God's Faithfulness Endures
People say they don’t like reading the genealogies of Scripture. Reading page after page of “Asa begat Josaphat” doesn’t seem to...
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The Blessing of Not Knowing It All
The mother was waiting for her little girl to get off the bus after her first day at school. When she got off the bus, the mother asked her, "What did you learn today?" The little girl replied, "Nothing, I guess. The teacher said I have to come back tomorrow." Life has a way of bringing us all back again and again to the reality of our own ignorance....
Having Enough
Many years ago Dr. Joseph Parker, a contemporary of C. H. Spurgeon and pastor of the famous City Temple Church, mounted the steps to his pulpit and announced his reading for the morning as Psalm 23. Slowly and distinctly he read, "The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want."...
It Is All Good
I have a friend in ministry who has a wonderful habit of invariably finishing a conversation especially when talking of difficult problems or people with the words, “It is all good.” His words are based on the wonderful promise of Paul in Romans 8:28 where those loved by God are reminded that God is actively working all things in their lives together for their good....
Perfect Timing
Phillips Brooks, the former New England pulpiteer, was known for his calm demeanor. So you can guess the surprise of his associates when they found him pacing up and down the floor of his study like a lion in a cage. One of the friends asked, "What is the trouble, Dr. Brooks?" He abruptly responded, "The trouble is that I am in a hurry, but God isn't."...
Targeted for Assassination
Before entering the ministry, I spent some six years as a reserve police officer in the Royal Ulster Constabulary. At the time, Northern Ireland was dealing with the insurgency of the IRA terrorist organization which was trying to force the British out of Northern Ireland against the will of the majority of its people. As a police officer, I was a target for assassination....
Finding the Right Words to Say
I once read about an Ambassador from Spain to America who did not know the English language very well. In a meeting with an American diplomat they began to engage in some small talk, and so the Ambassador was asked if he had any children....
Spoiled for Choice
Daniel Boone was one of the heroes of the American frontier. It is said that he was once returning from the uncharted forests beyond the Kentucky River, and was asked by a lady if he was ever lost. The famous scout replied, “I cannot say I was ever lost, ma’am, but I was bewildered for three days.”...
Going Forward
Some years back the Readers Digest magazine told the story that when someone suggested that rowing become part of the Clemson University’s athletic program, Athletic Director, Frank Howard, declared...
Work On The Fundamentals
A generation back there was a famous Hollywood actor named Spencer Tracy who starred in such notable flicks as Captain Courageous (1937), Father of the Bride (1950), and The Old Man and the Sea (1958). Most people in that day...
Out Of This World
When David Thoreau, the American writer, was on his deathbed, he was visited by a minister who urged his dying friend to be ready for death. The pastor queried, “Do you know where you are going in the next life?” Thoreau...
Keep On Knocking
William Temple, 98th Archbishop of Canterbury, famously said: “Prayer is not the overcoming of God’s reluctance but the laying hold of His willingness.” In these words...
The Test of First Impressions
We say that a first impression can be a lasting impression and indeed that is true. The first time we do something is often the most memorable. The first time we meet someone we...
Believe The Best
In his book Life Essentials, author Tony Evans remembers during his days at Dallas Seminary how one of his favorite professor’s, Dr. Howard Hendricks told them of how his fifth-grade teacher tied him to the chair in an attempt to...
There Is No Time Like The Present
In his book Shadows on the Wall, devotional writer F. W. Boreham told of preaching in a particular church during his college days. The preaching engagement involved an overnight stay in...
The Power of the Gospel in Jars of Clay
When I was in elementary school I began listening to the music of a Christian band called “Jars of Clay” and I had no idea what...
Leaders Are Readers - Facebook Live Interview with Pastor Philip
Charles Spurgeon once wrote “We are quite persuaded that the very best way for you to be spending your leisure time, is to be either reading or praying. You may get...
Ask The Pastors - Facebook Live Q&A
We had a wonderful time with Pastor Jason, Pastor Dave, and Pastor Dan in our "Ask The Pastors" Q&A. We covered some great topics such as our doctrine, what we believe at Kindred, church membership and more...
Pastoral Insights on Marriage
It is clear from Scripture that the bond of marriage is something that is important in the eyes of God, yet in our culture, marriages are...
Parenting with the Pastors
Charles Spurgeon once wrote related to the discipleship of children, “The first and most natural condition of things is for Christian parents to train up their own...
Good Fellowship is a Little Uncomfortable
Some time ago researchers at UC Berkeley conducted an experiment that introduced an amoeba into a stress-free environment. This lucky amoeba experienced a perfect...
Listening Well, Caring for Others
The story is told of Franklin Roosevelt, who often endured long receiving lines at the White House. He complained that no one really paid any attention to what was said. One day, during a reception, he decided to try an experiment. To each person who...
Change Is A Community Project
The story is told of a pastor who visited a member of his church. The church member had stopped attending services regularly. It was a chilly evening and the man was home sitting before a fire. The pastor took...
The Type of Hard Work That Does Not Please God
Have you ever considered the truth that there is a type of hard work that does not please God? This is the type of hard work described in Psalm 127:2 ...
The Reformation Part 16: The Fruits of the Reformation
Through the Reformation, the Lord restored the Biblical Gospel to the center of the Churches’ Message & Mission. Wherever the Gospel has been received and Biblical Protestant faith has flourished Christians have experienced...
The Reformation Part 15: How the Reformation Came to America
Who Were They? Was it the Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620? No. Was it John Smith in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607? No. Was it the Lost Colony of Roanoke in North Carolina in 1587?...
The Reformation Part 14: The English Reformation
By the time of the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church had a long and infamous history of persecuting those who protested it’s abuses and/or sought reform of its doctrines...
Playing Favorites
In 1968, a teacher named Jane Elliott developed an exercise for her third-grade class in Riceville, Iowa as a result of Martin Luther King’s assassination. She told all of the students that brown-eyed students were...
The Reformation Part 13: The Radical Reformation
By the time of the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church relied on a forged Medieval document to claim supreme authority over all churches and all temporal powers....
The Reformation Part 12: The Institutes of the Christian Religion
By the time of the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church had, ironically, moved from being the persecuted to being the persecutor of evangelical faith...
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The Reformation Part 11: Luther vs. The Three Walls of the Romanist
By the time of the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church was attempting to insulate itself against any and all movements that called for Scriptural reform...
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You've Asked If I'm A Calvinist
You have asked me if I am a Calvinist, and this is my response: The answer to your question, “Are You A Calvinist?” depends on what you mean by the word “Calvinist”. Let me give a few examples...
The Reformation Part 10: The Bible in The Language of the People
By the time of the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church had prohibited the translation of the Bible into the vernacular (the language of the people). Ostensibly, the prohibition and condemnation of Bible translation...
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The Reformation Part 9: The Bondage of the Will
By the time of the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church had functionally embraced the error of Semi-Pelagianism. Pelagianism (man has no original sin) and Semi-Pelagianism (man is affected by sin but...
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The Reformation Part 8: Solum Evangelium
By the time of the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church had obscured the simplicity of the gospel through the invention of an elaborate merit system of salvation. As I mentioned in a previous blog...
The Reformation Part 7: Semper Reformanda
By the time of the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church claimed to be,“always the same” (semper eadem). Rome hoped to shield itself from...
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The Reformation Part 6: Coram Deo
By the time of the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Churches’ twin errors of Sacerdotalism & Sacramentalism produced a compartmentalized view...
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The Reformation Part 5: The Priesthood of All Believers
By the time of the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church had functionally replaced Christ as the mediator between God and man. Through the inventions of a priestly caste (sacerdotalism)...
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The Reformation Part 4: Post Tenebras Lux
What does the Creation narrative, the first advent of Christ and the Reformation have in common? The answer is the use of the “light from darkness” motif. In Genesis “darkness was...
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The Gospel Is Meant To Be Shared
In this day and age, we are surrounded by social media outlets, websites, and apps. Nearly everyone we know has a smartphone or tablet, or at the very least a computer in their home. We have come a long way from...
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The Reformation Part 3: Ad Fontes
By the time of the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church depended more on tradition than upon Scripture for it’s final authority. Rome was...
The Reformation Part 2: TULIP
At the time of the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church taught that sin had merely tainted man and that man through the help of the sacramental system could gain merit with God toward their own salvation. In contrast...
The Reformation Part 1: The Five Solas
The Reformation was a 16th-century movement to reform the corruption and abuses in the Roman Catholic Church ending in the establishment of the Protestant Churches that exist today...
Seeking and Setting
Last month I had the privilege of spending a weekend with our Jr. High and High School students at KSM Winter Camp. We spent our time in God’s word focused on...