December 12, 2010
Christmas 2010: Hope of the World
2010 Christmas program, featuring the Celebration Choir and Orchestra under the direction of Mike Parks.
2010
December 5, 2010
God’s Beautiful Symphony
November 28, 2010
The Parable of the Rejoicing Shepherd
November 21, 2010
Kids in the Kingdom
As an adult you may be waiting until you understand salvation before you accept it. You’ll never understand it. You only have to accept God’s free gift of eternal life. That’s easy for a child to understand, but difficult for an adult. God isn’t looking for childish behavior, but He is looking for a childlike spirit. In a real sense, only children go to heaven–God’s children.
November 7, 2010
The Money is in the Mouth of the Fish
October 31, 2010
The Word IMPOSSIBLE is Not in My Dictionary
October 24, 2010
His Transfiguration Can Transform You
October 17, 2010
Don’t Waste Your Life
Thousands of people are thrill seekers and live on the edge simply because they want the temporary reward of a rush of adrenaline or a new buzz. But the thrill is only temporary and they have to look for the next big thrill and they are constantly unfulfilled. There’s nothing wrong with seeking fun, adventure, and pleasure unless it becomes the driving force of your life. If it does, then you lose.
October 3, 2010
On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand
This spiritual building Jesus is constructing isn’t made up of bricks that are all the same size and appearance. It’s more like a stone wall of all different shapes and sizes. God loves variety. If you don’t believe it, just look around. Unless you’re a twin, nobody else looks like you. But like the stones in a wall, we are joined together through the mortar of the Holy Spirit. The stonemason carefully chooses each stone to fit with the others. That’s exactly what God does with us.
September 26, 2010
Reading the Signs of the Times
Jesus wants every ethnos, every people group in the world to hear the good news. In fact He said, “I’m not coming back until every people group has heard the gospel.” Could it be that Jesus is waiting for one final people group to hear the gospel? At this very moment there could be some missionaries who have found their village and they are right now in the process of sharing the gospel with this final people group?
September 19, 2010
God’s Invisible Hand at Work
There are basically two ways God works in the world. First, He works through miracles. When a miracle happens you KNOW the hand of God is involved. But the second way God works is through His Providence. And this is when you can’t see His hand, it’s invisible, but God is still at work. It’s like Clint Eastwood. Sometimes he’s an actor and you see him on the screen and sometimes he’s a director and you don’t see him. When God performs a miracle, He’s front and center, but when He works through Providence, He’s in the background.
September 12, 2010
Redeemed, Rescued and Rewarded
In this drama about love and redemption, there is a crisis that must be overcome before Boaz can marry Ruth. This is also a story of God’s love for us and our redemption. In much the same way, there are some issues that must be settled in our understanding of salvation before we can fully accept Jesus as our Kinsman-Redeemer. So, I want to talk about the rival redeemer, the real redeemer and the redeemer’s reward.
September 5, 2010
A Match Made in Heaven
Ruth was obedient when she told Naomi, “I will do whatever you say.” That’s what faith is; it believing God enough to DO what He tells us to do in His Word. She didn’t just believe there was a possibility that Boaz could be her goel; she believed enough to DO something about it! You can say you believe God’s Word until you’re blue in the face, but the only part of this Bible you really believe is that part you act on.
August 29, 2010
My Redeemer Lives!
Jesus qualifies as our goel. He is our kinsman through the incarnation. He has the power and the willingness to redeem us, and He has paid the price. He took on human flesh so He could live among us. Jesus took those human hands and touched the blind and broken hearted. He used those human hands to caress the little children who were drawn to Him. He used those human hands to break the bread that fed thousands. But the main reason Jesus needed a human body was to die.
August 22, 2010
Living in the Field of Grace
Ruth was amazed at the grace Boaz showed her. People from Moab were considered inferior foreigners. There was a lot of discrimination against Gentiles. So why did Boaz notice Ruth and show her kindness and friendship? There’s a wonderful nuance to this story many people miss. I believe one of the reasons Boaz showed favor to Ruth was because Ruth reminded him of his mother, Rahab.
August 15, 2010
You CAN Return to God
Commitment is not bargaining. It’s okay to bargain when you’re buying a Polex Watch from a street vendor in New York City. But true commitment to God isn’t a bargain to see how cheaply you can get off and still go to heaven! It’s offering God everything and asks for nothing. But like Ruth, when we give Him our all, He gives us so much more in return.
August 8, 2010
On the Road Again: Going the Wrong Way
When you start backsliding, it doesn’t happen suddenly, it happens gradually. Automobile mechanics will tell you that more tires go flat from a slow leak than from a blowout. Not many people have spiritual blowouts and run away from God. Backsliding is a gradual process. It is a gradual decline takes you away from intimacy with God and His people. It might begin with a little sin that you think is harmless. But sin is a poison that has a delayed effect. There is no such thing as a harmless sin to God. Sin killed His precious Son Jesus, so God hates all sin, and so should we.
July 18, 2010
Dogging Jesus for a Miracle
Are you a persistent person or do you give up quickly? Jesus taught us, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7) But those verbs denote continuous action. He literally said, “Ask and keep on asking … seek and keep on seeking … knock and keep on knocking.” You wouldn’t walk up to a closed door and knock once would you? Have you been praying for something for days or weeks and you haven’t received an answer yet? Don’t quit praying. God rewards persistent praying. Don’t give up. Keep praying.
July 11, 2010
Sink or Swim? … or Walk?
When Jesus is out on the waves, sitting in the boat represents a lack of faith. Sitting in the boat represents your comfort zone. It’s the status quo. The boat life is dull. It is safe, but it’s sour. But Jesus calls us to think outside the boat. It took a lot of courage for Peter to throw his leg over the boat and place his foot on water. But he never would have experienced the adventure of water walking if he had stayed in the boat. What is your boat today? What is it that limits you from stepping out in faith and trusting God for something so great that if He doesn’t come through, then you’re sunk? Are you willing to throw yourself out of the boat of mediocrity and move toward Jesus?
June 27, 2010
The ONLY Word Jesus Doesn’t Understand
When you face the very hardest times of your life, it is like God is saying, “Take out a blank sheet of paper.” The only question on God’s test is: Do you trust me? Your answer is not for His information; it is to show you how much faith you really have. Your faith will be tested continually throughout your life, not to shame you, but to strengthen you. Once you realize problems are God’s pop quizzes, it makes it easier to say, “Oh boy! Another test!”
June 20, 2010
God’s Dragnet
Jesus loves every kind of person, not just the good people. Jesus loves the down-and-out as well as the up-and-out. Jesus loves the man who drank himself into a stupor last night. Jesus loves the junkie who shot up last night. Jesus loves the woman who slept last night with someone who was not her husband. Jesus loves the guy who in secrecy and shame looked at porn on his computer last night. Jesus loves the child who cried herself to sleep last night because her parents were yelling at each other. And He loves those parents, too. Jesus loves that inmate sitting in prison because he did unspeakable things to another person. And Jesus loves the person sitting in church with a better-than-thou attitude thinking “Yeah, but He loves me more.”
June 13, 2010
Sell Out and Buy Up!
What if I told you there was an investment you could make and your return would make you wealthy beyond your wildest dreams? Would you be interested? Of course, you’d probably be skeptical because we all know about Bernie Madoff and the other investment scammers out there with their “get-rich-quick schemes.” But what if I could convince you this investment would really pay off a thousand-fold? How much would you be willing to invest? Would you invest just a little, or would you sell out everything you have and buy up all of that investment you could?
June 6, 2010
Little is Much When God is in it
Imagine boulders represent burdens. Sometimes we all experience the occasional heavy boulders of pain and grief: the death of a loved one; a divorce; the loss of a job. You carry your own backpack, but if a boulder rolls over onto one of your fellow hikers, you’re going to jump in and help take the load of that burden off them; you’re going to bear their burden. As you do that, you fulfill the law of Christ. The law of Christ is the law of Love. You are to love God with all your being and love your neighbor as yourself. Spiritual maturity has nothing to do with age; there are plenty of adult Christians who still cannot feed themselves.
May 30, 2010
God’s Final Harvest
Any wheat farmer can easily tell the difference between wheat and weeds. Want to know how? As the harvest time nears, the top of the stalk sags downward, it bows. The head of the wheat grows so heavy with the grain, the fruit, that it begins to bow toward the ground. Meanwhile, the weeds stand tall and straight. They never bow. What a lesson! A true believer is humble; and the more mature and fruitful they become, the more they bow before the Lord in humility. But the counterfeit Christian stands tall, proud of his religious accomplishments which he foolishly believes will get him to heaven.
May 23, 2010
How to Multiply Your Influence 100x
Your heart is like a garden, it needs to be tended. Even a good garden has weeds that spring up. But you can’t just chop off the weeds; you must pull them out by the roots. If you want to be a fruitful Christian, you must constantly attack the root sins of worry and the craving for wealth.
May 9, 2010
Are You a Part of God’s Forever Family?
Wouldn’t it be nice if every biological family were a “big happy family?” But we know sometimes just the opposite is true. We all know our biological families can cause us heartache and pain. Jesus pointed to His disciples and said, “This is my mother and my brothers and sisters. He was teaching that we are part of a huge family of believers. His family is called the church. This is where you can find love and acceptance. And for many people, they feel a closer bond with their spiritual family than they do with their natural family members.
May 2, 2010
Are You Waiting on a Sign from God?
The very best way for you to hear from God is to let His Word abide in you. To do that you have to maintain a steady, daily diet of God’s Word. Once you have it in your head and in your heart, you will be thinking about His Word all the time. When you’re confronted with a challenge, or a challenge, you won’t need a sign. You’ll be able to say; “God’s Word says this about that issue.”
April 18, 2010
Take Out the Trash Talk!
Scientists who study sound waves theorize sound waves never really vanish; they just diminish until they are no longer audible to the human ear. And each sound wave has a unique frequency. Some believe if we could invent a sensitive enough instrument, we might someday be able to go back and capture the faint echo of words spoken hundreds of years earlier. Wouldn’t it be something if we could one day actually hear Lincoln giving the Gettysburg address? Well, that’s the stuff of scientific journals. But, for God, recapturing every word I’ve ever said won’t be hard. But I’m not worried. Do you know why? Because there are a few important words I’ve spoken that take care of all the trash talk I’ve ever done. One day I said, “Jesus is my Lord.” And I asked Him to forgive my sins.
April 11, 2010
What is the Unforgivable Sin?
What is the unforgivable sin? Let me tell you what it is NOT. It is not murder. Moses was a murderer and he’ll be in heaven. It is not adultery. King David committed adultery and God forgave him. It is not divorce. The woman at the well had multiple divorces and she was forgiven. It is not suicide. Although the Catholic Church teaches suicide is an unforgivable sin, you don’t find it in the Bible. Suicide is self-murder and it is no different from homicide—both are forgivable. If you think a person who commits suicide can’t repent of that sin because they’re dead and that’s your attitude, then you don’t understand salvation. Once you are a Christian, you don’t have to confess every single sin you commit in order to go to heaven. We confess our sins to stay in fellowship with God, but when you surrender your life to Christ, every past sin you’ve committed and every future sin you will ever commit is covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.
April 4, 2010
Hope for Your Broken Heart
One of the most valuable commodities in this world is hope, because it’s so rare. And the Bible promises you can find hope in Jesus Christ. In our vocabulary, we’ve reduced the meaning of hope to something that may or may not happen. We say, “I hope I’ll pass that test.” Or “I hope we’ll win the game.” You can ask someone, “Are you going to heaven when you die?” And their answer is, “I hope so!” We’ve diluted the word hope until it’s something you want to happen, but you aren’t certain that it will. But in the Bible, hope carries the meaning of absolute certainty.
March 14, 2010
A Sabbath Miracle: Stretch Out Your Hand!
Have you noticed in many of Jesus’ miracles He simply told the person to DO the very thing they couldn’t do? When the four men brought the paralyzed man to Jesus and lowered him through a hole in the ceiling, Jesus didn’t touch the paralyzed man. He simply said, “Stand up, pick up your bed and walk home.” Jesus told Peter to walk on water, which was totally impossible. But it wasn’t until Peter stepped out onto the impossibility that he found he could stand on Jesus’ Word! It is only when we trust the Word of Jesus to believe we experience His healing power. Salvation is impossible for us, but God’s power makes it possible.
March 7, 2010
A Sabbath Parable
We don’t have to observe the Sabbath the way the Jews did. But there is another mistake some Christians make. They say, “Oh, well Sunday is our Sabbath.” No, Sunday is NOT the Christian Sabbath. I invite you to find one verse in the New Testament that says Sunday has become the Sabbath. Then where did we get the idea that existed until about 40 years ago that stores shouldn’t be open on Sundays?
February 21, 2010
Taking His Yoke is No Joke
Say a single Clydesdale can pull a sled holding two tons of weight. And another Clydesdale can pull three tons. You would think that when yoked together, the most they could pull would be five tons. But in reality when these two horses are yoked together, they can actually pull seven tons! You may think that’s not possible, but this phenomenon has been proven many times. It’s called synergy. Two pulling together can accomplish more than the sum of the two parts. Now apply that principle to the yoke of Christ. You can try bearing the heavy load yourself, but Jesus invites you to join Him inside His yoke. Think about how much strength He has! He’s the strong one and I’m the weaker partner.
February 14, 2010
The Prince of Peace Carries a Sword
Many of you have told me you have family members who aren’t Christians. At family gatherings and you have to watch what you say, because if you bring up your faith, the battle breaks out. Verbal swords are drawn and the fight begins. Of course we love our family members, but Jesus said our love for Him must be supreme.
February 7, 2010
If His Eye is on the Sparrow…
How many times have you faced a scary situation and given in to fear? Wouldn’t it have made a difference if you had know God was right there with you? Well, He is! Spiritually speaking, we’re all like preschoolers learning to walk. We’re going to stumble and fall, but He has promised to uphold us with His hand. When we stumble He grips us even stronger and that’s when we need to grip His hand even tighter. You don’t have to be afraid, because God has promised He will NEVER leave you nor forsake you. He watches over every sparrow that falls, so you can be certain He is watching over you!
January 31, 2010
If I Could Talk to the Animals
Jesus says we are to be like sheep, snakes, and doves. The wolves are those who are enemies of the cross. I want to examine what it means for us to be like these three animals. If we could talk to the animals, or they could talk to us, what would they say to us about being like a lamb, a snake, and a dove? God has called us to go out into the world and share His truth. We are sent out like sheep among wolves. We must be as clever as snakes, and as innocent as doves.
January 24, 2010
iFocus on Giving App
As human creatures, we love to accumulate stuff. You know what stuff is. I’ve got my stuff and you’ve got your stuff. Don’t mess with my stuff. People have accumulated so much stuff that they have to rent storage units to store all their stuff. But Jesus taught that we shouldn’t hoard our blessings, we should give them away.
January 17, 2010
iFocus Worship App
Our work for God must spring from our worship of God. Too often we come into a worship service and leave totally unchanged. It’s possible to come to a worship service, but never actually worship. Worship means you meet God and you express your adoration to Him, and every time you encounter God, your life is changed.
January 10, 2010
iFocus Opportunities App
God is going to give you some opportunities over the next few months to make a difference in someone’s eternity. All you have to say is, “Come, see what a difference Jesus has made in my life.” Are you looking for those opportunities? One of my favorite quotes about opportunity comes from Thomas Edison. Edison said, “Most people don’t recognize opportunity because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
January 3, 2010
iFocus Faith App
If you want to live according to Philippians 4:13, you’ve got to start believing “I can” instead of “I can’t.” The word “can’t” is the most destructive word in the English language. It kills dreams, and destroys motivation, it denies the power of faith. If you want to see changes in your life, I suggest you take your dictionary and cut the word “can’t” out of it. You may say, “I can’t because I don’t have a dictionary.” I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you said because “can’t” isn’t in my vocabulary!