Glorifying God is an outgrowth of our desires as a believer, and our maturity as a His child. It is our responsibility as His children to learn to stimulate each other to further growth and development. In Philippians 4:9 Paul challenges believers to continue to practice what they have learned, received, heard, and seen in him. This sounds a little arrogant on Paul’s part, but I would suggest that we are each to stimulate one another to a life of godliness. It is in living a life that is pleasing to God that we will find and enjoy the peace that God offers to us. We are reminded in 2 Timothy 2:2 “the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Whether we like it or not, we have a realm of influence. Some have a larger circle than others, but we all need to be aware of the circle. Commit the truth to others, for that truth comes with eternal dividends. Nothing we do has the eternal results that our influence has on others. We do not understand the ripple effect that we are … READ MORE

I remember when my wife had what I thought was a “routine” Dr. appointment. When I came home from work that day, she sat me down and said, “I have something to tell you” She told me that the doctor found a tumor and the “C” word was used in their meeting. That was the last think I expected, and the last word I wanted to hear. She was good with the diagnosis, and I found my head spinning as we considered the consequences. The good news was that they were able to remove the tumor, and all is good today, but that did not change the challenge that the initial diagnosis provided. While God may have different purposes in the trials that we face as His children, one overriding result of all trials is clear: “SUFFERING REFINES PEOPLE’S FAITH.” Genuine faith is indestructible for all eternity, because God values a fire-tested faith. All of us has faith that is mixed with improper attitudes and sinful motives, and those things need to be purged, and our true hearts revealed. The fire of difficulties and suffering tests the genuineness of our faith. If we, as believers, can trust God and rejoice … READ MORE

An essential part of being a follower of Jesus requires bearing fruit for the Lord. God did not save us to sit, sour, and soak, He saved us to walk, worship, and work! I remember a time when I was asked at 12 am on a Sunday morning, to help a fellow whose car was dead in the parking lot of his work. He had neglected it on Friday and Saturday, and wanted to get to church on Sunday morning. He called me as his pastor to assist him in getting it started. I drove to his house, picked him up, and took him back past my house to his place of employment. We pushed his car out of his parking place, hooked up the jumper cables, and I told him to get in and attempt to start the car, to which he looked at me and said, “I forgot to bring my keys!” We unhooked the car, pushed it back into the parking spot, traveled past my house to his, he ran into the house and came back out, we traveled past my house to his car, pushed it out, hooked up the jumper cables and I told him … READ MORE