The loss of our Marines, Army soldiers, and a Navy Corpsman in Afghanistan hits hard. I remember the day we lost two Marines in the early days of Operation Iraqi Freedom. We had only been in-country a couple of days. Encamped near a tributary of the Euphrates River, our Marines...
While in seminary, we had a prayer journal that was developed by the ministry of Dr. Howard Hendricks. We have a VBC prayer journal available to all that was patterned after this now out-of-print prayer tool. It was invaluable to us because, by it, we learned to pray daily and...
If Jesus prayed for unity among all His followers, why do we sometimes have disunity? To be sure, all of us have had either a severely damaged or broken relationship with another Christian. Does that mean Jesus’ prayer was unanswered? In John 17, Jesus prayed that all who would believe...
In his book, The Wonder of the Word of God, Robert Sumner tells the story of a man in Kansas City who was severely injured in an explosion. He lost his eyesight and both hands. As a new Christian, he was disappointed that He would no longer be able to read the...
It is an overused cliché in many period war movies, but it manages to be inspiring enough to endure common reuse. “Hold the line!” barks the military commander as weary soldiers stand shoulder to shoulder and the tenacious enemy surges forward. In the ancient world, holding the line was survival....
Many years ago, a friend told me an extraordinary story about her father. He lived in a small town in central Idaho. My friend and her three sons were visiting him on a warm summer day. One of her sons happened to be outside his grandfather’s bedroom window and could...
Let’s face it, the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives is incredibly fantastic but somewhat mysterious at the same time. Because of the element of mystery, many writers have portrayed the ministry of the Spirit as a “secret.” It’s not uncommon to see such titles as “Unlocking the...
As I was pastoring in the 1990s, the first hate crime laws were enacted in the United States. There was a great deal of controversy at the time about whether assigning motive made a crime any worse. It’s still controversial. I am not a prophet, but I remember predicting in...
Just over a year ago I referenced a sermon in an Afterthoughts article that I would like to revisit again. It is written by Timothy Dwight who, as you may recall, was the grandson of Jonathan Edwards and whose father fought in the Revolutionary War. You can immediately tell Dwight...
One of the nights I simultaneously anticipate and dread as a youth pastor is our Senior Appreciation Dinner. It is an evening of formal attire, glorious feasting, square dancing, and the giving of books and a charge to each graduating senior in our High School ministry. Looking at the faces...
The call to be a shepherd of God's flock is both weighty and wonderful. This past Sunday, we welcomed Caleb Klontz to the Valley Bible Church elder team. It was a momentous occasion, for we recognize elders only as God has chosen them for this church family (Acts 20:28). But...
The principle couldn’t be simpler. “If you love me,” says Jesus, “you will keep my commandments.” On Sunday we spent a good bit of time looking at the connection between obedience and love. Something we didn’t have time to look at, however, was the fascinating relationship between the obedience of...
"I have so much to do that I must spend the first three hours of each day in prayer.” —Martin Luther It’s astonishing to consider that Martin Luther would spend three hours a day in prayer, especially on his busiest days. For most of us, a busy day would mean...
What is the difference between Christ and “Cancel Culture?” Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the truth.” Jesus is the embodiment of the truth, the source of all truth, and the standard by which all truth is measured. However, we live in a cancel culture that has determined its...
The following is a series of questions and answers taken from the Heidelberg Catechism that reflect on the Bible’s teaching about the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. If you have no other tradition in place, this may be a helpful guide for personal or family reflection beginning on...
“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)” begins this way. Is it possible to count the ways in which God loves us, or we love one another? Yes, in a sense. How does God love us? The...
Have you ever experienced exceptional customer service from a business? If so, why was it exceptional? Was it because your problem was solved, your question was answered, or your appliance was fixed? I suggest that there's more to "exceptional" customer service than just having your problem or complaint solved. For...
Have you ever felt the shame of missing an opportunity to speak on behalf of Jesus? Perhaps you were in a situation when someone said something derogatory about the Christian faith, or something that was wholly inaccurate about salvation, or denigrated those who follow Christ. At that moment, though troubled...
“Now judgment is upon this world,” declared Jesus in our passage this Sunday. It isn’t a new theme in the Gospel of John. Nineteen verses in this short book take up the theme of judgment on the world. Such a pattern indicates that it is an important topic, and one...
“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies,” taught Jesus, “it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24) Few ideas are as provocative and widely applicable as this one. To live in a fallen world is to live with the reality that...