Pastor Prince

Jesus cared about people nobody else cared about.  Luke 15:1ff says that tax collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus to hear him.  People on the margins of society were attracted to Jesus.  Maybe it was because they felt his love for them.  Maybe it was also that Jesus condemned their religious leaders while never condemning them!   Verse 2 says that the scribes and Pharisees started grumbling about the fact that Jesus hung around with such people, and even ate with them!  It was scandalous.  These people were to be condemned, not welcomed and loved! Jesus responded by telling three of his most unforgettable parables: The Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Son.  In the first of the three, he pictures a shepherd who leaves behind 99 sheep to hunt one that was lost.  One sheep out of a big flock doesn't seem like much.  But this one sheep was valuable to the shepherd.  When he finds the lost sheep, he puts...

Most American congregations have big bare spots.  These are gaps in certain age groups.  The biggest gap is among emerging adults.  Emerging adults are people aged 16-30. Over the years, I've seen this gap grow, and have become concerned about it.  Last year, I discovered the book Growing Young by Kara Powell and others.  This book presents the results of studies of churches that have successfully grown young by reaching this segment of the population.  This book presents the following insights. Our religious landscape is changing rapidly.  The Pew Foundation has found that the portion of our population that identifies itself as "Christian" declined from 78% to 71% between 2007 and 2014.  During the same time frame, the number of people who claimed to be atheist, agnostic, or nothing at all grew from 16% to 23%.   Other studies show when these gaps in our congregations begin to appear.  40-50% of people drop out of chur...

The dark clouds of Jesus' crucifixion and death were gathering.  On their way to Jerusalem, Jesus and his disciples stopped in Bethany at the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.  These were Jesus' close friends, and he may have longed for their love and encouragement on his way to suffering. While they were reclining a table, eating, Mary walked in and went to Jesus' feet.  She took a pint of expensive perfume, poured it over Jesus feet, and began to wipe his feet with her hair. This was one of the most profound acts of love performed for Jesus in his life. Judas was offended at this action.  He asked, "Why wasn't this perfume sold, and the money given to the poor?"  The gospel of John says that Judas didn't care about the poor.  His main concern was the disciples' moneybag, which he kept and sometimes took from. Jesus replied, "Leave her alone.  It was intended that she save this for the day of my burial.  You will always have the po...

I hear it often from people who are going through terrible grief.  "The Bible says, 'God will never put more on you than you can stand.'"   Many times, what people are really saying is, "This is more than I can stand!  What is God doing?" I usually don't "correct" people at such times.  Instead, I try to assure them of God's presence with them in their suffering.  But the truth is, the Bible never says, "God will never put more on you than you can stand." The closest the Bible comes to that is 1 Corinthians 10:11-13.  In this passage, Paul was talking about temptation.  He said that God doesn't allow us to be tempted beyond what we can resist.  "The Devil made me do it!" isn't true!  Paul says that when we're tempted, God always provides a means to escape.  While temptation and testing are similar, they aren't the same.  The Bible gives lots of examples of people who experienced more...

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 ...