“I don’t care about your eternity. I only care about mine.”

No one in Church says those statements.

But quite often, we show it through our actions. When we fail to share the message of Jesus as our Lord and Savior with other people. When we do not invite the people we know to join us for Easter. When we fail to park far away on Sunday, so guests can park close and feel welcome. When we take the back row of seats first, and we make guests walk to the front if they are a few minutes late. When we only talk to people we know before and after worship, making guests feel like outsiders. When we fail to smile, open the door, be friendly, and ask questions of others.

When we do these things, we show people who are lost and don’t know Jesus, “I don’t care about you. I am only here for me.”

I must admit that when I said it, I felt a little embarrassed. This man was walking through a dark season of his life, and all I could do after hearing his story was say, “I’m praying for you.” Then I sheepishly added, “It is the least I can do.”

After all these years, I would like to rescind that statement. Whenever I pray for someone or when a person prays for me, it is not the least we can do; it is the most we can do.

I tend to minimize prayer and the power of addressing God, but I have come to believe it is the most effective thing we can do for one another.

Thanks to everyone who prays for me and know this, “I’m praying for you too.”

We have seven days until we gather to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus. Let’s pray wisely.  

Monday – Pray that this week, people will invite everyone they know to join them on Easter. Pray for the cards that have been handed out and that the social media posts will reach someone who will attend worship this year for the first time.

Tuesday – Pray for our Easter offering. At the Church I lead, we will be giving half of our collection to the Show Me Christian Youth Home. The amount climbs every year, and we pray that people will be more generous than ever. Please help us make an impact in our community and across the state in the lives of others for Jesus.

Wednesday – Pray for everyone involved in worship this weekend: the person preparing a communion devotion, those reading scripture, those running the slides and sound, greeters, the security team, children’s ministry, and even those preparing the building.

Thursday – Pray for the Worship Team. Pray that their hearts will be ready for Sunday, their voice will be clear, and they will stay healthy through the weekend.

Friday – Pray for people to have open hearts, minds, and schedules to attend this weekend. Pray that new people will come to hear about Jesus. Pray that those who have not been to Church in a while will desire to return.

Saturday – Pray for the Pastor, any final adjustments to the sermon, his spiritual readiness, his rest tonight, and God’s mightily using him as he preaches.

Sunday – Pray for everyone who will be present in worship. Pray that their hearts will be open and that the Word of God will penetrate them. Pray that this day will be a step in a new direction in their walk of faith.

We are a little over a week away until the Christian world celebrates Resurrection Sunday, or as many call it, Easter.

For some Christians, this is just another Sunday. They can tell you about pagan connections or their hatred of eggs and chocolate bunnies. Some very devout religious people will not celebrate this day as an act of devotion to Jesus.

For other Christians, this day will be filled with worship attendance, a celebration of the resurrection, family time together, and perhaps a big family dinner. They will enjoy this day and its emphasis on the resurrection of Jesus as an act of worship.

Neither of these two groups is my concern during this time of year. What weighs heavy on my mind are those who will miss Easter because no Christian shared their faith with them. No one invited them to join in worship on this day. No one connected with them with the hopes of telling them about Jesus’ resurrection. They will neither find faith nor joy during this holiday season.

I don’t want anyone to miss Easter because of Christian neglect. Maybe we can work together as believers to make sure that doesn’t happen this year. We have a week, so let’s get inviting.

Often, the things you really want in life do not come easily. Weight loss, knowledge of a topic, relationships, and financial freedom do not come to us naturally. All of them take work. We have to force ourselves to get up early, study, have uncomfortable conversations, and make difficult decisions. And yet, they all feel amazing once we accomplish them.

The same is true if you want a life with strong faith. If you want to be someone who loves the Lord, which overflows into a love for others, then it will also take effort. You will have to get up early or stay up late, read, listen, learn, have open discussions about things that matter, and make decisions that require you to deny your instincts. You will have to get used to being uncomfortable, feeling a lack of control, and not seeing immediate results.

I wish I could tell you that being a growing follower of Jesus is a life of certainty, and everything will be easy, but that is simply not true. It is a life of work, just like most things worth having.   

Discussing finances isn’t my favorite part of ministry. Yet the reality is that our church community has practical needs that require financial support. Our staff, building and the ministries we cherish all depend on faithful giving. Like many of you, we’ve seen our expenses climb significantly over the past couple of years. For example, the cost of insurance on our building has tripled in the past five years. When the cost of living increases for your household, it affects our church family in the same way.

What truly excites me, however, is viewing giving as an essential part of our spiritual journey. “But since you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you – see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” (2 Corinthians 8:7)

I’ve witnessed something remarkable over the years. When someone begins contributing to our Church’s basic needs, something transformative often happens. That initial step of financial stewardship frequently becomes a gateway to deeper generosity and spiritual growth. What starts as helping “keep the lights on” can blossom into a profound expression of discipleship.

While I may never be entirely comfortable discussing money, I speak about it now not just for our Church’s financial health but for something far more critical – your continued growth as a follower of Christ. My prayer is that this Easter season, each one of you might excel in the grace of giving.

All of life involves interpretation. ALL OF IT!

Yes, as Christians, our primary emphasis is on the proper interpretation of the Bible. But there is so much more that impacts our lives.

You interpret your spouse’s actions and words. They said they don’t care where we eat as long as it’s fast and not expensive. Your job is to now interpret that into a dinner that makes them happy.

Your friend stopped texting and no longer appears to want to hang out, so you have to interpret what that might mean to your friendship.

There is a person in the Church community who invited you into their home. They have never done that before. What does that mean?

Numerous times, I have found that the source of conflict in our lives is not what someone said or did; it is how we interpret it. Quite often, we misunderstand their intentions and usually assume the worst. You think they meant it for harm, and they intended it for good. You believe that comment was a backhand slap to the face when they had not thought about your situation at all. You simply misinterpreted their intentions.

Accurate interpretation is required for reading the Bible, but it is equally necessary for understanding the people who follow that Bible.

That sounds harsh for a pastor to say, but I cannot emotionally care about everything. I do not have the fortitude to care about every little thing that happens in my Church community.

I care deeply about a few things. I invest my life in projects that I believe represent my most significant contribution to God’s kingdom. My time goes to my faith, family, preaching, staff and Church leaders, and events that connect people with Jesus.

For us to care intensely about a few important things – whether people, plans, or projects – we must also decide what we won’t care about. What doesn’t deserve my time, energy, and emotion?

Without boundaries, we eventually become a mile wide and an inch deep. And sadly, we’ll discover that no one really cares about us either.

One struggle for people of faith is seeing their Church through today’s eyes.

We tend to lock into the time we came to know Jesus. We look back at music, the preacher, and even the décor as being the best at the time we became Christians. Our emotional attachment to the methods of that time is unseen but clearly present in our hearts. Without articulating it, people begin to see the Church today as “less than” when they were younger.

With time, we stop innovating, and we stop being creative in our worship of God. We lock into our favorite era and never leave. We begin to become crawdads, as one preacher put it. “We back blindly into the future and look longingly into the past.”

The Church must continually evaluate only two things: First, is it true to God’s word? Second, is it about reaching people with the gospel and helping them become fully devoted disciples of Jesus today?

Our commitment to Jesus and his mission must be bigger than our love of the past if we want our Church to be vital today and still effective tomorrow.  

I was talking with a 73-year-old preacher. He is still going strong for the Lord as he leads his congregation through his preaching and teaching. As we talked about his life, ministry, and schedule, he told me that he blocks out all of Tuesday and Wednesday mornings for study. He puts a note on his office door so that he is not disturbed, and he spends hours reading, thinking, and praying.

It would be easy for him to coast in his life and career. He has read enough and has stored more knowledge than he will ever be able to share. Why keep studying? He wants to continue growing his understanding of the scriptures and the ways of the Lord.

When I asked him about it, he confidently stated, “I believe filling your mind with scripture is an act of worship.” Growing in his Bible comprehension is a way for him to show his love for Jesus. Every day, he wants to love a little more and grow a little more.

At what point do you know enough as a follower of Jesus that you can stop learning? If someone ever reaches that point, I will be sure to write a post about it.