Pastor Prince

Have you ever considered the fact that everything changed in world history when Jesus was born?  Many events changed the world.  But I can't think of an event that changed everything the way Jesus' birth did! One of the changes it brought was to bring light in darkness.  Isaiah 2:1-5 describes a vision of the prophet in which he sees this world changed.  Mt. Zion, the site of the temple of the Lord, will be raised above all the other mountains.  People all over the world will come to faith in the one true God.  They will travel to the temple to commune with God and learn his law.  They will take the law with them when they go home and transform the world. One of the great transformations is described in v. 4, in which war will become a thing of the past. God fulfilled this prophecy when he sent Christ into this world.  As written in John 1:1ff, Jesus was God's eternal Word in human flesh.  In him was life and that life was ...

From its beginnings, the church has been subject to false prophets.  These are preachers who don't preach the truth.   But false prophets can be difficult to spot.  They can have all the outward appearances of authenticity.  They can preach from beautiful stages, have thousands of followers, and have big media ministries.  They can sound sincere and dedicated to God. Thankfully, Jesus gave us some help in Matthew 7:15-23.  He said we could tell them by their fruit, by what their preaching produces. That's great.  But it leads to another question:  What is that fruit? Jesus gave a clue to that in John 15.  He said that a person who's connected to him will bear good fruit.  And that good fruit is love! The apostle Paul also helped us by writing in Galatians 5:22-23 about the fruit of the Holy Spirit.  Leading that list is love.  All the other fruit flow from it! So if a preacher preaches something tha...

We make lots of choices in our lives.  Some small.  Like whether to have chocolate or vanilla.  Some big.  Like whom we will marry! In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus spoke about our biggest choice of all.  He told his hearers that they were at a fork in the road.  On one side was a wide gate and a broad road.  It was the one most people took.  On the other was a small gate and a narrow road.  It was the way few people chose. Jesus said that though the gate was wide and road was broad, they led to destruction.  The small gate and narrow road led to life! The wide gate and broad road represented the natural road of the world and its values.  It was the easiest and most obvious way.  That's why most people took it. The small gate and narrow road represented the way of following Christ.  The smallness of the gate and narrowness of the road represent the challenge and difficulty of following Christ.  Jesus sai...

The Lord's Prayer is a fantastic prayer to pray.  When you pray it as an individual, it helps you focus on God's presence with you and his provision for you.  When you pray it in a group, you join with others in focusing on God and praying for the same things.   At graveside services, I often lead those gathered to pray the Lord's Prayer together.  There's an intangible wonder and comfort in joining with others to approach God this way. But the Lord's Prayer is also a great guide for prayer.  Praying according to the outline of the prayer can refresh your individual prayer times.   The prayer begins with worship.  Worship God in his holiness, sovereignty, and power. It continues to a request for God's kingdom to come on earth.  Pray that God's kingdom will grow in your heart and life, and that you'll live by the values of his kingdom every day. Pray that God will provide for your material needs.  Not your wants , but...

What is a hypocrite and how do you avoid being one? In Matthew 6:5ff, Jesus called his followers to not be like the hypocrites who put their piety on public display.   The word "hypocrite" comes from the theater.  In Jesus' time, when actors performed in plays, they wore masks.  "Hypocrite" means "to speak behind a mask."   What a great image for putting on show of being something you're not! Some say Christ followers are especially prone to hypocrisy because their standard is so high: Jesus Christ! There's some truth to that.  But a hypocrite isn't a person who aims high and falls short.  A hypocrite is one who aims high, falls short, but says he hit the target! How do we avoid hypocrisy?  First, by refusing to put on an outward show of our spirituality.  Second, by being honest about our failings with our fellow Christ followers and others. Throw away your mask and be real!   The Lord and others will b...

I heard a teacher say once that we should only ask God for something once.  We should ask him once and trust him for the result.   But Jesus said something different.  It's something you can see in Greek, but not in English.  Greek has a verbal tense that implies continual action.  Matthew 7:7 is in that tense.  Jesus said, " Keep on asking and you shall receive, keep on seeking and you will find, keep on knocking and the door will be opened." So Jesus encouraged persistent prayer.   But about what?  We don't have to go to the Greek to find that.  In Matthew 7:12, he said, "So in everything, do to others what you want for them to do for you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."   Our asking, seeking, and knocking isn't about material goodies for ourselves.  It's about the power of the Holy Spirit to do others what we would want them to do for us.   Our persistent prayer should be that God wi...

Years ago, a friend told me about an interaction he had with someone who didn't go to church.  The non-churchgoer said, "I'm looking for something that will be the stack pole of my life!" We non-farmers may not understand what he meant.  A stack pole is the center of a haystack.  It's what you stack all the hay on!   So this non-churchgoer was looking for something to build his life on.  Something that would hold up over time. In Matthew 7:24-29, Jesus used different images to talk about the same idea.  Instead of talking about a stack pole, he talked about wise and foolish builders.   The wise builder built his house on rock.  A terrible storm came.   The rain came down, the waters rose, and the wind blew.  But the house stood because it was built on rock. The foolish builder built his house on sand.  When the storm came, it came crashing down! Many teachers say the rock is Jesus.  That's partially...