Parting Words
Pastor Doug Dent
But the church was not without leadership: a second generation of preachers and pastors stood ready to carry the torch. One of these was Timothy, arguably Paul’s favorite and most devoted disciple. It is Timothy to whom Paul addresses his parting words. Paul mentored Timothy in the fundamentals of faith. Timothy served with Paul in […]
Bare Essentials
Pastor Doug Dent
If, as you sign your check for the Sunday offering, or set up your smartphone or computer for an electronic payment, you ever say to yourself, “I feel so inadequate, just giving money, when other people are doing the real work,” don’t ever think that again! What you do, in making generous gifts of money, […]
Selective Attention
Pastor Doug Dent
Jesus wants us to love everyone, just as he does. But at the same, time, he challenges us to focus our selective attention on the lost coin, not the nine that are still in hand. He pushes us to go looking for the lost sheep that is wandering, not the 99 that are safe in […]
The Original Cloud
Pastor Doug Dent
Our culture seems to be growing more individualistic and less communitarian, but the simple truth is that we desperately need one another. The message of Hebrews is about persevering in life, but it is also about enduring life together. We do not run this race alone, we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, […]
The Need for Clean
Pastor Doug Dent
God offers us an antidote for all our sins in Jesus Christ and through Christ-like living. Although we have blood on our hands, the stain of sin can be removed. The cure comes not from empty religious rituals or lackluster hymn-singing, stingy almsgiving, or unconscious communion-taking; this stuff bores God to tears. Clean hearts come […]
Was Jesus Anti-Rich?
Pastor Doug Dent
Jesus is not anti-rich; he is simply aware that wealth is not without its problems. Jesus knew the trouble was not about money, but the love of money; not about possessions, but the abundance of possessions; not about working hard, but about working only “for ourselves” (v. 21); not about being rich, but about not […]
Ecology for Christians
Pastor Doug Dent
Growing deeper and larger is “a growth that is from God” (v. 19). We grow deeper when we study God’s Word, when we ask the Holy Spirit to help us pray “with sighs too deep for words” (Romans 8:26), and when we enter deep-spirited friendships with people around us. But we also need to grow […]
Just Words
Pastor Doug Dent
In Psalm 52, King David uses just words as he recalls the injustice of Doeg as recorded in 1 Samuel 21-22. Doeg, a shepherd, and a servant of King Saul informed the king that David sought refuge in the city of Nob, in the temple of God. Ahimelech, the priest, helped David by giving him […]
Where Do We Go from Here?
Pastor Doug Dent
Paul wants us to be “filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (v. 9). Paul wrote to the followers of Christ in Colossae, a city on a major roadway in Asia Minor, a part of the Roman Empire that now lies in modern Turkey. The Colossians knew both Greek […]
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