Walking Through the Fire

  I've left this post up for posterity. This was my first attempt to start blogging my senior pastor journey. Be kind 😀 Th e Kingdom of God is the sphere in which what God says goes. It is where everything meets with God’s approval and delight. Jesus wanted to bring this realm, the Kingdom of God, into our realm. Jesus modeled the Kingdom so that all we have to do is take a look at Jesus and how he lived to find out what this kingdom is all about. Jesus’ good news, his gospel, was not, “Here are the minimum entrance requirements to get into heaven...” his good news is that living in God’s kingdom is available to you and to me right here and now. Jesus believed that people would do anything to be a part of the kingdom of God once they figured out what it was. To illustrate this, he told stories about it, earthly stories that people in his time might understand. In Matthew 13 is just such a story. Jesus said the Kingdom of God is like a man who found a treasure in a field. In his ex...

I've left this post up for posterity. This was my first attempt to start blogging my senior pastor journey. Be kind 😀 I can remember driving down the highway in that old ’84 red Ford Grenada station wagon. My sister and I were in the back seat and I was tired of her messing with me. “OK,” I said, “See this imaginary line right here?” I drew a line with my hand down the middle of the back seat. “You cannot cross this line.” “That side is yours and this is mine.” Most of you have been there at some time or other. Eventually negotiations break down and one or the other side crosses the line and gets real close, but then starts to say, “I’m not touching you...I’m not touching you.” You see, we all have our own kingdom. It is our sphere of influence, the place where what we say goes. As children driving down the road sitting in that back seat, our sphere was pretty small. Eventually, mom or dad gets tired of the whole deal and says, “This is my kingdom and I will stop this car right no...

I've left this post up for posterity. This was my first attempt to start blogging my senior pastor journey. Be kind 😀 I recently recorded some 2 minute devotions at the local radio station for a segment they produce called "Look up and Live." They play them every morning between 6-6.30 here in Big Spring (The call letters are KBST if you want to look them up on the web and try to catch one, pretty early though). The things I talked about have been pretty heavy on me, so I thought I would put them here in print also. I'm very interested to see what everyone thinks. The word “gospel” literally means good news. That is why when you ask most people what the gospel message is they tell you it is that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. This surely is good news for us! As I was reading through the gospel of John a while back, I began to notice that Jesus often refers to “good news.” I became intrigued. What is the “good news” or “gospel” that Jesus spoke about so often?...