Archive for Bruce’s Blogs
Jesus Was Consistent
Perhaps one of the most exhausting habits of our lives is being inconsistent in what we believe and say and do. Whether it’s parents struggling with telling their kids, “Do as I say, not as I do,” or any of us knowing and hating the sin in our lives but sinning anyhow, it’s difficult to [...]
Jesus Went to Church
When I was growing up, I was privileged to have a family who always went to church. I don’t mean every Sunday but nearly every time the doors were open. Now, I’m not going to say that everybody ought to attend everything there is to do at the church—there is a lot to get involved [...]
Jesus Focused on God
As a Christian minister, husband, and father, I know that there are only 24 hours in a day and 168 hours in each week. And just like everybody else, I wrestle with how to distribute the time among God, my wife, my kids, my extended family in the church, and my friends. The issue is [...]
Just Say “No”
In Mark 1:35-38 we read that Jesus got up early one morning, found a solitary place, and prayed. Soon, his disciples found him and said, “Everybody’s looking for you!” When I had studied this passage before, that’s as far as I had gone, understanding that in order to “get the job done,” even Jesus went [...]
Sinful Selfishness
For the next year, I’d like to focus on the concepts Mark laid out in his “New Year Reality Check” sermon, particularly the key verse of John 3:30, where John the Baptist said about Jesus, “He must become greater; I must become less.” I imagine that it’s true for many people—at least I know it’s [...]
God’s Family Shares His Name
In the past few years, Christians have been emboldened to “take back Christmas” by saying, “Merry Christmas!” whenever they can, especially when greeted with “Happy Holidays!” While I’m not a big fan of being confrontational in the “name” of Christ, I am thrilled that more Christians want to be identified openly with Jesus. In Ephesians [...]
Family Grows Fruit Together
When Mark began his series about the fruit of the Spirit, he told us that we need to uproot those things that keep fruit from growing in our lives. Mark reminded us of Paul’s words in Galatians 5:16, that we should “live by the Spirit” so that we will not “gratify the desires of the [...]
Families Celebrate with God
The more we study the Bible, the more we can see that God’s Word contains one central message: Grace. My Sunday evening class has been studying the Old Testament sacrifices and offerings found in Leviticus. Yes, there is a lot of blood being offered to God in order to have sins forgiven, but we’ve also [...]
Family Celebrates Together
Our annual meeting on October 13 was a turning point in our life as a church family. Rather than conducting a business meeting filled with reports from all the various ministry teams and committees, we celebrated the new additions to our family by honoring those who had been baptized in the past year plus those [...]
Family Shares
Coming from a large family, I’ve learned the value of sharing. Sure, when you’re eight or nine years old, sharing a new toy or sharing the last chocolate chip cookie doesn’t seem like a great idea, but later in life, sharing makes a lot of sense. It doesn’t take long for us to figure out [...]
Family Encourages Each Other
On Sunday, September 12, we kicked off our fall programming with a concert and the first group meeting of the elder care teams. That evening was a great example of how important it is for the family of God to encourage each other. Several people in our group mentioned how good it is when their [...]
Family Life Is “Bible School”
In 2 Timothy 3:15, the apostle Paul reminded Timothy of “how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” Paul says that the Bible makes us wise so that we can be saved, and Timothy learned this since he was a [...]
Family Encourages Growth
I come from a long line of farmers and gardeners. My grandmother would save every seed from every tomato that she ate and start what would become a jungle of tomato plants every season. My dad has kept at least one major garden and sometimes even three at different locations around our community. I have [...]
Family Takes Care of Family
You have probably heard the phrase “Charity begins at home.” This Fathers Day weekend, I had an opportunity to see that in action. On the third Saturday of each month, we have the serve our community by distributing food to people who need it. This month, our whole family worked together to help set up [...]
Families Are an Example to the World
Throughout the long winter we have been dreaming about how we will get away from it all. Whether it’s kids dreaming about a two-month summer break or families planning a week or even a weekend away, we long for a change of pace. But with all the changes of summer, we find ourselves altering not [...]
