A Pastor's Thoughts

There is a movement that has been around since the 1950s or before.  They call themselves Christian and call their meeting places churches.  That is where the similarity ends.  Prosperity preachers are all about getting rich while following Christ.   Ken Hagen and Ken Copeland were the kings of this type of teaching.  They claim that the only reason Christ died on the cross is so that you can have a really nice car and a really big house.  They are very rich and have a very public showing of riches to prove that what they preach is correct.  If a person does not have unspeakable wealth, then that person lacks faith or is not praying the right prayers or is not sending enough money into the prosperity preacher.  Prosperity preaching places a burden on believers because it simply does not work and is unbiblical. Christ died on the cross to save people from the wrath of God.  People are sinful, evil and totally depraved.  Christ took ou...

There are benefits to a moral life.  If a person is living a moral life, there is nothing to discover and nothing to bring to the press.  This is important today because of all the accusations, some recent, some very old.  The difficulty of living a lifelong moral life is that it takes time and sometimes it just isn’t fun. Judge Moore is accused of unethical, not illegal, behavior 40 years ago.  Immoral and unethical behavior can mess up an election, even when the accusations are 4 decades old.  Of course, even the most ethical person can be falsely accused if they allow their life to be exposed in politics.  However, never sleeping around would reduce the chances of being accused of sleeping around. President Trump is famous for telling each of his children, every morning, “no smoking, no drinking, no drugs.”  Every day of their life they were told this, and it looks like it worked.  The Trump children do not drink, take drugs or smoke and ne...

In John 19:18-23 we have the story of Jesus telling Peter how he is going to die.  Jesus prophecies that Peter will die by crucifixion.  I know many people who have told me they wish someone would prophecy over their lives.  I think most of them would be disappointed if someone told them they would be tortured and killed for the cause of Christ.  Yet, that is what Jesus told Peter. Peter’s instant response is to point to the apostle John and say, “What about him?”  Peter was doing what everyone does today, he was getting the attention off himself and onto another person.  We live in a culture where people say they are taking full responsibility.  Yet what they actually means is “stop looking at me, I am taking no responsibility.”  We live where people blame, distract, deflect and compare. I had a brother growing up.  That was great because if I did something, I could blame him and not so great because if he did something he could blame m...

God communicates with his creation, specifically humans.  This is proved, theologically accurate and true.  For thousands of years people have known what God has wanted from them.  There have been true prophets who actually spoke for God.  Some of their works are in our Bible.  There have also been false prophets who spoke their own words or the words of a deceiving spirit.  Some of their stories are also in the Bible.  King Ahab, for example, was lured to his death in battle by a group of false prophets. Today God is not silent.  There are four specific ways God can communicate with people today and they are: 1. Voice :  God has a voice.  From time to time he will speak so that people can hear it.  He does this sparingly with large spaces of silence between them.  The last time God the Father’s voice was heard in the Bible (not counting Revelation) was at the Transfiguration.  Some have said that God has not spoken in...

I started giving blood when I was in the military.  There would be regular calls for blood donation to help wounded soldiers.  When I got out of the military I continued the practice.  I was told by the Red Cross that they needed my blood type and my blood flowed quickly. In the 1990s I was asked if I wanted to donate platelets.  Platelets are the broken blood cells that allow our blood to clot.  They are the main reason we do not bleed to death from a paper cut.  Chemo-therapy destroys platelets.  Especially in children who are being treated for cancer with Chemo-Therapy, there is a danger of bleeding from the slightest injury.  Therefore, platelets, donated by others,  are given to such people during the Chemo-Therapy.  Platelets must match the blood type of the recipient, like whole blood.  Donating whole blood takes about 15 minutes.  Donating platelets takes 2.5-3 hours.  The process is called aphaeresis.  They...

Note:  This is not an attempt at virtue signaling or humble bragging or holier than thou thoughts.  Just my thoughts on games.  Take them for what they are. I do not watch any sports.  I watch no football or basketball or baseball.  If I am somewhere and a game is on the TV, I have no problem walking past it.  I know people who are into everything sports has to offer, and I know people who watch a random game or two.  If I were to follow something, anything, I would need to know players and stats and everything and track the game.  If I followed basketball, I would have to do a bracket.  This is how I follow things.  I am all on or all out, so I choose to not follow any professional sports.  One exception:  when Olympic curling comes on, I will watch it, not because I follow it, but because it is a fascinating game. Over three years ago for a New Years resolution, I chose to remove all the games from my computer and phone f...