Our churches are filled with weak, malnourished Christians who claim they want to become spiritually strong but never seem to get there. The reason? They are starving themselves spiritually. The sad thing is, most of them are doing it to themselves. They are spiritual anorexics. Just take a look at the lackadaisical attitude many believers have toward the preaching of God’s Word. Many view preaching as a take it or leave it matter. They don’t view careful listening as an urgent task. If they make it to church, they make it. If they miss, they miss. If the pastor is … Continue reading It’s about desire…

I never liked learning Spanish. I was terrible at it. Still one year while I was in high school my parents sent me on a two week intensive Spanish study tour in the Dominican Republic. Sadly, it didn’t do me much good. At this point of my life, all I’m good for is getting through the Drive Thru at Taco Bell. I know how to say quesidilla, but that’s about it. If a person speaks to me in Spanish, I won’t understand him. I can hear what he is saying, but what he is saying won’t benefit me at all, … Continue reading Meaning matters

You can buy all the diet books you want. You can study them night and day. You can even go so far as to memorize them word for word. But if you are not willing to diet it isn’t going to do you one bit of good. The same is true when it comes to God’s Word. You can read it. You can pray about it. You can go to church and hear it Sunday after Sunday. You can come in for counseling from the Word. You can listen to it on Christian radio. You can talk about it with … Continue reading Willing to Change?

The brutal truth is there are many who do study the Word but don’t profit from it. There are many who are in the Word every day, who can quote the Bible backwards and forwards, know their theology better than John Calvin himself but who are no better for all their study. In fact, they are worse. Jesus talks about people like that. In fact, he was constantly confronting people like that. The religious leaders of his day had spent years studying the sacred writings. Many of them knew the Word better than many of us. The rabbis in Jesus’ … Continue reading Unprofitable Bible Reading…

I love talking about the Bible. I guess you could say I am a fanatic for the Word. There are many different reasons I am so passionate about the Bible. One of the big ones is because I believe the Word of God contains the answer to every spiritual problem you or I will ever face. I agree with one old pastor who once wrote, “As a pastor for over forty years, I have found that nothing equals the power and help of God’s Word in ministering to human necessity. The unique contribution of the Bible in counseling is beyond … Continue reading Does it work?

You show me a professing Christian who isn’t disciplining himself to study God’s Word and I’ll show you a person who is just going through motions of religious activity. People sometimes will say, ‘I just don’t get anything out of worship on Sunday mornings.’ Many times they are not getting anything from Sunday mornings because they are neglecting God’s Word throughout the week. If a person isn’t studying God’s Word throughout the week it’s not surprising they are not excited about worshiping God on Sunday mornings. When you come to worship on Sunday mornings it’s about you expressing your love … Continue reading Neglecting God’s Word Hurts…