Category Archives: The Gospel

Should I Make My Child Go To Church?

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Genesis 19-21

Lot didn’t leave Sodom willingly. He hesitated, so the angels took him by the hand and led him, his wife, and daughters out of the city about to be destroyed by God. Why the hesitation? Did they doubt the seriousness of the angels’ message? Did they doubt these men were really even angels? Were they so intrenched in this sinful lifestyle of Sodom they didn’t want to let go of it? Or maybe they thought, “it can’t be that bad. I can handle whatever comes?”

Whatever the reason for the hesitation, it’s evident that Lot and his family took their sin with them when they were forced to leave Sodom. They’d heard the truth. They knew judgment was coming. They left, albeit reluctantly. But they didn’t repent. They changed their address, but they didn’t change their hearts.

I think there are some parents who might feel like those angels every Sunday morning when they have to take their hesitant (or even rebellious) children by the hand and drag them to church. Sometimes they might wonder if it’s worth it.

It’s worth it.

First let me say good for you for fighting that battle every week. Don’t give in. Don’t let your kids “decide” for themselves. Be the parent. No one said it was going to be easy. Keep battling. Their eternal souls are worth it. It’s your responsibility to train them up in the way they should go.

But I must warn you, even though you probably already know the truth of it. Simply getting your children to church doesn’t guarantee their salvation. Along with attending church, you’ve got to pray that God would break through their resistance until they humble themselves and believe, until they turn from their sin and follow Jesus willingly themselves.

I pray that you are modeling what it means to be a Christian, and not just on Sundays. I pray your children recognize the Fruit of the Spirit in you – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. I pray they see you reading your Bible, hear you talking about it, and watching how you choose holiness.

I pray that when you fail, when you sin, they’ll see what it means to humble yourself, repent, ask for forgiveness, and/or forgive another.

So if your question is “should I make my kid go to church?” I would say the answer is, “yes.” (Ok. Not just any church. A Bible believing, truth teaching fellowship of faith. Please be careful). And only if you go to church with them.

Dear One, there is more to raising Christian children than getting them to church. Let’s learn from Lot’s experience and take it a step or two further than getting them through the doors (or out of the “city”). Be the Christian you want your children to be.

I’m praying for you.

___________________________

Ok, so yesterday after posting this I was scrolling through Instagram and heard a young preacher talking about this exact topic. They, of course, take their children to church every Sunday. But he and his wife take it a step further. They want their children not only learn about going to church, they want their children to learn to BE THE CHURCH.

Which reminded me a family with three boys who are members of our church. Our church has a Wednesday night family dinner before Bible Study and youth activities. Every Wednesday we get together and enjoy a meal together. Sometimes 50, sometimes 80 family members strong. It really is a special church family time.

But here’s what made me think about this family. The parents prompted the boys to go around to those who are finished with their meals and offer to take their empty plates to the trash. These boys all under 10 years old, clear the tables of the trash, put silverware in the tray for cleaning. These boys are learning to be servants and I will tell you they do it with smiles on their faces.

So yes, take your children to church on Sunday. But I would encourage you to not leave it there. Show them what it means to be the Church. I think that is one way you can teach them in the way they should go, to make going to church more than a habit, so that when they are older they will not depart from it. They are the future Church!

Choose Light

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Genesis 4-7

I love that when God inspired the written Word He brought receipts. Here listed are names of real people who lived on earth in real time. Here are the details of a world-wide flood the fact of which is still being discovered by scientists today. Here is revealed the heart of God who loves and blesses His creation, but who will not let the guilty go unpunished. Here is the God who will have the last word.

And here is the God who promised the Savior, who provides the ark, who shelters His children, and defeats death.

We don’t like to talk about absolutes these days, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. There is good and there is evil. There is blessing and there is judgment. There is life and there is death. There is black and there is white.

Some people don’t want to believe in the Biblical account of the flood. They say things like it’s a parable, fiction, a nice story to teach a moral lesson. Others of us believe every word to be true, down to the smallest detail, that Noah was a real man with real sons who built a real ark that saved them from a really BIG flood.

I’ve heard it said that atheists believe Christianity is a fable made up by people who are afraid of the dark. Christians know that atheism is a fable made up by people afraid of the light.

There is dark and there is light.

I’m going to be reading through the Bible again this year. Our church is going cover to cover together, and I hope you’ll join us. Let’s read every word, learn every lesson, grow in grace and knowledge as we look at this precious Book every single day of 2026.

Whether or not you are a believer, I challenge you to open up a Bible and let God reveal the light. Then, I pray we will all…

choose the light!

The “Why?”

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Luke 1-24

Since the beginning of December I’ve been reading one of the twenty-four chapters in Luke’s Gospel each day. Yesterday I read about the empty tomb, the proof of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, and the fact He visibly went back to heaven. I’ve loved being reminded that, although His birth is something to celebrate, Jesus didn’t stay in that manger. He grew up and lived a very real – and extraordinary – life with purpose. All of it from the manger to the cross happened so Jesus could take care of our sin problem.

And we’ve all got a sin problem. The bottom line is your sin and mine separate us from a God who loves us and longs to have us near Him. We can’t declare ourselves sin-less, and death is the just payment for sin. If we die in our sin, we are separated from God forever. It took God becoming a man and dying in our place.

Debt paid.

So this year, as you look at the Baby in the manger, as you say, “Merry CHRISTmas,” and sing “Silent Night,” I hope you’ll see past the presents and lights and laughter and family dinners, and stop and consider the ‘why” of it all.

Friend, YOU are the “Why.”

I hope you receive many gifts today from people you love, gifts that will warm your heart and bring you joy. But if you haven’t received the gift of God’s grace, the full payment for your sin, please do it today.

Jesus, in John 3:16 tells us God loved you so much He sent Jesus so that if you believe, you will have eternal life with God – the gift Jesus died to give you. If you pray, “God I believe that Jesus was born, lived a perfect life so He could be the perfect payment for my sin when He died on the cross, and that He rose from the dead”…you will be saved. Take your sin, lay them at the foot of the cross, let God exchange your sin for His righteousness, and I promise you will receive the most extraordinary gift of your lifetime.

Yes, dear one. YOU are the “Why” of Christmas.

I’d Do Anything…

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Luke 22

This is why Jesus put on humanity. The baby we celebrate this week wasn’t born only for love. He was born because God hates the sin that separates us from Him.

All of us have lost loved ones, either through death, difficult circumstances, or by someone’s choice to walk away. Have you ever thought, “I’d give anything to have him or her back?” God feels your pain!

God gave everything to have us back. We are the loved ones lost because of our sin. We are the loved ones He put on flesh and died for. Had He not become a human, born that day in Bethlehem, had he not lived a perfect life, and died a more horrible death than our minds can comprehend, we would have no hope of ever being with Holy God. No hope. We would die separated from God, and live forever separated from Him. You don’t want to go there!

When you sinned, and God watched you walk further and further away from His Holy Presence, He thought, “I’d do anything to get her back.”

And He did.

Are You Talking To Me?

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1 Timothy 6:20-21

Paul ends this letter to Timothy with a warning I think too many Christians don’t think applies to them. And I believe the Church is seeing a negative effect as a result.

Paul says to guard your heart because if you don’t, you are in danger of walking away from the faith. He doesn’t say guard your heart because if you don’t, that means you were never really saved in the first place. He doesn’t say guard your heart because if you don’t, you won’t have an effective testimony.

Some translations say Paul begins verse 20 with the words, “Oh, Timothy.” Don’t you get loving Father vibes from that? Isn’t this the voice of someone who dearly loves and is pleading with his loved one to hang on, make good choices, be careful because the one who loves sees danger ahead? Even if verse 20 in your translations simply says, “Timothy” you can hear Paul’s love for and concern for young Timothy throughout the letter.

Here’s the thing. If Timothy was in no danger of wandering or walking away from the faith, there would be no reason for Paul to say anything. There is clearly a warning concerning a very real danger. For Paul to end his letter this way tells me this is urgent

I say the Church is seeing the negative effect of Christians not heeding this warning because of the false teaching that has infiltrated our ranks and is being accepted as truth. Too many Christians seem to think that because they are saved, God won’t let them go no matter what they do, or believe. So they accept the “godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge” and don’t consider the consequences. They not only do not guard their hearts, they freely give their hearts to the lies.

We Christians, you and I, need to guard our hearts. How? Read the Bible. Do a word search and find all the verses that use the word you choose. Faith? Truth? Repentance? Sin? Hell? Money? Tolerance? Do you know for yourself what the Bible says about these things?

Find a Bible believing church and hold your pastor and teachers accountable for what they say. Ask questions. Research for yourself. Guard your heart.

Turn off the religious channels on your TV. I can confidently say there is more false teaching than truth there. Guard your heart.

Stop spending more time reading about the Bible than you do opening the pages of God’s Word and devouring it for yourself. It’s not up to an author to guard your heart. Guard your own heart.

Quit thinking God forgives all your sin because one day years ago you accepted Jesus as your Savior. Friend, it is true God forgives your sin… if you confess. You ought to be confessing and repenting every time God brings to mind a sin you are committing in the present. Don’t assume He turns a blind eye to any sin. Guard your heart.

I will say this: if Timothy, the young preacher entrusted with overseeing the Church, the spiritual son of Paul needed to guard his heart, I most certainly need to guard mine. I ought to be reading these verses and ask God, “Are you talking to me?”

Do you honestly think He would reply, “No. You’re the exception?”

All the Riches of God

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1 Timothy 6:17-19

I read a devotional by AW Tozer every morning, and today he reminded me I have a right to claim all the riches of the God-head, “in mercy given.” Jesus spoke about riches. Paul warns us about riches. Their message is clear: we have got to stop equating God’s riches with things that moths and rust destroy, and things that can be lost or stolen. (Matthew 6:19-20). God’s riches are NOT financial or material in any way. They are so much more!

Jesus said in Matthew 6:21 “Where your treasure is, there your heart is also.”

This time of year the phrase, “what do you want for Christmas?” is the theme of the day. Sometimes you don’t even have to ask a person what they want. Wives buy what they want and slap their husband’s name on it. Kids don’t have to be asked. They WANT you to know. Some people have ongoing wish lists on Amazon so you get them exactly what they want.

And some people approach God with the same bravado. I want. I want. I deserve.

Dear one, we have a treasure more precious, more intimate, more personal than any beautifully wrapped gift under the Christmas tree. And sadly, it’s the gift most ignored.

Recently a house in our area sold for $30 million. One house. $30,000,000.00! What if the guy bought it with the intention of giving it to his wife for Christmas this year? We’d say that would be an extravagant gesture of love. But hear me when I say, that generous gift would be worthless when the owner steps from this life into eternity, no matter how much love was attached to it.

Worthless.

Listen to Tozer describe a gift much more generous, a truly extravagant gesture of love:

“What a blessed thought – that an infinite God can give all of Himself to each of His children! He does not distribute Himself that each may have a part, but to each one He gives ALL of Himself as fully as if there were no others.” (emphasis mine)

Can you imagine? God gives ALL of Himself to anyone who receives Him. The God of the Universe, Holy God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the wealth in every mine, the One who punished Himself without mercy so that I, so that you, can be forgiven. I have 100% of His love and attention 100% of the time. And so do you if you believe. I can’t explain how. But I know it’s true.

And that’s the gift that’s worth everything. That’s the only gift I will take with me when my life on earth is ended. That’s the gift that will usher me into heaven and a glorious union with God forever.

If you’ve never surrendered to God and received this incredible gift, do it. God wants to give you Himself, all the riches of the God-head wrapped up in the baby in the manger and in the perfect sacrifice on the cross for your salvation. He is the gift of light in this dark world, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and He is yours for the taking. All of Him!

Don’t let another day go buy with that unopened gift at your fingertips. Receive it. It will change your life in ways you can only imagine.

And if you are already a child of God through the blood of Jesus, check your heart. Even we can get distracted, especially this time of year. Remember where your treasure is, that’s where you heart is.

Thank you, God for the extravagant gift of Yourself! My mind can’t fathom the richness of it, but my heart accepts it with all the love I can give back to you.

Godliness

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1 Timothy 3:14-16

Who is the most godly person you know? What qualities do you see that point to godliness in him or her?

I think of one of the ladies in my Sunday School class. She’s a woman grounded in the truth of Scripture. She is a prayer warrior. She has a quiet strength. She is refined, self-controlled, compassionate, kind, joyful, humble, faithful, wise, and generous. She has a servant’s heart and doesn’t seek recognition for the things she does. She feeds the hurting and ill people in our family of faith, sends cards and flowers, makes telephone calls, stays connected with many who have moved away. And most of the time her deeds are known only between her and the one who receives the blessing from her. Check out Proverbs 31. You might see her there.

This dear lady looks very much like Christ in her. She’s probably not perfect, although I can’t see a whole lot of imperfection. Godliness is not perfection. At least not yet.

But if Christ is in us, His character ought to be recognizable in us, too. My friend is still growing, still learning, still pursuing God as she loves and serves Him. I think that’s what Paul is recommending for Timothy (and us) here in these verses.

Take a good look at Jesus, then strive to be like Him, press on toward that goal, it’s not you or I who live but Christ living in and through us. Let our conduct in our homes, in our churches, our neighborhoods be a result of deep-seated loyalty and devotion to our Lord.

I pray that you are the most godly person in someone’s life. If not today, then soon as you grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus, as you submit daily to Him, and allow His Spirit to bear fruit in your life.

He deserves that.

May you be blessed and a blessing today.

If Not You

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1 Timothy 1:3-11

Paul left Timothy in Ephesus and gave him the responsibility of guarding the truth against false doctrine and those who were teaching it. Makes me wonder who is guarding the truth today. Or are the things Paul warned Timothy about not applicable in 2025?

The thing is, I don’t think false doctrine is a result of evil men sitting around a table in a dark, smoke-filled room with Satan, coming up with strategies to derail the Gospel. I think it generally comes from good men wanting the Gospel to be inviting, fun, attractive, and accepted by all. What could be wrong in that, right?

I think these are probably praying men, but not listening men. They may tell God what they’re going to do for Him, without hearing what He wants from them. They use Scripture, but they don’t understand it.

The Church has used “church-speak” for so long the words have taken on false meaning without us realizing it.

“God is love,” has come to mean God accepts everyone.

“Don’t judge,” means what is right for me doesn’t have to be right for you.

“Enter his court with praise,” means worship ought to be fun, our demonstration equal to that of a football fan at the Super Bowl, an experience that leaves us with a euphoric, spiritual high.

Do you recognize the subtle falseness that renders such doctrine fruitless? How can we recognize the counterfeit? By studying the real thing. Our time in the Bible ought to exceed our time listening to sermons, reading commentaries and religious literature.

Bank tellers learn to recognize counterfeit bills, not by studying the counterfeit, but by studying the real thing so that they can recognize ANY deviation.

Do you want to guard the truth? Read your Bible. Read it again. Read it often. Memorize it. Think on it. Let it become so real to you that you can recognize ANY deviation.

Then what? Is it enough for you to know the truth? If we are to guard the truth we need to speak up. Question. Point out errors. Hold each other accountable for what we believe and say.

If not you – who?

It’s Not Your Choice

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Ruth 1:6-14

I’m doing something a bit different in my personal devotional time. I started looking at the book of Ruth as I read “The Girl’s Still Got It” by Liz Curtis Higgs. (WaterBrook Press, 2012). I think she’s a good writer, clever and amusing. She’s encouraged me to slow down as I read this part of God’s Word, and take a look at my walk with the Lord. Yesterday it was a question I had to ask myself about where I turn for answers when trouble comes. Higgs also challenged me to consider who I am in good times as well as in bad. It was a good first day in the book of Ruth.

But I think those of us who fancy ourselves writers need to be careful not to interject our own bias and/or hangups into our interpretation of Scripture. I’m sure I’ve been guilty of that, and will try to do better in the future. I want Scripture to speak for itself and not assume I know what’s going on behind the scene.

That being said, I whole-heartedly disagree with Mrs. Higg’s reasoning behind Naomi’s seemingly change of heart. From what I read in these verses, there is nothing to indicate she was afraid of the reception she’d receive upon return to Canaan with two Moabite daughters-in-law in tow. I don’t see that she was a menopausal emotional basket case. In fact, I see nothing of a self-serving motive for why Naomi seems to suddenly do an about-face.

The only thing we know for sure is that three women started out on a journey. Naomi stops and offers the younger women a chance to decide for themselves whether or not they will continue. I see selfless love in Naomi’s words, and I see a lesson all parents must learn.

You know that your decision to follow Jesus was a personal decision you had to make. The same is true for your children. We bring up those precious ones in the way they should go. We take them to church, pray before meals, talk with them about right and wrong, about Jesus and their need for the Savior.

You can take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.

And you know that.

Naomi chose to leave her life of sin and embrace the one True God. She brought her daughters-in-law as far as she could, but there came the time she had to let them choose for themselves. I see a loving mother setting her children free, knowing she couldn’t force them to choose her God or follow her path.

Some of you have experienced the heartache of watching a child walk away, turning a back on God and embracing a life of sin. Is that what Naomi felt as she watched Orpah walk away?

Some of you – I pray most of you – have known the joy of watching a child turn from sin, choose to embrace the God you love, and walk with you in relationship with the Savior. I think that’s what Naomi felt when Ruth clung to her.

Parents, you have the awesome responsibility to teach, to demonstrate, to model what it means to be saved by grace, and to walk with Jesus. Don’t take that lightly because the window for this ministry is fast closing. Your kids are growing up and learning to make decisions for themselves – right or wrong. Help them learn the blessings that come from choosing right, and the painful consequences for choosing the wrong.

As much as you’d like it to be different, their decision to follow Christ is their’s alone. I think Naomi wanted both her daughters-in-law to choose her God. (my opinion. Scripture isn’t clear about that). I think you want your children to choose your God, too.

But in the end, it’s not your choice.

Keep teaching. Keep praying. Keep following the Lord loud and strong. Keep loving. And keep hoping that one day they will choose to turn from sin and follow God. Keep believing that God’s Word doesn’t return void.

I’m praying for you.

Pursuing God’s Heart

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2 Samuel

Does it ever make you wonder how David, the adulterous murderer, could be considered a man after God’s own heart? What’s up with that? Seems to me those are opposite character traits.

In her study book entitled, “Seamless” (Lifeway; 2018; p. 99), Angie Smith said something that hit home for me today. She writes:

“David wasn’t a man after God’s own heart because David didn’t sin. He was a man after God’s own heart because he kept coming back to God.”

David kept pursuing God’s heart even after falling repeatedly. I can’t think of anything that’s more encouraging to me in my walk with the Lord right now.

I sin. Sometimes I fall into a familiar sin I’ve confessed before. Then I get down on myself. “How can I go to God and ask Him to forgive the same sin for the umpteenth time? Why would He want to?”

Well, because that’s WHO He is!

If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9) That’s a picture of unlimited grace for a repentant sinner.

Paul said that he pressed on toward the goal of knowing Christ and becoming more like Jesus. (see Philippians 3:14). He’s not describing a peaceful jog. It’s a grueling marathon, sometimes falling, sometimes weary, sometimes tripped up by obstacles. But at the same time continuing to keep the goal in view, standing up again, allowing God to brush him off and clean him up, then pressing on.

David pursued God’s heart. That’s why, even though he committed some doozie sins, we know him as a man after God’s own heart.

Most of us are not adulterers or murderers. But we are all sinners. The question is, can we be described as men and women after God’s own heart? I pray that is so.

I would encourage all of us to start our day by sincerely praying:

Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me. (Psalm 51:10-12)

Then press on, forgetting what is behind. Today is a new day. Pursue God’s heart.