The house I grew up in was beautiful in the fall. A maple tree twice its height would be ablaze with the colors of autumn right out front. Pumpkins adorned the steps that led to the front door, which often had cornstalks propped up next to it and ...

Praise him, sun and moon,praise him, all you shining stars!Praise him, you highest heavens,and you waters above the heavens!Let them praise the name of the Lord!For he commanded ...

Have you ever wondered where your teenager came from? No, I do not mean that the way you think I do. I mean literally, do you know where this whole idea of teenager came from? The concept of the “teen years” is a rather recent social invention...

I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior.Hosea 13:4 Hymn Story This new hymn was written collaboratively by members ...

I am super excited about the topic for our upcoming Transform Conference! Dr. Stuart Scott is going to help us all develop a better understanding of what God’s will is, and how we are to seek to live it out faithfully. Here is my attempt to give...

He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! - Revelation 22:20 Hymn Story The authorship of this hymn is unknown, as it was originally published without a title page...

People go public about a lot of things. Have you seen posts on social media of an engagement, a baby gender reveal for an expecting couple, or a new job? Baptism is exponentially more exciting and more important than any of those things. There is ...

I believe, help my unbelief! - Mark 9:24 Hymn Story The Apostle's Creed is one of the oldest existing confessional statements of the Christian faith, dating back to the 2nd century. The word "creed" comes f...

We have officially begun our 2019-20 fiscal year at Faith Bible Church! This may sound weird to some, but finances excite my heart—especially when we are discussing the finances of the church, because I am always excited to see how God ...

"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come!" - Revelation 4:8 Hymn Story Reginald Heber was an ardent missionary and hymn-writer during the early 19th century. He wanted to compi...

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD! - Psalm 150:6 Hymn Story The words to this hymn were written in 1674 by an Anglican Bishop named Thomas Ken. These particular lyrics were original...

Thus says the LORD: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” (Jeremiah 6:16)...

I learned a couple lessons from golf this year. And I don’t think I’m the first one to learn these sorts of life lessons from the very difficult game. But perhaps the application I’ve thought through has some distinctiveness to it. Now, I ad...

We are a caffeinated and competent people, with no shortage of things to go and do. There always seems to be another problem to conquer, a new technology to employ, a new mindset to engage. We are good at fixing problems and we like it that w...

There are certain books that come along every so often that serve as a knife to the soul and Evangelism as Exiles: Life on Mission as Strangers in our Own Land is one of those books. Not the knife that injures but as a needed scalpel in t...

Alexander just showed up! He had seen a flyer posted in the hallway of his apartment complex about a Bible conference at a nearby evangelical church. The theme attracted his attention—the family! He knew all too well the mess of his marriage, an...

While drinking coffee at Siam Mall with Alcides (missionary pastor in the Adeje church) on our recent visit to Tenerife, he asked me to share any life advice with the two youth who accompanied him. I responded, “persevere!” I saw the ...

Quitting is relatively easy! You just quit! You just walk away! Persevering is significantly more difficult! You must continue! You must keep going! The author of the Bible book called Hebrews knew of this probability of drifting away. He ...

“Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have...

When the wind storm tore up our artificial grass in Tenerife and laid it over the wall, it also took our neighbor’s metal outdoor furniture and threw it onto our driveway. We had not met these neighbors before, but this act of God’s providence...

In the temple courtyard, a group of musicians and singers perform a loud and bizarre song. Some patron has paid for them to come and entertain the goddess this morning, hoping to influence her for a desired outcome. Two of the worshippers, an old ...

“God made Israel to put His character on display to the nations.” That was one of the repeated themes of Dr. Michael Grisanti as he lead our tour of Israel. God has always had a plan to save helpless sinners from all the nations. Since Israel ...

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has co...

All of us love to be the guest of someone who has received us into their home and is treating us like family. We delight in delicious food, friendly conversation and the joy of knowing and being known by others. Throughout history being r...

Folks involved in cross cultural ministry seem to love acronyms. I’ve heard creative ones put an entire sentence together with just verbs and acronyms. But the goal isn’t to have secret codes that others can’t understand. It’s really to sh...

I often hear people refer to themselves or others as having “an addictive personality.” Some people do seem to have a stronger propensity than others for getting “hooked” on certain behaviors. That propensity exists in everyone to some deg...

I have pretty fond memories of the first time I took my son Nate to a Nashville Predators game (despite the fact that we lost that night). I had been a season ticket holder for several years, and always loved seeing families enjoying the games tog...

When someone asks you to tell your personal life story it is always difficult to know where to start and what information to include. There is a mountain of innumerable detail that makes my story unique from yours and your story unique from mine. ...

This morning’s message focuses on the role we as individual worshipers play during our corporate worship gatherings, but I wanted to also take some time to see how we can apply what we’ve been learning about biblical worship to our lives outsi...

What do you do when you are in a trial? Do you pray to God, but answers don’t come? Does God seem distant and you feel alone? Do verses like; “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.” (Isaiah...

I recently read a book called The Art of Aging that I think addresses some very important topics relevant to every Christian family. The auth...

From the opening pages of the Bible to its close, we see the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) making a dearly loved people for himself. They will live, love, and reign with him in perfect peace forever. To do this He must equally destroy...

Palm fronds rustled in the breeze. Dust swirled up from the dirt road as people flung down their coats to make a carpet. An air of expectancy hung around everyone as they strained to be the first to see their visitor. And then came the ho...

The whale swims in the ocean because the ocean is big enough, not because the whale thinks its a good idea. This is the Proverbs. The Proverbs give us the way life is. Surely you may find instruction in the Proverbs in the same way an infant whale...

No doubt, reading your Bible is an endeavor in and of itself. Often, I find myself defaulting to Paul’s letters or other “more direct” teaching in the New Testament to fuel my soul. However, in doing so I often lose sight of the broader narr...

Looking Back in Thankfulness Like winter itself (we hope), another Winter Camp has come and gone. Here are just a few of the signs of God’s Spirit at work for which we can be thankful. We can be thank...

Jesus commanded us to make disciples of all the nations in Matthew 28:18-20. In Acts 1:8 he said “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to t...

You might be at least somewhat intrigued by the title: The gospel to Christians. The hope of this article is to communicate the truth that our greatest need in the Christian life is to see “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Ou...

In his article Sound Theology: Teaching Your People Through Music, Bob Smietana interviews Keith Getty about the import...

I grew up in a home that was nominally and hypocritically religious, but decidedly non-Christian. Raised to believe that the Bible was God’s word, I never remember a time in my life when I questioned that fact. There was a large Free Methodist U...