The Good News of a New Beginning

Good Seed Among Thorns

The Sower the Seed and the Soil

Good Seed on Stony Places

Jesus' Invitation To The Exhausted

  Which element of prayer is harder to practice? Confession? Or thanksgiving? This would seem to be an easy question to answer. The confession of sin is obviously more difficult than the offering of thanksgiving, right? Not necessarily. Pride makes our flesh resist both elements. A proud heart cannot admit in confession, “I did it.” A proud heart cannot acknowledge with thanksgiving, “I didn’t do it. God did!” For that matter, pride makes adoration, supplication, intercession difficult to practice, as well. A godly heart is filled with perpetual thanksgiving. It is not merely a national holiday. For the humble spirit that knows...

Disappointment with God

“So, how did you get from Los Angeles to Jacksonville?” I am regularly asked this question. I give the same answer each time: “The Lord dragged me to Jacksonville kicking and screaming.” This is no dig at Jacksonville or the church I serve. It is an honest statement about how my pastoral transition to Jacksonville took place in 2008. I was born and raised in Los Angeles. In a real sense, I was born and raised in a local church there. My father pastored the congregation for 40 years. More than a year after his death, I was selected to...

  I was a preacher’s kid. My father was the pastor of the church. My mother was the Minister of Music. Both made a tremendous impact on my life, faith, and ministry. My father taught me the scriptures. My mother taught me the songs of the church. I have always had a passion to sing. But I downplayed it most of the years. I was called to preach. And my father spoke negatively against “singing preachers.” He assumed that preachers sing when they don’t have anything to say. But my mother consistently encouraged me to pursue music. Throughout my two...

A Church Where People Matter

The Lord’s Warning to Spiritual Counterfeits

[embed]http:/https://vimeo.com/294805885[/embed]