Calvary Bible Church

I don’t think that I am odd in this. Maggie and I have been in knockout draw out fights. And when we are in the middle of of the conflict, one of us realizes that the only reason we are having this discussion is that we had a misunderstanding. Perhaps I said some that she didn’t understand. Or perhaps…

I’m about to spend two weeks at Camp Assurance, coming back on the weekend between for the church service and congregational meeting. I enjoy camp ministry. However, as I look ahead, I am faced with the fact that I am going to be really tired. And what am I going to do for rest. One of the top idols…

Mother’s Day is the hardest sermon in the year for me to prepare. It is my one chance to give a shot in the arm for mom’s everywhere that they get can get through another year. It is my one shot to urge them specifically to be godly. It is my one change to put my foot in my mouth and alienate over 50%…

I am grateful for the opportunity to attend the Small Town Pastor’s conference in Morton, IL. Every time I attend, I came away refreshed and exhausted. This was our 9th conference. And because of that, while the content was great, the best part was the community. Being with fellow men in the rural ministry…

He is risen! The celebration of Easter is a great time. Life has a few monumental times, where one goes through it and your life completely changes. Marriage. The birth of a child. Death of a parent, a spouse, a child. There a few times where life completely changes and you are never the same again.…

Social Media is a weird thing. For those of you who are not familiar with Social media, be grateful. For those of you who live on social media, I’m sorry. Maggie and I have begun removing ourselves from social media platforms, because we just can’t stomach it anymore. There is an interesting term used…

Two questions plagued the Jews when Jesus had his earthly ministry: Who is this man and who did he come for? Of course, these are the same questions that people wrestle with today. The Jews thought that Jesus was just a good teacher, if that. Perhaps he was just a misguided carpenter from Nazareth that…

Robert Frost wrote an amazing poem in 1916: the Road Not Taken. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps…

It’s one of the most famous concepts in the Bible. Though it’s fame is getting less and less as generation Z and Alpha are not being raised in a moral society. Most people have heard of the 10 commandments, though they may not be able to say one of the 10 commandments. Most people have heard of the cross,…

When I was about 7, my folks gave me a woodworking kit. I loved this. I made my mom a wooden planter, I made my sister a bench for her dolls, and I made myself a treasure box that had an actual lock on it. And for the next 11 years, I put my most prized possessions into this box, and I hid this box far…

People spend a significant portion of time thinking about others. Different psychologists created studies on this, finding out that 50% of the time we are thinking about someone else. Sometimes we are thinking about what that person thinks about us. Some of us are more concerned about this than others.…

A verse that keeps coming back to me throughout my life is 1 Sam 16:7 . Samuel has come to Jesse’s house to anoint the new king of Israel. Samuel thinks that Jesse’s older sons would make perfect kings. But God told Samuel: But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for…

Back when I was with CFA, I was in charge of hiring and firing for my shift. Thankfully, I only had to fire one person. Unfortunately, I really think I fired the wrong person. But, that’s another story. The person I should have fired quit soon after. I was able to hire some amazing workers, and shape…

We talked about politics a little bit last week. So, might as well talk about it this week as well. Right? It’s amazing how we can start seeing how strong people are in their faith, in their desire to follow Jesus in a holy life, by how they interact with people around an election, around a new inauguration.…

This is no secret. I really enjoy politics. Election season is like ice cream for me. So much fun. Seeing the candidates, analyzing why they campaign the way that they do, why they go where they go, what they say, what they don’t say. It’s so much fun. The art of presenting an idea. Other’s might term…

We know the story. We could borrow the phrase from Beauty and the Beast: Tale as old as time. Eve is standing in the Garden, looking at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the serpent speaks to her. Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said…

Have you ever been through an experience and felt incredibly alone? Wishing that someone would be there with you? It’s the little kid reaching up and grabbing his dad’s hand, and his dad squeezes it, saying “It’s okay, I’m here.” And all of a sudden, the situation isn’t as bad as it seemed. Then adulthood…

I do a lot of traveling. It’s in my DNA. Growing up, after breakfast, my mom would look at us and say: Do you want to go visit your great-grandma today? Who happened to live 6 hours away. My mom would call my dad and say that we were driving to St. Paul. We’d drive up, spend the night, and come back…

Do you ever walk through the grocery store and just look at people. Not in a creepy way. But, people-watch. It’s fascinating. Until you realize that only about 25% of the people you see in the grocery store have placed there faith in Jesus Christ. And that people-watching becomes really sad. There are…