“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” (Acts 3:19) We have all been taught that any sin is a deadly sin, and but for repentance, it will send you to hell. The above verse certainly supports this spiritual truth. However, many of us have also been taught, wrongly I might add, that there are no degrees of sin. There certainly are degrees of sin and there are a number of […]

“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” (James 5:16) Several years ago, a former pastor of mine lamented from the pulpit that prayer was losing its appeal among Christians. It’s a sad commentary, but I agree with him. In fact, my own Christian experience has convinced me that a lot of us don’t take full advantage of the power and privilege of prayer. Stop and think about it. How […]

The governor answered and said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” They said, “Barabbas!” (Matthew 27:21) Next Friday is Good Friday, and I want you to spend some time this week thinking about its importance. The story below is why we can describe that fateful Friday as Good Friday. In Jesus’ time, the Romans had a long-standing tradition at Passover of releasing one prisoner as a gesture to illustrate its respect for the Jewish holiday. Mark’s account of Pontius Pilate’s […]

“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.” (Proverbs 27:1) As the chief executive officer of a county government with 2,000 employees and a $750 million budget, I have been swamped by the local impact of our national financial crisis. We have seen our investment earnings, sales tax revenue, and property tax income plummet. Like every other state and local government across the country, these reductions in income have forced us to examine every service we provide and how efficiently […]