Serious About Scripture

Mentoring and motivating Christ’s people to live his words

Thoughts on Improving Baptisms

Since water baptism is so important to the churches, I want to put forward a few ideas that may help churches make more of this important symbolic act. What I’m suggesting is in the way of pastoral advice, not doctrine. You can take or leave these ideas, but in my own experience and through information received from many pastors over the years, these suggestions could make this experience much more memorable and effective. Most of these suggestions will apply to…

This is WHAT DAY the Lord has made?

When we quote or sing “This is the day the Lord has made,” we aren’t saying that this very day, the day we are in presently, is the day the Lord has made. That is true, of course, but it isn’t what Psalm 118: 22-24 is about. Rather, something much more important is being said. Read it closely: “The stone which the builders rejectedHas become the chief corner stone.This is the Yahweh’s doing;It is marvelous in our eyes.This is the…

Cain Did Worse: Your Letter from Jim

Dear CCW family, Several years ago, I watched two angry yard workers in my front lawn screaming at each other. One man got into such a rage that he threw his machete directly at his adversary. He missed, but it came way too close. Then, just as the assailant jumped in his truck to escape, the second man slammed a baseball bat against his truck’s windshield, shattering it. The driver burned rubber as he took off. The man with the…

The Unwitting Preaching of Christ

It may surprise you that some people preach Christ even when they are trying very hard not to. Let me explain. By “preach” I mean, “to share the person of Christ and the message of the gospel with others.” That’s what we should be about as believers. The early Christians, following the stoning of Stephen, did this everywhere they went as further persecution forced them out of Jerusalem. Luke, the author of Acts, reported this succinctly, “Now those who were…