Blog Archives

In the old days of mining, the miners took a canary bird down with them while they worked. This bird […]

I noticed the other day that my wife has been using the word precious more frequently. I’ve known her for over twelve years, […]

“God is Great God is Good Let us thank him for our food. Amen” When my brother and I were […]

One of my mentors has taught me a great lesson on character. His name is Job. Even though we’ve never met […]

I suppose two mistakes can be made as you ponder Satan’s work in your life. While we can agree his […]

I think we’ve all experienced it before—that sense of timidity and insecurity, feeling like everyone can see it written all […]

Sin brings pleasure, but not satisfaction. It brings ruin, never flourishing. Disobeying God sounds good somewhere in the bowels of […]

This Christmas season, Netflix released a host of holiday movies. One of them, a satirical comedy, is called The First Temptation […]

What was your 2019 like?  Was it a good year or a bad year?  If you had 2019 to live […]

The Christmas song “Mary, Did You Know?” was written by Mark Lowery and Buddy Greene in 1991.  It quickly became a […]

I’ve never understood why Christians are called to be joyful sufferers until recently. Like, I understood the theology, sure. I […]

My name is John and I am a recovering church addict. Those are words that seem inappropriate. After all, church […]

Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, gave us a pathway to happiness called the beatitudes. God blesses those who are […]

The Bible clearly states that God is the creator of all human life. (Find a list of some of those […]

If only my children would be more grateful . . .  As a young mom, I was sure that was […]

We desire the silver platter of biblical literacy – that we might somehow put in the littlest effort yet receive […]

Hard to believe it’s already November, and it doesn’t seem possible, but it’s the month that officially begins the holiday […]

In school you are taught that there are four seasons in every year. However, for the Swart household, there are […]

Neglecting the Bible is nothing new in this world. But what we’re facing today in the West involves proclaiming Christians moving away […]

Video games offer a world for your kids where they are the ones with power. The lure is easy to […]

A father took his family on a vacation to Washington, D.C. so that his two children would have the opportunity […]

Many Christians, while thumbing through their Bibles,  have pondered why Scripture is broken into two, uneven halves. Is one better than the other? […]

If you’ve done much reading through the Gospels, you know that Jesus has a long history of picking the most […]

John 2:1-10 chronologically records the first miracle recorded in the Bible that Jesus performed: Turning water into wine at a […]

One Sunday morning a small boy was sitting by his mother during the morning worship service. Like most small children, […]

I have a love/hate relationship with my morning routine. There are things I absolutely LOVE! There are things I absolutely hate! […]

Why should you study the Bible? It’s old. It’s long. There are a lot of weird names in it. And […]

Sadness wrenched through my heart like a knife stabbing into my chest. A lump swelled in my throat and I […]

Have you ever wished for a “Redo” button? Have you ever had a day that started off so completely on […]

Around 9:00 every night, my dog Duke stares longingly up at the cabinet above my husband’s recliner. He knows exactly […]

At one point in my life, I wanted to be an archeologist. I thought it would be amazing to dig […]

(Originally published March 2016) I haven’t weighed in much on the current political environment. Don’t get me wrong I believe this […]

In an article in the New Yorkermagazine, author Malcolm Gladwell writes that vicious dogs are often not inherently vicious, but are […]

Divorce.  In American society, it has become the norm. In fact, the United States has the sixth highest divorce rate […]

Satan has been sowing seeds of deceit in my family. This is not surprising or unique because Satan is a […]

I make excuses for not reading the Bible every day. And this is coming from a pastor. A formally-trained-in-biblical-theology pastor. […]

It’s too nice of a day to stay indoors! The flowers that the kids and I planted are doing GREAT, […]

by Joyce Parker When I get in a room of other women that I don’t know very well, I’m not immediately uncomfortable. […]

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My wife and I are old school.  We try really hard to teach our three daughters their manners.  We believe […]

“For you, O God, have tested us;     you have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the […]

1 – Because love is patient “Love is patient,” (1 Corinthians 13:4).   Anyone else think “ouch” Yeah, my hand would […]

A SEASON OF GROWTH Time moves quickly from us, never returning. It’s our most valuable, non-replenishable asset. We can make […]

Dear baby, This is Melody, writing to you the night before you are born into this world.  There are a […]

It wasn’t until after my first year of college that I was truly saved.  You’re probably thinking, what does that […]

I hate static.  Not like the kind that makes your clothes cling to you. I’m talking about static on the […]

FOMO (the “fear of missing out”) is a real thing, and it’s more intense than ever. We’re afraid we’ll miss […]

First Timothy 6:6-10 says, ”But godliness with contentment is great gain.For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing […]

My imagination ran wild…What if my friends or the kids got too close to the edge? What would happen then? And how far down was it?

I hate static.  Not like the kind that makes your clothes cling to you.  I’m talking about static on the […]