It’s an older movie where a TV weatherman name Phil wakes up every day to the exact same day, over and over and over.  He keeps looping and can’t get out of it.  It drives him a little crazy. Do you feel like that?  Do you feel like you are looping in life?  Every day is like the last one.  Same fears.  Same insecurities.  Same complaints.  Same financial struggles.  And . . . Read More »