“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (John 14:15)
Much attention is focused on Jesus’ promise in John 14:14, “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it”, and rightly so. And yet it is interesting how many focus on that promise, while completely neglecting the next verse. It contains only nine very brief words, and yet in them Jesus shares some very convicting truths: Continue reading
“Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to the Father.” (John 14:12)
Much of the attention given this verse is often directed toward the second part: “greater works than these he will do” — people are amazed at the implication that Jesus’ followers might do works even greater than those that He did when He was here on earth. And that IS an amazing statement indeed!
But perhaps we should give as much attention to the FIRST part of the verse, Continue reading
With three of Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church’s adult members on mission in three different nations the next couple of weeks, our members need to realize the important responsibility we have to support our colleagues in prayer. In the biography, Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret, Taylor is quoted as saying of his mission workers in China: Continue reading
Our church, Pleasant Ridge Baptist in Morganton, North Carolina, is sending three adult members out to different mission fields this weekend: one to Wales, one to Haiti, and one to Romania. I sent them this quote from China Inland Mission founder Hudson Taylor about the importance of prayer to mission work — and the way that the enemy will often try to distract us from it: Continue reading
“Philip said to Him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’” (John 14:8)
If Jesus had responded to this request with a note of frustration in His voice, it would have been understandable: Continue reading
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.'” (John 14:6)
This isn’t “just” a verse about Jesus being the only way to heaven — although it does indeed teach that. There could not be a stronger statement of the centrality of Jesus as everything we need, than in this verse: it says He is “the way, and the truth, and the life”. Continue reading
“If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:3)
No wonder these words are among the most beloved in scripture. They describe for us the blessing of heaven: it is being WITH HIM! Continue reading
“From now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when does occur, you may believe that I am He.” (John 13:19)
This is true not only regarding Jesus’s impending death and resurrection, but of ALL Christian prophecy. WHY did God give these words? “so that when it does occur, you may believe.” Prophecy demonstrates that something Divine is indeed operative here on earth: Continue reading
I want to begin by congratulating Dewey Phipps, Josh Peterson, and Anthony Burdick for completing the Bear Run last week. If you aren’t familiar with that, it is a 5-mile run ALL UPHILL on Grandfather Mountain. I can’t imagine how challenging that run would be. When you are out driving up a little hill in your car, you don’t think much of it — If you saw someone out there running up that “little hill”, you might think, “That wouldn’t be too hard.” But when you are actually out there, running up any kind of an incline — it’s a lot harder than you think!
There are a lot of things in life that are a lot more difficult than we think. We often talk like getting to heaven is easy; that almost everyone is going there — “they’re going to a better place” — but are they? Are WE? If Jesus shows us ONE thing here in the last part of Matthew Chapter 5, it is that having the righteousness that actually gets you into the Kingdom of Heaven is a lot harder than many people think! Continue reading
I'm a retired Southern Baptist pastor of almost 40 years. My wife Cheryl & I moved to Norman, OK in March of 2025. I share a weekly overview for Sunday School teachers of the weekly Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson, as well as texts of my sermons and other articles.
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