Thoughts From The Pastor (Page 14)
Fast Food or Home Cooked Devotionals?
I don’t know about you, but I love a good fast food meal! Whether it be the grilled chicken and waffle fries from Chick Fil A, the spicy chicken sandwich and fries from Wendy’s, the whopper from Burger King, or the Italian from Firehouse subs, I love a delicious meal made quick! Here’s the problem: fast food meals, while convenient, are not necessarily healthy. They are certainly better than not eating anything (at least in my opinion), but there are…
A Prayer Strategy For Your Kids
Recently my wife and I had the privilege to attend a marriage conference and one of the speakers was Alex Kendrick, the writer of several great Christian movies like War Room, Overcomer, and Courageous. He has six kids, ranging from (about) ages 10 to 22 and he spoke on the topic of, “Raising Kids of Faith.” I was so encouraged and challenged by the message, so let me share part of what he talked about. One of his main points…
Let’s Talk About Depression and Anxiety
About six months into my time as pastor at Island Pond, I preached about depression. I had no idea how much positive feedback it would receive! Not because I did an amazing job presenting the topic, but simply because I talked about such a timely issue from a reasonable yet biblical point of view. This is an issue that impacts many people and sadly is not discussed enough in the church. With that in mind, I want to address those…
A Volunteer’s Experience Helping At The Soup Kitchen
Two weeks ago, Sandy and I had the opportunity to serve at the Sonshine Soup Kitchen in Derry. After hearing her experience, I wanted to share it with the rest of the church to shed some light on this important ministry and hopefully inspire others to volunteer in March. So the rest of this blog was written by Sandy… — “I recently had the privilege of volunteering at the Sonshine Soup Kitchen. I’ve wanted to participate since my husband, Dave,…
A “New” Way To Study The Bible
A while back I was reading an article about the way that John MacArthur studies the Bible. I found it intriguing enough that I decided to give it a shot. Here I am while later to report back. The Method: MacArthur recommends picking one New Testament book and reading it every day for an entire month. If it is a smaller book, like 1 John, then you should read through the entire letter each day. If it is a larger…
Even Rich and Famous People Will Stand Before God
On January 26, 2020, Kobe Bryant was a passenger in a state-of-the-art helicopter that smashed into the side of a mountain. All nine people on board perished. Kobe, a super-star, super-rich, super-popular basketball athlete, died at the age of 41. I, like many others, were shocked at the news. How could someone in the prime of life die so tragically? There are many sad details to this. The loss of so many on this helicopter, the death of the teenagers,…
Thoughts on Abortion and the Pro-Life Movement
On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court legalized abortion. Since that time, the lives of 50 to 60 million babies have been ended. As I reflect on this tragic decision in history, I feel led to address three groups of people. 1) To every child: you are special to God. To the born and unborn: you are special to God! Whether or not your parents allowed you to survive to see the world outside of the womb; you are special…
Advice From A Demon On Accountability
One of my favorite Christian books is Lord Foulgrin’s Letters, which is a modern day take on The Screwtape Letters. Both of these are about a head demon writing to a lower demon with advice on how to destroy and minimize Christians. With both of these outstanding books in mind, I have written some new advice from Foulbreath, a head demon, to the lowly demon, Littlesnake. Dear Littlesnake, Now that you have been assigned to my squad (which should be a…
Two Good Books On Parenting
I have four children, so I am always on the lookout for good books on parenting. One of the things I am always interested in reading about is how to disciple kids and raise them to grow up to love God. Below are two books that have stood out on this topic. The first book I highly recommend is Family Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham. This is one of my favorite books on the subject. He focuses a lot on…
Why God Didn’t Let Me Win The Powerball
Several years ago, when the Powerball lottery was at some unfathomable amount, a person my wife works with gave everyone Powerball lottery tickets. We had never played the lottery before and have no plans to play it in the future, but we accepted the kind gift. For a split moment, we wondered what it would be like to win all that money (as I am sure many people did that night). As expected, God decided not to instantly grant us…
Quote on Parenting
Parents, do you praying for your children? Do you pray with them? In his book originally published in 1699, the Puritan Cotton Mather has some advice that is very applicable hundreds of years later… Parents, pray with your children, as well as for them. Family prayer must be maintained by all those parents, that would not have their children miss out on salvation, and that would not have the damnation of their children horribly fall upon themselves. Man, your family…
Quote on Riches
Henry Smith was a Puritan from the 16th century. This is what he had to say about riches… “Riches are like painted grapes, which look as though they would satisfy a man, but do not slake his hunger or quench his thirst. Riches indeed do make a man covet more, and get envy, and keep the mind in care.” Found in Leland Ryken book, Worldly Saints: The Puritans As They Really Were.