I appreciate my early mentors in the faith when they emphasized the importance of the the Word of God. We were taught how to do daily bible readings and write our insights in a notebook. Regular meditation of the scriptures and doing the Word are part of our spiritual disciplines.

Another important thing we did was to bring our bibles to church as we study it when listening to the sermons and to take down notes in order to remember what we heard from the pulpit. I believe the retention of the sermon is a lot higher when you open the bible yourself and write on your own notebook. There is a greater impact and a bigger propensity to be a doer of the Word compared to one who merely hears it being preached. When you use more than one learning style i.e. hearing while combining it with reading and writing, the more of the Word will be remembered and applied.

Let’s take the Word of God seriously and realize that it is the Bread of Life that is able to transform our lives. I hope to see more and more people study, read, meditate, apply and share the bible. It is truly life-changing!

I was asked to preach on the topic of sex. Singles and sex. Is there a connection? Should there be sex as a single? The answer of course is obvious – NO! The bible is clear “there must not even be a hint of sexual immorality. . .” This is indeed, a challenge to the Christian single. In the midst of a promiscuous culture, one must have a big vision and strong conviction to remain pure and holy. I don’t believe in “safe sex”. There should only be “save sex” until you are married. It can be done. And it’s worth the wait.

We are not to follow the standards of the world but the standards of God.

Col. 3:5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

Col. 3:6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.

The [American] Church is not lacking for “cool” pastors. Like a single guy who is trying just-a-bit-too-hard to impress a girl, some churches are simply trying too hard to be cool.
I’m very encouraged to see a shifting in direction. For years, many of us seemed focused on:
* Designing relevant church experiences.
* Producing entertaining videos.
* Creating inviting environments.
* Crafting sermon series to draw a crowd.
* Writing sermons with shock value and plenty of humor or stories.

While all of the above can be effective tools, many of my friends are intentionally moving in a stronger direction. So many great Christian leaders are seeing far better results with:
* Bathing a sermon in prayer.
* Fasting regularly.
* Practicing personal confession and repentance.
* Preaching from the overflow of time alone in God’s word.
* Caring deeply for others in biblical community.

I’m thrilled so many leaders are placing less emphasis on being cool and more emphasis on being like Christ.

***

We are called to disciple, lead and preach. Not just to entertain people.