The Root: El Dorado

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09/03/2026

The Morning Good News
September 3, 2026

Teach these things, Timothy, and encourage everyone to obey them. Some people may contradict our teaching, but these are the wholesome teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. These teachings promote a godly life. Anyone who teaches something different is arrogant and lacks understanding. Such a person has an unhealthy desire to quibble over the meaning of words. This stirs up arguments ending in jealousy, division, slander, and evil suspicions. These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt, and they have turned their backs on the truth. To them, a show of godliness is just a way to become wealthy.
1 Timothy 6:2-5

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One of the first things that happens to students as they begin to dive deeply into any subject is that they become arrogant. It happened to me. When I started to understand theology, I wanted to fight with everyone who didn’t. Of course, that’s a pretty good indicator that I really didn’t understand what I was reading, at all. I had just enough knowledge to make me dangerous.

It took 25 years of studying the Scripture to realize that a believer who understands the Word will have a burning heart, not a big head. A believer who understands the Word will have a humble attitude, not a haughty one.

All it takes is a quick tour through the Christian section of Twitter or FaceBook to realize that arrogance reigns supreme. The tragedy is that people are turned away from the Gospel while Christians think they are defending the truth. We have been fooled into thinking that constant arguments are a means of growing in grace. But online arguments rarely promote growth and fellowship. Usually, they just separate people into sub-tribes of sub-tribes. Factions upon factions.

Hey, look, I’m all in on healthy debate. I’ve been training to do that my entire life. That’s what my family did every weekend. We sat at the table, looked each other in the eye, and had spirited conversations about each other’s stupidity. We didn’t fight with fists (except for Michael, who was very good at it), we fought with ideas and verbs. But here’s the deal, we always came back to that table the next weekend. No one was excluded. All ideas were welcome. Even dumb ones.

We must get back to healthy forms of debate. They used to be called “conversations.” It involved listening as well as talking. And it didn’t happen on the internet. Conversations happen over a drink, or during a meal, in a fishing boat, on a long drive, or around a fire. Make space on this long weekend to talk with someone, and more importantly, listen to someone.

Okay. I’m out of here until Tuesday. We take Labor Day Weekend very seriously around here.
If you need me, I’ll be in the pool. Peace and Love.

09/02/2026

The Morning Good News
September 2, 2026

All slaves should show full respect for their masters so they will not bring shame on the name of God and his teaching. If the masters are believers, that is no excuse for being disrespectful. Those slaves should work all the harder because their efforts are helping other believers who are well loved.
1 Timothy 6:1-2

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Leaven (yeast) is used as an illustration many times in the Scriptures. Most of the time it’s used as a negative example of how corruption and sin spread throughout the body and community. “A little leaven spoils the whole lump.” But in Matthew 13, in a parable about the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus uses leaven as a positive illustration: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.” In this case, leaven is not used as a symbol of evil; rather, leaven is a symbol of kingdom ethics and principles, which will gradually and secretly permeate the culture around it.

When it comes to the Bible and the institution of slavery, you would be correct to say that the apostles do not condemn it outright. Slavery was a worldwide institution in the 1st century. In the whole of the Roman Empire, it is estimated that 15% of the total population was under the yoke of slavery. In the city of Rome, and other urban centers, that percentage climbs to 30% of the city population. The church was full of slaves and slave owners.

Even in the 1st century, Paul and the other Apostles knew that engaging in a culture war was a losing strategy. That has never been the modus operandi of the church. Rather than fighting a cultural institution, the Apostles began to plant Gospel leaven into society. Eventually, in Western Society, that yeast has spread enough throughout the culture that today we look at the institution of slavery and say, “what in the world were they thinking?”

Paul never saw the end of slavery. But he put the leaven in the lump. I don’t know why, but the Lord chooses to change people and society gradually, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the proclamation of the truth of the Word of God. As you look at the “culture wars” of today, you can see that the louder the church screams, the more it seems to lose ground. That’s because we were never meant to scream. We were called to spread leaven. We were called to plant seeds and let God cause them to grow. We were called to share the Good News, not spew condemnation.

Have a great day.

09/01/2026

The Morning Good News
September 1, 2026

Remember, the sins of some people are obvious, leading them to certain judgment. But there are others whose sins will not be revealed until later. In the same way, the good deeds of some people are obvious. And the good deeds done in secret will someday come to light.
1 Timothy 5:24-25

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When Kiley Jo and I were involved in youth ministry, we had a simple relationship test for high school students who found themselves in love: canoeing.

Every year we would take our students on a canoe trip down one of the crystal-clear rivers of Southern Missouri. Besides being a great way to get our students away from their PlayStations, that trip would also serve as a very accurate relationship barometer for any budding teenage romance. Because the simple, yet profound, truth is this: if you can canoe together, you can live together.

Canoes are unstable and awkward. They respond to the slightest change of weight distribution. If one person moves, the other needs to move in response. In river bends and rapids, both people must work together, or the canoe will easily turn over. The canoe is the actual Love Boat. If the relationship can survive a canoe trip, then there is a chance that it can survive everything else. These are scientific facts.

Adrian Rogers used to say, “You never really know what is inside someone until they are squeezed.” Put people under pressure and the inner person comes out. And sometimes that inner person is shockingly sinful.

We are brilliant actors, especially on Sunday mornings, or any other event where we will be surrounded by church folk. Tell us to behave “like Christian people” and we can do it. We know the language, the customs, and the appropriate behavior to fit in. But those pesky re-actions are not as easy to fake. When we are put under pressure, or find ourselves in stressful situations, the real Slim Shady will stand up.

When that happens, we discover just how deep the sin in our system runs, and we repent, and we realize that no matter how good we are at acting, we can never fake our way into Kingdom. That entrance, even in our deeply sinful state, is only by the grace of God in the finished work of Jesus Christ. He was righteous when we were wrong. He was faultless when we were deeply flawed. It is His work, and His grace, that not only lets us into the Kingdom, but also keeps us in.
Our sin runs deep, but His mercy runs deeper still. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

08/31/2026

The Morning Good News
August 31, 2026

Don’t drink only water. You ought to drink a little w**e for the sake of your stomach because you are sick so often.
1 Timothy 5:23

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What a funny little verse in a funny little place. It makes no sense to be inserted here in Paul’s train of thought. In fact, it makes so little sense, that many scholars think it was probably written in the margins of the original epistle, perhaps by Luke, Paul’s physician and travel companion. Obviously, we have no way of knowing, but what we do know is that this little bit of instruction has driven commentators, especially conservative evangelical commentators, mad for many, many years.

The basic instructions, given the context of ancient Roman culture, are pretty simple. It would be equivalent of me telling you not to drink the water in Mexico. Most people in those days mixed their water with w**e to kill bacteria. Timothy was a weak and sickly young man. Paul’s (Luke’s) instructions to Timothy were most likely a simple comment to help him avoid dysentery. And anyone who has ever played the Oregon Trail knows how deadly that can be.

But that is not the interesting thing to me. Drink w**e. Don’t drink w**e. Have a b**r. Whatever. You are free. Do what you want. My question is this: why didn’t Paul just heal him? In the book of Acts, people were taking Paul’s garments home and being healed. Why didn’t Paul just send a sweaty handkerchief with the letter and instruct Timothy to sleep on it? I’m sure Paul prayed for his healing, just like he prayed for healing from his own thorn in the flesh, but God didn’t heal Paul’s thorn, and it would seem that He didn’t heal Timothy’s either. Why not? Why heal everyone around them, but not Paul or Timothy themselves? Why give Paul the gift of healing, but make him unable to help himself or his ministry partners?

I suppose the answer to these questions is the one that God, Himself, gave Paul when he prayed for his own deliverance: “My grace is sufficient for you: my strength will be made perfect in your weakness.”

God doesn’t heal every illness. And in those cases where God doesn't heal, He has an eternal purpose for not healing. It is not a lack of faith. It is not something wrong in the life of the individual. There is something within those eternal purposes of God that we cannot, do not, and will not understand. God’s strength and glory are put on display in our weakness and frailty.

So, rejoice! Have a little w**e for your belly and rest in the finished work of Christ.
When you are weak, He is strong.

08/28/2026

The Morning Good News
August 28, 2026

Do not listen to an accusation against an elder unless it is confirmed by two or three witnesses. Those who sin should be reprimanded in front of the whole church; this will serve as a strong warning to others.
I solemnly command you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus and the highest angels to obey these instructions without taking sides or showing favoritism to anyone.
Never be in a hurry about appointing a church leader. Do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.
1 Timothy 5:19-22

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Charles Spurgeon, in Lectures to My Students, advises us that when people come to a pastor with gossip, he should say, “Well, all of this is very important, and I need to give it my full attention – but my memory isn’t so good, and I have a lot to think about. Can you write it all down for me?” Spurgeon says this will take care of it, because people don’t really want to write down their gossip.

I have been on the receiving end of many rumors and slanderous comments. When we took Lauren into our home at the age of 14, I was called a sexual predator. Why else would anyone choose to take care of an orphaned teenager? When I pastored a church in Illinois, I refused to take a hard stance on condemning the consumption of alcohol, so I was called an alcoholic. I even had pastors from other states praying for my recovery and repentance! By a sweet lady in Arkansas, I was told that I was a “tool in the hands of Satan being used to destroy the church.” Which is actually quite impressive, considering Jesus, Himself, said that nothing could destroy the church. (I guess He didn’t see me coming.) And, most recently, I have been called a cult leader. I just don’t have any followers yet. But, there’s always tomorrow.

Anyway, my point is this: people love to throw shots at pastors. Some of it is warranted. Most of it is not. However, if it turns out that leaders are in sin, Paul instructs Timothy to address it directly, with public rebuke, to promote a fear of sin among the leadership and the entire church. Because it’s definitely true that many congregations have had great trouble because of unrepentant and unaddressed sin in the leadership. Leadership in the church does not shield one from accountability; it makes one even more accountable.

The best way to address all of this is to live a life that makes much of honesty, confession, and repentance. If we are continually practicing honesty, confession, and repentance, then there will be no space for rumors and accusations to live.

Have a great weekend.

08/27/2026

The Morning Good News
August 27, 2026

Elders who do their work well should be respected and paid well, especially those who work hard at both preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.” And in another place, “Those who work deserve their pay!”
1 Timothy 5:17-18

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Finally! We’ve made it to the section where I can ask you for money. This is the primary reason I chose to walk you through 1 Timothy! Well, that and the fact that I get to talk about drinking w**e tomorrow. Just kidding. But seriously.

The point Paul is making here is pretty simple: church leaders have the right to be compensated for their work, both with respect and with money. Paul also tells the church in Galatians 6, “Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them.” In other words, the church should protect dedicated leaders from being overworked and underpaid.

But, now, here is where it gets tricky, and here is where we need to walk the tight rope of Christian history and ecclesiastical polity. Paul, himself, the super-Apostle, wasn’t paid for his ministry! He supported himself for the sake of the Gospel so that money would not interfere with the message of the crucified Christ. Paul tells us that leaders should be paid, but he refused any type of salary for himself.

So, like Paul, church leaders can lay aside their right to compensation at any time and be a minister free of charge. Even though we have a right to receive it, we can refuse it. While Paul’s example was rare, it helped him avoid common ministry pitfalls, such as laziness, being a financial burden, demeaning views of manual labor, a self-sufficient mentality, entitlement, and greed. I wish more pastors would follow his example because those things still seem like good things to avoid, even 2000 years post-Paul.

Oh, and it’s important to note that although Paul boasted about his unique practice of salary refusal, he didn’t refuse all support from believers. He received contributions from individuals and churches, as well as lodging and travel assistance from others. Even those who decide to teach or preach for free should still be willing to accept gifts from fellow believers.

Conclusion: If you are a church member, should you pay your pastor? Yes. They have the right to compensation. If you are a pastor, do you have to receive payment from your church? No. You can lay down your rights for the sake of the Gospel.

Have a great day. If you need my Venmo, just ask.

08/26/2026

The Morning Good News
August 26, 2026

Take care of any widow who has no one else to care for her. But if she has children or grandchildren, their first responsibility is to show godliness at home and repay their parents by taking care of them. This is something that pleases God.
1 Timothy 5:3-4

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When Paul was writing his instructions to Timothy, there was no such thing as a social security program or aid from the government. If you had no support, then you had no support. And one class of people that were incredibly vulnerable in Paul’s day were widows. Because women couldn’t own property or support themselves, women who found themselves alone after the death of their husband were usually desperate for help. Paul is quite clear that if a widow has children to take care of her, then that should be the primary source of support, but if she is truly alone, then the people of the church needed to step in and assist.

Over and over again, the New Testament Apostles stress the fact that the church should be taking care of the poor and vulnerable people, especially orphans and widows. Has that mandate changed? No, I don’t think so, even though it has obviously changed shape.

I think there are many churches that do a great job of helping the marginalized of society. I am thankful for the churches in our area who regularly help those in need. But what does concern me is when we depersonalize support and turn it into a faceless benevolence program; just put your money in this pot and we will distribute it evenly to those who need it.

Paul expected support to be personal. He wanted Timothy to get to know these widows, find out their story, and if they truly needed assistance, to provide for them in any way he could. Sometimes that meant finding family for them to reconnect with, sometimes it meant taking them in as a church family, and sometimes it meant finding them another husband! But in any case, support was personal, not programmatic. To really help someone was to get to know them and connect on a deeper level than any monetary transaction could achieve.

One of the ways our little church has done this is to take away the pot of money. We don’t have a benevolence pot. In fact, we have no pots of money at all. When one of our church members brings a need to us, we don’t connect them with a program; we connect them with a person, or persons, who can get to know them, understand their story, and provide the appropriate assistance. That moves people from the realm of project to the reality of personhood. It strips them of their label and gives them a face and a name.

Have a great day.

08/25/2026

The Morning Good News
August 25, 2026

Never speak harshly to an older man, but appeal to him respectfully as you would to your own father. Talk to younger men as you would to your own brothers. Treat older women as you would your mother, and treat younger women with all purity as you would your own sisters.
1 Timothy 5:1-2

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Paul has a radical idea in 1 Timothy 5—when it comes to women, men, and children, treat everyone with respect. That may have been easier in Paul’s day, when the only form of communication was face-to-face.

Now, we have multiple forms of communication, and the overwhelming majority of it happens from a distance: email, text, phone calls, and social media posts. Because of that, we can sit in our underwear and attack anyone we want with our clicking keys. We can insult our neighbors, our bosses, our teachers, our community leaders, and even foreign governments from the safety of our recliner. Via social media, we can chime in on arguments that contain millions of combatants from every corner of the globe. If we want to, we can even get on the President’s Twitter feed and post insulting GIF’s in the comments every day. What a great time to be alive, folks!

I am going to go out on a limb and say, “This is not a healthy way to build a society.”

Paul’s way seems better. Treat people with kindness and respect. Treat people like they were your very own family, even on the interwebs. Kindness is not weakness.

Maya Angelou said, "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." I think she was right about that.

That’s all I have for you this morning. No need to complicate it or fluff it to fill a page.

Love one another.
Be kind.

08/24/2026

The Morning Good News
August 24, 2026

Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.
1 Timothy 4:14-16

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The simplicity of the Gospel message is the stumbliest of stumbling blocks. Can it really be as easy as “Jesus paid it all?” Can it really be that all of my sin, past-present-future, was forgiven at the cross of Christ? Can it really be that it is finished? That sounds too simple. We need something more. We need to be recognized for our efforts.

We may start with faith alone in Christ alone. We may claim to know nothing but the cross of Jesus Christ. The beginning stages of our hope may be built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. But then come the additions: morality clauses, social conduct, political positions, financial faithfulness, service, stewardship, saying “brother” in church…the list goes on.

If you live the right way and vote the right way — God will bless you.
If you’re faithful to attend church and faithful to share the Facebook posts — God will bless you.
If you’re faithful to work VBS, camp, or volunteer in the nursery — you will be blessed.
If you give at least 10% of your pre-tax income to the church, you will notice that your bank accounts are always full, your skin looks young and radiant, your children grow up to be successful, and your yard is always the nicest in the neighborhood. And you will be blessed.

Now, none of those things are bad things, in and of themselves, but simply put, if we are performing an action in order to be blessed by God, it’s a false Gospel. It’s the Prosperity Gospel. That’s the “sow a seed of faith” gospel, which is no gospel at all. We are assuming that God’s blessings are directly proportional to our faith and action.

The authentic Gospel is this: you were an enemy of God, and God blessed you with the gift of Christ. You were a sinner, and Christ died for the ungodly. You were dead in your sins, and Christ made you alive. You did nothing to earn His blessings. He blessed you because He is Good.

Paul told Timothy: “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” His warning is for us, as well, today. We must pay close attention to the simplicity of the Gospel message. Our salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone. It is finished. That’s it. That’s the Good News. Full stop.

Have a great day.

08/21/2026

The Morning Good News
August 21, 2026

Teach these things and insist that everyone learn them. Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them.
1 Timothy 4:11-13

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Paul tells Timothy, “Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young,” and oh, how I loved this section of Scripture when I was younger. Rumor has it, I can be a bit antagonistic. I like to push buttons. And as a student, I understood this as a license to be bold and arrogant; to stand up against the oppression of the cranky old khaki pant saints in our church.

It turns out, that’s not what Paul says, or means, in this passage. In fact, it’s pretty much the opposite. What Paul does say to Timothy can be best interpreted like this, “Don’t give anyone a reason to look down on you because of your youth. Be an example of Christ in everything you do, and they can’t say anything.” Paul isn’t giving Timothy a license to be bold arrogant. He’s encouraging him to be humble and Christlike. My youthful interpretation was not just wrong, it was utterly wrong. It was 100% wrong.

Paul’s instructions in his other twelve letters to the churches of the Roman Empire verify his intentions to Timothy. He encourages us to live peaceable quiet lives. To do our work. To submit to authorities. To lay down our rights. To lift high the name of Christ by our example of sacrifice, not combativeness. In other words, to model Jesus.

It’s amazing how I can look at that passage now, with fresh eyes, and see my error, but the truth is this: I misinterpreted that passage because that’s what I wanted it to say. I wanted the Bible to give me permission to be snarky and rude. I wanted to be arrogant. And many of us do that frequently with the Bible, the news, or even our communications with the people around us. We approach each situation with our minds already made up, and look for confirmation in the text, the article, the newscast, or the conversation. We know what we want, and we look for anything that supports our desires, whether it’s true or not.

I pray that today, as we interact with the world around us, that we would lay down our biases and approach each moment with a willingness to see, listen, interpret, and respond. And, I pray that we would never give anyone any reason to look down on us because of our faith.

Have a great day.

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101 E Locust Street
El Dorado, AR
71730

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