Pastor Prince

The statement "Money is the root of all evil" is commonly attributed to the Bible.  But it's not in the Bible!  The Bible says something different! Preachers who profit off false teachings aren't new.  In 1 Timothy 6, the apostle Paul wrote about teachers of his day who thought godliness was a way to make money!  They liked to stir up controversy and make a big deal out of minor things in order to make money. The apostle went on to say that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.  In itself, money is neutral, neither good nor bad.  But the love of money, the deep desire to gain more money is a root of many kinds of evil.  Paul said that people who were eager for money had wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs! The love of money is pervasive in our culture.  How do we keep from it?  In Jesus' parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), he told the story of a master who entrusted his wealth to three of h...

In these days of fake news and "alternative facts," it can be difficult to discern the truth!  The same is true of the Bible.  Sometimes people misunderstand biblical teachings.  Sometimes they think statements are in the Bible, when they aren't. One of these is "The Lord helps those who help themselves."  This statement isn't in the Bible, though widely quoted as such.  Though it isn't in the Bible, it could be a principle in the Bible or consistent with what the Bible teaches. Reflecting on this statement, it's biblical validity hinges on what people mean by it.  If they mean that we have to do good deeds to gain our salvation, then it isn't biblical.  In passages like Ephesians 2:4-9, the scriptures say that we become right with God by receiving salvation as a gift through faith.  Salvation is a gift received, not a reward earned. But if they mean that our walk with Christ requires response and action, then it's consistent with the...

In Daniel 1:8-20, Daniel and his friends are settling into lives as exiles in Babylonia.  They've received Babylonian names, and King Nebuchadnezzar has enrolled him in his school to train them to serve in his court.  He wanted them to have the best, so he ordered that they be fed with food from his own personal supply. But Daniel refused to eat the food.  The text says that he didn't want to "defile" himself.  We don't know what he found defiling about the food.  Books like Leviticus describe those laws.  But the precise reason why he didn't partake isn't important because the food represents more than food.  It represents Babylonian culture, particularly parts of that culture that opposes God's commands. Daniel and his friends eat only "vegetables and water" for ten days.  At the end of that time, they look better than those who ate the king's food.  Not only that, the king examines them and admits them into his service. They ...

Today, many Christ followers are reeling from the rapid pace of cultural change.  Those of us who are older sometimes think we fell asleep and awakened in a foreign land! The scriptures offer examples of people who found themselves in similar circumstances.  Among them are Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, young Jewish exiles who lived in Babylonia.  The Babylonian king brought them from their land to his, and trained them to serve in his court.  Despite this, they maintained their identities as members of God's covenant people. Early Christ followers found themselves in a culture that didn't support their beliefs.  New Testament writers like Peter (1 Peter 1:17) and the writer of Hebrews (Hebrews 11:13), admonished Christ followers to live as exiles and strangers in this world.  They were in the world, but they were citizens of God's eternal kingdom.  They were to live by the values of that kingdom, even when they conflicted with t...

Some of the worst manifestations of bad Christians take place in the midst of church conflict.  We would think that Christ followers would behave better in working out their differences, but oftentimes they don't. I've experienced lots of church conflict, beginning with one of the churches I grew up in.  Back in the early 1970s, the church had more than a thousand in attendance.  Now, the church hangs on by a thread, with a few dozen people worshipping in a sanctuary that seats about a thousand.  The church's neighborhood has transitioned, but it's fate was sealed decades before by a terrible church split.  Thankfully, I wasn't there for the worst battles, but it grieves me that such a great church destroyed itself.  For some reason, God called me to minister in an era of prevalent church conflict.  My denomination split, and the church I currently serve split, mostly about the denominational split. Church conflicts handled badly are costly ...

Historians say that our country is more divided than it's been since the 1850s, the years preceding our Civil War.  Christ followers have the opportunity to heal this divisions.  Sadly, we've been busy adding to them! Beginning in the 1970s and '80s in our country, evangelicals turned from the proclamation of the good news of Christ to engage in political activity.  The Moral Majority was the largest and most visible manifestation of this.  The culture war was on! What did this culture war bring?  Today, our culture is more liberal than when the war began!  Worse, many people in our country associate evangelicals with partisan political activity instead of gospel proclamation.  On top of that, Democratic and Republican Christ followers are rarely members of the same church. Jesus worked amid deep political tensions.  Though people pressured him to be a political leader, he refused.  Instead, he called people to a kingdom that...

We think of the resurrection of Christ as many things, including the most important event in history!  But we don't often think of it as a sign.  Yet Jesus said it was.  John 2 records that after Jesus ran the merchants and moneychangers out of the temple, Jewish leaders demanded that he give a sign that he had the authority to do what he did.  Jesus said that his sign would be, "Destroy this temple, and after three days I will rebuild it."  At the time, no one other than Jesus understood what he meant.  But later, after his resurrection, his followers understood. So what does the sign mean?  The Jewish leaders believed their authority came from God. They authorized the merchants and moneychangers to do their business in the temple.  Jesus was claiming that his resurrection would show that his authority was greater than theirs because he was Lord.  This gave him full authority over what went on in his Father's house. The idea...