Category: From The Desk of Pastor Gene

Christmas was full of shopping, traveling, gathering, feasting, gift exchanges, and movie binging. And, first and foremost, at least I hope, was celebrating the birth of Jesus the Christ. And now, in short order, as our children or grandchildren merrily play with their new gifts, we are likely balancing the checkbook, paying off the credit...

Dr. Paul David Tripp, pastor, internationally known and respected speaker, and a best-selling and award-winning author, tells a story about an experience teaching a Biblical Counseling course in Seminary. He knew the students only took the class because it was required. In light of that, he told story after story about the toughest ministry experiences...

I recently visited a restaurant and I noticed they had a banquet room. On this particular occasion, the banquet room had a sign on the door that said “reserved” and was full of people of various ages. Later, during a trip to the restroom, I noticed it was a birthday celebration. The cake and balloons...

That all the earth may know The shepherd boy David, before becoming King of Israel, as detailed in 1 Samuel 17:45-47 (read below), realized that He had a greater purpose than to kill Goliath and defeat the Philistines. In the same way, we must understand that we have a greater purpose, and our lives have...

A few years back, as our church was in the building phase on our current property at 2201 West 19th Street, our recovery ministry was meeting at the Youth for Christ underground on Saturday mornings. On a few occasions during this period, I had the opportunity to hang out with the children and youth of...

In 1991, we purchased a new maroon Chevrolet Lumina with a gray cloth interior, the car version, not the mini-van. As a matter of context, I was stationed at Randolph Air Force Base in Universal City, Texas northeast of San Antonio. Cheri and I and our two sons, who were in elementary school at the...

In a game of athletics, whether soccer, hockey, basketball, or football, scoring for the other team is somewhat easy. An inadvertent tip here and a deflection there is all it takes. You may have watched a basketball player get disoriented and drive to the opponent’s basket and score a goal only to find out, with...

  People use the phrase, “If you build it, they will come” and often contribute it to the 1989 classic movie, “Field of Dreams.” However, the original phrase was, “If you build it, he will come.” Ultimately, the movie was about one farmer following his dream and building a baseball field in his cornfield. In...

How excited are you about “coming after” Jesus or, in other words, “following” Jesus? Do you know the expectations? Do you understand the cost? I want to warn you before you read the rest of this, it isn’t the typical religious self-focused, health and wealth diatribe. So what does Jesus say about the expectations of...

The idea of a king having sovereign authority is relatively unfamiliar to most Americans and, for that matter, not welcome.  Obviously, we as Americans, rebelled against the King of England and gained our independence in 1776. At best, in the modern era, we catch a headline here and there and maybe a glimpse of English...