"The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender." --Proverbs 22:7 (NIV)

Debt is the new master of our culture. It rules over many of our homes, it certainly dominates our federal and state governments, but sadly it is now the master of many of...

My two kids have dozens of medals and trophies and they have never won a championship of any kind. They have played soccer, basketball, volleyball, baseball and Taekwondo and have rarely ever played a game or competed in a match where the score was kept and a winner and a...

Two NFL coaches who could not amicably shake hands after a close game are making headlines recently. Jim Harbaugh is the coach of the San Francisco 49ers and Jim Schwartz is the coach of the Detroit Lions and their two teams played each other on Sunday. The game was close...

Being a pastor is a great privilege that carries with the calling a great responsibility to care for people, study the scriptures and to maintain a lifestyle of constant prayer. With these responsibilities come stress, misunderstandings and the pressure to be a lot of things to a lot of people....

Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind. - Albert Einstein

A few weeks ago, I underwent open heart surgery to replace my pulmonary valve. As a part of the protocol, I also went through four other cardiac procedures that were all designed to diagnose and correct various...

Have we, as American pastors, given up our calling as shepherds and unknowingly become fast food entrepreneurs who are building a religious business and not a church? Before I dive into this, let me first confess: I am the pastor of a church with several big buildings, one of them...

In the past 10 years, I have witnessed remarkable changes in the local church and the coming decade will usher in even more transformations. While the ancient sacraments will remain, everything else is up for debate. How we worship, when we gather, what is said, who is leading and where...

What qualifies someone to be a leader in the church? Can someone just announce to the rest of us that "God called me" or "God spoke to me"? How can we evaluate maturity and health in a person who wants to influence others in the local fellowship? What about a...

The tragedy at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., 12 years ago that resulted in the loss of 12 students and a teacher is eerily similar to the tragedy we experienced 65 miles south at New Life Church in December 2007.

A troubled young man came on our church...