Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

Thomas Edison is credited for inventing the lightbulb. Although it’s fairly well-known that Thomas Edison relied on the discoveries and inventions of those that came before him, it’s not as well-known that he borrowed $300,000 to establish the Edison Electric Light Company in 1878, before he even invented the light bulb. That’s about $9 million in today’s dollars that he would have to pay back if he failed in his work. So imagine you have what you think is a great idea and then borrowing $9 million in order to invent it. I’m…continue reading →

A poor farmer went to his banker and said, "I've got some good news and some bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?” The banker replied, "Well let's get the bad news over with first." So the farmer said, "Ok, I need to let you know that I’ve had a bad year and I can't pay the mortgage I owe you on my house. And since it was such a bad year, I also can't repay any of the money I borrowed for my new machinery either, nor can I…continue reading →

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In 2018, several faith groups in Danville, Virginia came together to accomplish a world-record. In a period of 3 days and 4 hours, about 170 people took shifts in reading through the entire Bible straight through. And they did it! In just 76 hours, around the clock, they read through the whole Bible, beating the previous record of 113 hours. So I didn’t break any records, but in 2016, during my first 6-week sabbatical, I read through the Bible in a period of 8 days. I would have done it faster, but being…continue reading →

Being that it’s Father’s Day, I should probably at least start my sermon this morning with a few good dad jokes. Why do fathers take an extra pair of socks when they play golf? In case they get a hole in one! My wife says I should do lunges to stay in shape. That would be a big step forward. I’m afraid for the calendar. Its days are numbered. I’m not sure that God tells any dad jokes, but I do know that He’s our Father, and He loves to welcome us into…continue reading →

In 1981, a millionaire named Eugene Lang promised a class of sixth graders: “Stay in school, and I’ll pay your college tuition.” The students in that class went on to have the highest percentage of graduates in that school and in that area for years. It wasn’t because that class was smarter or more advantaged, it was because they were given hope. On the show The Office, Michael Scott, who had a reputation for putting his foot in his mouth, made the same promise to an underprivileged class of third graders. But when…continue reading →

Because of the tragedy this week, I want to take a break today from my preaching through Romans in order to preach a message about hope. I think God wants all of us to hear this: No matter what, there’s always hope. Lamentations 3:22-24 says this: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” (Lamentations 3:22-24) In my opinion, this is one of…continue reading →

If you ever want to have an argument with other genuine Christians, read Romans 8-11 with them. Because genuine Christians are all over the place on these chapters. I’ve seen so many pastors get so heated about how other pastors understand these verses, and they start attacking one another, and accusing one another of not even being Christians, and I’m just like, “Guys, we all love Jesus!” So it should go without saying that when I preach on these chapters, this is my understanding of these verses, and you might see things differently,…continue reading →

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Sing along if you’re comfortable doing so! Amazing hate, how can it be? That You, My King, would condemn me? Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless hate of God Yeah, He hates us Oh, how He hates us Oh, how He hates us Oh, how He hates It’s interesting that we often sing about the love of God, but I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a song about the hatred of God. Maybe there are some, I don’t know, but if so, they’re few and far between. And before you say that God is…continue reading →