I have a confession to make: Judges has never been near the top of my favorite books of the bible. Each time I read a portion, I come away confused or depressed or both. That is not terribly surprising because this book records some of the most horrendous and sinful acts in the bible and […]

Well, I’m back from the Village Missions Couple’s Retreat and we had a wonderful time. Cheryl is still in California as she is speaking to our sending church this Sunday and then continuing to help her folks as they finalize moving from their home of 25 years. Please keep her in your prayers. I hope […]

There is a lot of material in these two chapters that we will be covering in some detail when we get to Ephesians 4-6 in our current sermon series. Therefore, I’m not going to steal my own thunder, but rather, will point out a couple of interesting principles to keep us all on the path […]

When Wil Owens became the pastor of Clovis Evangelical Free Church (where Cheryl and I previously attended), his first sermon series was from the book of Colossians and from that series, the church developed its new mission statement: In all things, Christ supreme! In a nutshell, that is the theme of this amazing letter. There […]

As I alluded to yesterday, the greatest temptation I have in posting these entries to assist our church in reading through the bible this year is to avoid writing a running commentary on each passage. There are better resources than me for that, so what I’m trying to do is share a key thought or […]

The first book that I preached from after Cheryl and I arrived in Mayer was Philippians. There may be books that are more exhaustive in their theology, but Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi has always been one of my favorites. As I blog this week through Philippians and Colossians, it will be difficult […]

When I was in the Navy in 1979, I got word that Bob Dylan had converted to Christianity. As it turns out, it was a short-lived, and therefore, false conversion. But during his “spiritual” period, Dylan released an album called Slow Train Coming and one of the top songs from the album was “Gotta Serve […]

As we come to chapter 23, we can’t be sure how long the conquest has been going on but we know that Joshua was 110 when he died (Joshua 24:29). Just as Moses gave final instructions to the nation before he died (Deuteronomy), so Joshua gathers the leaders of Israel and gives them his final […]

If chapters 22-24 are a summary warning to Israel to be faithful to God now that they are settling in the Promised Land (and I believe they are), then chapter 22 is a perfect introduction to this section. A little background for those who may not recall the details: Before Israel crossed the Jordan, the […]