Angry Birds is a greater dilemma for this generation than an angry God. God is approached with the childish expectations of instant gratification and entertainment. Front row seats are coveted to Brian Regan, MercyMe, and LeBron James, but back row seats (where I can sip coffee and check sports headlines) work just fine when gathered together for God. We live in a PCWorld where technophiles worship Apple, devices become iGods, and Tweeted lines of sermons are sufficient. Step back for a moment and consider an aged apostle’s instruction to a young man in the ministry. A young pastor who dealt with many of the same distractions we face. The discerning Paul writes a letter to Timothy and warns him of a challenge looming on the horizon. “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching” (2 Timothy 4:3). I am not exactly sure what form f... Read More

How much do you listen? Have you ever considered the amount of time spent by the average Christian at Highlands Baptist Church listening to biblical instruction? Let’s do a little math together. The average sermon is about forty minutes. Yes, some are shorter and some are longer, but forty minutes is about right for an average. Highlands holds sermonic instructional time Sunday mornings and Sunday evenings. In addition to these sermonic times Highlands also has Adult Bible Fellowship Sunday morning which is a teacher led instruction and discussion time. Finally, there is an instructional time on Wednesday evening for adults (who are not serving in another ministry capacity). For sake of clarity, let’s just classify each instructional time at the forty minute length. This means we have four instructional times of forty minutes offered each week. That is 16... Read More

Only twice have I evangelized people where I hit the ground before the Coca Cola Company. The dark syrupy sweet carbonated drink is everywhere in the world infiltrating more places than the Gospel. It seems no land or people is too challenging to develop a strategy to market their product to. With the exceptions of a civil war in the northern frontier of southern Sudan and a forgotten people north of Diego Suarez in Madagascar, Coke has “been there and done that” before me every time. It wouldn’t be such a tragedy if we were talking about competing beverages, but we aren’t. We are talking about God’s Son and His glory. We are comparing soda with the only Person who can pardon sin and eternally quench thirsty sinners. Jesus is the Good News that is to be proclaimed to all people. But we haven’t taken this incredible message forward ... Read More

Moralism continues to be one of the most attractive and effective counterfeit "gospels" in Satan's showroom. The reason is simple - it's something we can "do." We can actually get in and drive the Lamborghini of church culture. We can cruise main street in our brand new 2012 chromed out externalism. The Ferrari of our big "D" denominationalism rides smooth (they even offer platinum membership and give drivers who qualify the team jacket). We can rev the engine of self-righteousness. The plush leather interior of our new Lexus of "traditionalism" is very comfortable and the envy of our friends who are driving second-rate moral clunkers desperately trying not to fall off the "slippery slope" (at least that's how some perceive the race track of life). It seems religionists would rather flaunt external garments so that the... Read More

We can not make a false dichotomy between our faith and our finances. We can not divorce our money from our mission. We can not separate our wealth from our walk with God. In a day when “money matters” almost more than anything else, it is sure to be an accurate gauge of the heart. I want to begin by quoting a familiar proverb, but one that is often used out of context (not purposely, but from ignorance). “Where there is no vision the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18). This is the part that gets quoted. The surrounding verses in Proverbs 29:15-18 reveal that parents either instruct their children or get shamed by them. The present reality of this can be confirmed by a mid-morning trip to Walmart! The shame of a child out of control is compared to the chaos of people (marriages, families, churches, countries, etc.) who have no revelation from God ... Read More

Finding God’s Will A Biblical Idea? Finding God’s will. If I had a penny for every time I have heard this phrase in my lifetime I would no doubt be rich. When faced with a decision or hardship we are told that we need to “find God’s will.” It sounds like great advice and it even seems to be biblical. However, this kind of advice could drive even the most devout Christian into a decision making panic attack! How do I find God’s will? What do I do if God hasn’t revealed the answer? How is God going to show me the right choice? These are the questions that every believer will face if they are trying to “find God’s will.” Defining the will of God is not easy to do. The Bible uses the term only a few times and in a few different ways. The will of God in Scripture can refer to God’s decrees (Dan. 4:35), His ... Read More

Last night I paused to thank the Lord for a great group of godly "traditional" members who lead by example in their commitment to church attendance, giving, biblical values, carefulness, and humble submission to their leaders for God's glory. As I thought about the people of Highlands, I found myself greatly encouraged by our faithful elderly folks - some of which had every right to stay home and go to bed early last night. Instead, they gathered together with God's people and they have already decided they will do the same thing this Sunday morning. For a younger generation who often waits to decide how they "feel" Sunday morning, our older generation is setting an example of determination, commitment, and faithfulness. It wasn't so much their attendance that impressed me last night, but their steadfastness to something bigger than themselves and ... Read More