Pastor J's Blog

Tony Merida. Ordinary: How to Turn the World Upside Down . Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2015. 137 pages. Hardback. 978-1-4336-8416-6. $12.99.  I recently had the opportunity to sit down and read Ordinary: How to Turn the World Upside Down by Tony Merida. After reading this book, I would like to provide you with a brief summary, constructive critiques, and a word to encourage you to read this book in the immediate future. Don't be confused by the word "critique." Many people who begin to read this blog will place a negative connotation to this word. However, a critical book review seeks to provide the audience with a "critique" concerning the strengths and weaknesses of the author's argument. Merida's thesis reads, "We need Christians focusing on ordinary Christianity-speaking up for the voiceless, caring for the single mom, restoring the broken, bearing burdens, welcoming the functionally fatherless, and speaking the good...

I want everyone that reads this blog to know that pastors are human beings with real struggles in life. In other words, pastors need your prayers. Yes, they have been saved by grace through faith, but so have you. Christians that have placed their faith in Christ are perfect before God right now. Sure we still struggle with sin. Sure we still fall everyday. Yes, pastors do too. Our salvation is never and will never be determined by how good or bad a Christian we are. Our salvation is determined by our faith in Jesus Christ. His perfect life, his sacrificial death for our sins, and his glorious resurrection are what makes us perfect before God through our faith.  Nevertheless, our faith drives us to become more and more like Christ each day. We are called by God to live holy lives, and the more we walk with God the more we see how messed up we are. Pastors are no different. However, pastors are called to a higher standard according to the qualifications outlined in 1 Timot...

Sometimes when I hear the word "lady," all those books that my English teacher made us read in high school come back to my mind. I think of books like  Pride and Prejudice ,  Great Expectations ,  Les Miserables , and  Jane Eyre . Some may read the title of this blog post and think that I am advocating for a return to big hats, sun umbrellas, and corsets. I am not advocating this, but I am advocating that we teach our young ladies how to be women of character or to be a lady. I am a father of two young ladies, and I believe we should instill in our little girls the lost art of being a lady. I will provide three areas to teach our young ladies how to grow into godly women. This post is not only for fathers, but may be used by mothers, youth leaders, and those that have influence over the lives of young girls. However, I will be writing on this subject as a father, and therefore, from a father's point of view. Feel free to take these three areas, and modify the...

Chivalry . . . . That's a word you don't hear everyday. According to Merriam and Webster, one of the definitions for chivalry is, "an honorable and polite way of behaving especially toward women." I believe that we need to bring back the lost art of chivalry in our culture. I know that some movements desire to eradicate the idea of chivalry, but I believe we as fathers, student pastors, and teachers should foster a culture of young men that embrace the ideas associated with being a gentlemen towards women.  God made women and men different, and that's a good thing (Gen 1:27; Gen 2:18-25). God made us spiritually equal (Gal 3:28), but functionally we have complementary roles (Eph 5:22-33). Therefore, chivalry is not dead, but it is dormant. I believe we should teach young men how to behave like young men, and teach them how to treat women with politeness, gentleness, and kindness.  If you ever come to a student ministry event with me, you will hear me...

Pastor Philip and I with our Student Preacher, Dane. This week my volunteers and I had the privilege to take our students to MFuge Camp-a Lifeway Camp-in Barbourville, Kentucky. It was a great experience as usual. This year was our fourth time to take students to MFuge, and every year we try to take our students to a different MFuge site. Our students have been to Charleston, South Carolina, Nashville, Tennessee, and Ridgecrest, North Carolina. The church I serve at typically allows our students to lead the worship service on the Sunday morning following camp. The students have the opportunity to lead worship in song, prayer, and preaching from God's Word. You read that correctly! One of our young men has the task to pray, study, and prepare a sermon for the entire body of believers. This leads me to the purpose of this blog post. I am excited about the next generation of church leaders, deacons, pastors, and missionaries. This next generation will-I believe-be used by G...

One of the many joys of parenting comes in the form of teaching our children new things. We all remember the first time we taught our child or children to tie their shoes, to hit a T-Ball, or to ride a bicycle. Most of us were just as thrilled to watch our children learn and succeed as they were in accomplishing the task before them. In this post, I want to encourage Christian parents to teach their children the biblical principle of reconciliation. By reconciliation, I mean restoring a relationship when sin has hurt the relationship. We need to be honest with ourselves; our children are not perfect. Our children's hearts are prone to sinful actions (Prov. 22:15). Our children will be sinned against and will sin against others. God has graciously blessed us with our children for only a short amount of time. Which means, God has placed our children with us in order that we may teach them the ways of the Lord. All Christian parents should desire to one day send their children ou...