Finally! After another long school year, summer has finally arrived! FREEDOM! Believe me, I know you how you feel. Remember, I just finished a long school year myself. Now that summer is here, a lot of you have a whole bunch of extra time on your hands. If you’re lucky enough, your family will be using the summer months to vacation and do all kinds of fun stuff together. But a lot of you simply have a lot more time on your hands with not that much to do. That can be a dangerous thing – a VERY dangerous thing. The Bible teaches us that idle hands can wreck our ...

Read More

Seniors, today is the last day that you will be joining us for youth worship services. In previous years, you would have stayed with the youth group even after your high school graduations, but I’ve decided that it’s more important for you all to move on and join the adult congregation as soon as possible. After all, once you’ve graduated from high school, you are no longer considered youth anymore! That makes today a truly bittersweet day for me. The bitter part first. Having just started a year ago, and being a full-time student myself, I didn’t have a ...

Read More

Persecution of believers around the world is still alive and well. I was painfully reminded of this when I read the story of three missionaries in Turkey who were recently ambushed, tortured and killed for their faith. The details of their torture are too gruesome to share here. They fell into the hands of Muslim extremists who believed it was their duty to commit such an unspeakable act, and they all died as martyrs for the sake of Jesus Christ. I share this with you for three reasons. First, I want you to know that even though it is relatively easy for us to be ...

Read More

Although not as frequently as before (especially our first year of marriage), Gina and I still occasionally have arguments with each other. They are more arguments than all-out fights these days, but we still deal with them here and there. What I am slowly learning from our arguments is this: there are always two sides to an argument, and it is crucial that I really try to understand her side before I react. This takes time, patience, and humility – three things that I do not always have. The same goes for you and your parent(s). It may not even be arguments – ...

Read More

I’d like to share with you what I’ve been sharing with the youth shepherds and your parents recently. And that is this: there is incredible strength in youth ministry when the church partners with the parents. Not only does this partnership bring strength, it is a MUST if we really want to build a God-honoring youth ministry at SBC. Adolescence – what all of you are going through right now – is not an easy thing to deal with. Believe me, I’ve been there. I know how many of you feel right now. Some of you may feel misunderstood by your parents and so there ...

Read More

All throughout the month of February, we will be focusing our attention on world missions. We will be hearing from missionaries from all around the world! Each of these speakers has obeyed God’s call to go and reach the world for Christ, and each of them has an incredible story to share with you. A brief description of each speaker is available for you to read in the special bulletin insert entitled, “Missions Month.” I hope that you will listen intently to what God is revealing to you personally as you hear from these speakers. Most of the world’s best ...

Read More

The runaway hit TV show, “American Idol” began its new season this past week. I wouldn’t say that I’m a big fan of the show by any stretch, but it certainly provides good entertainment. I watched the season premiere and was amusingly shocked by some of the contestants who were convinced of their singing ability. One contestant that particularly stood out, at least to me, was a young lady who had the peculiar ability to sing like the lion character from the movie, “Wizard of Oz.” Hilarious and pitiful at the same time. As I was watching, I could not help ...

Read More