Aging, Decay And Death: Part Of God’s Plan

by Dane Massey    (Dane Massey is the former Pastor of Mulvane Christian Church. He is now in ministry in Houston, Texas.)         Growing old and the natural end of that, death, cannot be avoided. So how does one age properly?     What is the Lord trying to accomplish through this drawn-out process?  …

Your Final Triumph Is Sure As Present Trials

by Kevin Burton    If you have no trials, no hard times today, enjoy it in the moment, and more power to you!  But they are coming, book it.    Country singer Lynn Anderson said it this way: “I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden!”    Now Anderson wasn’t necessarily a …

For Salvation, Rely Completely On Christ

by Kevin Burton     My good intentions, my (not frequent enough) good works will never, never save me. My place in Heaven is all about Jesus.    One hundred percent.    A recent message from Alistair Begg, the Speaker on the Truth For Life ministry, reinforced this point and it sent my mind back to …

What Is Your Spiritual Plus-Minus Today?

by Kevin Burton    Today my reading of an Alistair Begg message has me thinking about basketball?    Basketball, really?    Begg is the speaker on the Truth for Life radio ministry. I get an e-mail from that website every day with some kind of message – a challenge, encouragement, call to joyfulness – all …

What To Think Of A “Check Please” Christian

by Kevin Burton    God knows this, so you might as well know it too.     Right now, you could call me a “check please” Christian.    You get the reference, right?  In American situation comedies there is this line that writers use. I’ve seen the line delivered over and over in any number of …

Forget Self-Help, Seek God’s Heart Surgery

by Dane Massey    (Dane Massey is the former Pastor of Mulvane Christian Church. He is now in ministry in Houston, Texas.)       Spent this week thinking about the personal words that describe the Gospel.  Words that describe what happens inwardly when one enters into the Gospel of Christ, the power of God unto …

This God-Man Jesus Receives Sinners

by Kevin Burton     What the scribes and Pharisees spat out as an accusation against Jesus, I now cling to for all I’m worth.    We turn to a passage in the book of Luke. Jesus was teaching in public as was His custom. The Jewish religious leaders of the time criticized Jesus for the …

Humbly Gleaning In God’s Good Field

by Kevin Burton    From the Old Testament book of Ruth comes a message of faithful, steady industry, to the gain of those who walk with God.    Our lesson today is about gleaning.    Ruth is a love story, but without sappy sentiment. It is a picture of what God has done for humanity, …

What Does “The Lord Is My Portion” Mean?

by Kevin Burton    To watch a child with his or her parents in a grocery store is to witness yet another chapter from a long, long story.    What does the child want? Everything.    The parent has in mind limits. A limit to how much sugar a child (or adult) should eat, a …

Hope For The Castaway Through Jesus Christ

by Kevin Burton    To get a picture of what Christ has done for us, it helps to define the word “wilderness.”    Merriam-Webster says wilderness is “a tract or region uncultivated and uninhabited by human beings.” That kind of wilderness may be wild, but it still has its potential. It just hasn’t been tended …