An Inconvenient Journey

God doesn’t always take us where we want to go. And sometimes when he does, he leads us in a way we never would have imagined. Often God’s way isn’t the shortest or quickest path, but instead seems to take us on an inconvenient journey.

Today, we live in a shortcut society, a culture of convenience. Microwaves for popcorn. Cell phones with text messaging and movies. We can download almost anything instantly. And we’re hoping that Scotty of Star Trek fame will soon be able to beam us up, or anywhere else for that matter.

That’s because we live life in the fast lane, and with so many of us there the traffic is often at a standstill. We wish we could get where we’re going so we can do what we think we should be doing. But we sometimes we can’t. So we grow ever more impatient and less content.

We’re busy—being busy. In fact, we become so busy living, we forget to have a life. Couples live together, yet grow farther apart as their interests and involvements diverge. Rather than participate in family activities, we each go our separate ways. And we also distance ourselves from the One who loves us more than life.

God wants us to do more than slow down. He wishes we’d do more than make a pit stop to smell a few roses. He wants us to enjoy this journey called life. And he’s willing to take us on the scenic road for a reason.

God is more concerned about our character than our comfort, who we’re becoming than where we’re going.

The same was true with the children of Israel when they wandered in the wilderness. That may have been the result of disbelief, but God didn’t waste the time. Instead he used it to mold his people and shape their faith. He does the same with us today so that like them we can cross over into God’s promises.

When we begin to change the pace of our lives, we can change the place we live. We can move from the states of Urgency and Panic to the states of Peace and Joy. And when that happens, we’ll change our perspective of life.

We may not arrive at our destination as fast as we once hoped we would, but we’ll enjoy the journey more. And it won’t seem as inconvenient as we once thought it would be.



Want to learn more? Visit http://praisechapelkingman.podblaze.com to hear a sermon by Senior Pastor Howard Pennington or any of our pastors or guest speakers.

Paradigm Shifts

Often times we believe something because we don’t know any better. People once thought the world to be flat and the center of the universe. Then scientists discovered the truth. When we learn, we change and so does our world.

• One man decided that if electronic signals could be sent from one place to another, so could the human voice. Today, telephones span the globe.
• Another man thought songs should be archived, so he recorded them. And music filled our homes.
• That same man believed he could harness electricity, and light bulbs became commonplace.
• Two brothers dreamed of a faster way to bridge the continents. Now, airplanes are a way of life.
• A college dropout believed everyone would want a personal computer.

Sometimes we need to question what we know so we can learn what we don’t so we can do what hasn’t been done. But we won’t if we remain igNORant.

Likewise, entrenched tradition becomes religious ritual. Stale. Dry. Bland. But when we do what Jesus taught about wineskins, when we keep our hearts soft and supple, we can hold the precious new wine God pours out for all of us to enjoy.

We should be open to new ideas, new ways. Every generation needs its own experience and expression of faith. "Amazing Grace" was once a new song. Because it is timeless, today we sing the verses that John Newton penned as his personal creed to new arrangements. The old can be blended with the new. But we need to be open.

We need to adapt. The methods may change; the message remains constant. Some things endure time, but most change—and so should we. Chuck Swindoll put it this way. “Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be broken.”

God’s character and nature remain steadfast, unchanged, unchangeable. But his actions—how he reaches out to us—vary from one generation, one group, and one person to another. Likewise, we are to adapt our methods, but not change God’s message of his love and grace and mercy. Those are eternal.


Want to learn more? Visit http://praisechapelkingman.podblaze.com to hear a sermon by Senior Pastor Howard Pennington or any of our pastors or guest speakers.

What We Believe

The foundation of what we do rests on the bedrock of what Jesus did.

We believe…
God said what he meant and meant what he said. And even when we don’t understand parts of the Bible, we trust that God gave it to us complete, so we can become whole and holy.

We believe…
There is only one God who always has and always will exist as three persons: the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

We believe…
Jesus was both all man and all God; completely human, entirely divine; tempted as we are, yet never sinned.

We believe…
Jesus took our place and suffered our punishment so that we may be pardoned, not paroled.

We believe…
God wants to save everyone and that anyone who wants God’s mercy and grace can have them—free for the asking—so we can enjoy a relationship with him.

We believe…
We are God’s representatives to people everywhere; his hands and feet, his eyes and ears, his voice and his heart, authorized by him to do what he would do.

We believe…
Jesus is alive and that we will live forever with him. Because we trust that what he did was enough and that all we could do would never be sufficient.

We believe…
He’s creating a place for us in heaven and we expect he will return soon.

God's Best

What do you want? What do you deserve? What do you expect?

The answers may not be the same. Depending on how you consider the questions, they shouldn’t be.

If you believe that what you deserve from God is judgment and punishment, then you consider yourself an unworthy sinner—even if you’ve been forgiven, pardoned by grace. But if you understand that once you accept his salvation, he adopts you, you know you are his child. You also learn that everything he has is yours; you’re a joint heir with Christ. As such, what you deserve is far different from what you once earned.

Furthermore, as a sinner, what you want from God is unattainable. Or so you think. And since you’re unredeemed you doubt you can experience God’s blessing. So you don’t expect it. But you should. And there’s a story in the Bible that illuminates this truth.

A woman, not a Jew, came to Jesus to ask for his help. Being a Greek, she wasn’t entitled to what Jesus termed the children’s bread. She answered that even dogs get fed crumbs. Now, that means neither that she saw herself as unworthy nor that she’d be content with less than what she came for. Jesus understood her intent and commended her. Because of her wisdom and her faith—that is, she expected his help—Jesus gave her what she asked for.

But how many times have you failed to ask? How many times have you expected only what you think you deserve. How many times have you walked away and didn’t get what you wanted?

Until you are pardoned—rescued from your sin, yourself, and your self—you get crumbs. Blessings, but not God’s best. Even when you don’t realize that and even though you may not be aware enough to acknowledge the truth, all that’s good in your life comes from God. You just can’t enjoy all the privileges of an heir, but he blesses you even though you’re not his.

But why would you be satisfied to lick crumbs from the floor when you could feast at his table?

That’s the question Mephibosheth had to answer. And when he did, he realized he could expect what he wanted and want what he expected—because he deserved it.


Want to learn more? Visit http://praisechapelkingman.podblaze.com to hear a sermon by Senior Pastor Howard Pennington or any of our pastors or guest speakers.

Happy Father's Day

Worship leader Randy French quipped that when he woke up today, he told God, “Happy Father’s Day.”

God is the father of us all, but unfortunately we are not all his children. One common misconception in the world today is that physical birth makes us part of God’s family. But in truth we must be born again. That’s not new news.

Nicodemus, a religious ruler in Jesus’ day, didn’t understand this. Puzzled, he asked how he could renter his mother’s womb to be born a second time. Jesus explained that the physical could only birth that which exists in this realm. To experience spiritual rebirth requires an act of God. The good news is it's his will to do so.

God loves being a father. So much so that using another analogy he described how Gentiles became part of God’s family. The Jewish people are God’s chosen, but we who were not of the lineage of Abraham can still be among God's heirs.

Today, God still deliberately searches for those who are fatherless—orphans whom he can adopt. When he finds us, he makes us his own. And he treats us no differently than the children of Israel.

He clothes us in the same righteousness. We are granted the same seal of authority as those born into his heritage. And we are given shoes, a symbol that authenticates our status as his children.

He’s given us far more, but on this day we should give him what he wants most—us.


Want to learn more? Visit http://praisechapelkingman.podblaze.com to hear a sermon by Senior Pastor Howard Pennington or any of our pastors or guest speakers.

Time Is Running Out

Do you have a purpose driven life or just a driven life? What have you accomplished in the past week or month? Or does time keep on slippin’ into the future with little or no significant progress?

Maybe we should measure time in minutes so we’ll value it more by being mindful that time is finite. Otherwise, as we grow older our hope may become bankrupt. With every passing year our regrets will increase and our remorse will be insufficient to fund what little time remains.

We can’t undo the past any more than we are guaranteed a certain future. Time is running out and we’d do well to make every moment count. To cherish our families and friends more than we do material goods or accomplishments. No one is likely to wish with their last breath that they could work one more day. But many may regret they didn’t spend their time more wisely.

So, since we cannot do everything we might like, we must, as Senior Pastor Les Hughes says, “choose our guilt.”

Perhaps two questions will help. What is your life worth? And if you will later regret what you did and wish you could live that moment again, why not choose now to do what you will never regret?


Want to learn more? Visit http://praisechapelkingman.podblaze.com to hear a sermon by Senior Pastor Howard Pennington or any of our pastors or guest speakers.

The Beautiful People

Look at an ad for almost anything from cars to cola and you’ll see them. The beautiful people. The ones who live in the nicest homes, have the best jobs, drive the fanciest cars, wear the latest fashions, and have the coolest friends. But there’s a message beyond the one that promises we can be like them.

The more subtle message is that we need to be like them; we should want to be beautiful by their standards. If we buy into this idea, we’ll spend our lives trying to obtain the unreachable—perfection.

We need to be less concerned with what people think and more with how God sees us. We need to look into the mirror of the Bible and discover what he says about us.

When we do we’ll understand our value—our worth to him. Once we realize that we are priceless, that he gave all he had to redeem us, we’ll see others and ourselves differently.

We’ll become less concerned with how people view us and more with whether or not we’re blocking their view. When we become transparent—unafraid to let others see the ugliness of our sins—Christ makes us beautiful.


Want to learn more? Visit http://praisechapelkingman.podblaze.com to hear a sermon by Senior Pastor Howard Pennington or any of our pastors or guest speakers.

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

Christianity isn’t about personalities; it’s about people. It’s not about rituals; it’s about relationships. Ours with God and with each other.

But often times we don’t like imperfection, in others or ourselves. Consequently, we tend to judge by an impossible standard. The Pharisees did this. They heaped the Law of Moses and their own regulations on the people, but failed to keep these man-made commandments. They made little or no allowance for weaknesses, much less failures.

God isn’t like that. He loves us and exhorts us to love one another in the same way. That’s why we should be patient. We need to love others—and ourselves—long enough for God to change us.

Salvation isn’t a magic wand in the sense that our lives become trouble-free overnight. Change takes time. But grace has the power to change us—when we can’t change ourselves.

Like Mephibosheth, we remain crippled, less than whole and a bit dysfunctional. Yet we are invited to always enjoy dinner with the King. When Jesus walked this earth, he ate with sinners, flawed human beings who needed a savior. He does the same today, and so should we.


Want to learn more? Visit http://praisechapelkingman.podblaze.com to hear a sermon by Senior Pastor Howard Pennington or any of our pastors or guest speakers.

The Power of Choice

Not to decide is to decide. And every day, every choice we make makes us who we will be tomorrow.

Actor Don Johnson once told an interviewer two reasons his life had spiraled downward. “I not only made bad choices, I chose bad friends.”

There is truth in his words. But our choices reach beyond the friends we keep and the ones we don’t. All that we experience contributes to who we are—for good or otherwise.

Good friends—those who love as we are with no agenda to change us—hope that nevertheless we will change. And until we do, they love us.

Such friends are committed to us even when we are not committed to ourselves. They not only forgive our transgressions, our mistakes, our flaws and faults and failures, but they are considerate enough to forget what we often cannot. Likewise, they hold in trust whatever secrets of ours they know and refuse to breech our confident confessions, even when it might profit them.

Such friends tell us the truth about ourselves, as my good friend Cecil Murphey says, “no matter how beautiful it may be.” These friends by their own vulnerability beckon us to become more transparent. When possible, they construct advice that will build us up; they are never such as the critics who seek only our demolition.

Above all else good friends are consistent. They neither abandon us in bad times nor abuse us in good times. Their love for us is like God’s love—unrelated in any way to our performance. They love us regardless and that love remains constant even when our character waivers.

So it is that we have the power to choose. And for that reason we should remember that such power is the greatest of all. We cannot abdicate our authority for if we do so, we forfeit our birthright. In that process we deny who we are or at the very least we forget that we are the sum of our choices, not our experiences.

For not only what we do not do but what we do make us who we are. But what others decide should never become part of our equation. Never are we victims of the choices others make. Their choices may limit ours, but the right to choose is unalienable. No law can deprive us of it. No sovereign can deny us the power God has granted.

Even he will not dispute our free will. Yet that is contained within his sovereignty. He allows us the freedom to choose, but will at every turn, every time, in every place, and every situation do all that is within his power to persuade us that his choice, his will, is best for our lives.

That is why he calls us to make a choice. Not between right and wrong, for such choices are momentary, regarding one thought or action or habit only at the moment of temptation. No, instead God asks us to choose between death and life—and pleads that we will desire only the latter. Because he has no craving to punish us. His will is that we would have life and that in surplus.


Want to learn more? Visit http://praisechapelkingman.podblaze.com to hear a sermon by Senior Pastor Howard Pennington or any of our pastors or guest speakers.

Most Likely

What was the caption under your senior class yearbook photo? For many of us, we expected LEAST LIKELY TO SUCCEED. Some of us still think of ourselves in those terms.

If that describes you, you’re qualified to be one of God’s chosen people. What kind of people does God choose? Imperfect people—they’re the only kind.

Take a look in the Bible and among others you’ll find a murderer who wrote, “Don’t kill.” You’ll discover an apostolic killer who became a pillar. And if you read long enough, you’ll see cowards who became heroes, losers turned into leaders, and nobodies who became somebodies.

How? Because God turns weaknesses into strengths.

Why? So everyone knows that God is responsible for whatever good things happen.

The fact is we can’t accomplish anything without his help. But with his help, we can do everything he asks of us—far more than we can imagine.

When we don’t believe in ourselves, we need to remember that God believes in us.


Want to learn more? Visit http://praisechapelkingman.podblaze.com to hear a sermon by Senior Pastor Howard Pennington or any of our pastors or guest speakers.

Right Where You Belong

Strong churches are built with strong people. But they exist for those who are weak.

Most of us have no problem identifying one of the major problems in our lives. All we have to do is look in our mirrors. But the problem goes much deeper than the image we see or the ones we portray to others.

Much of our time seems to be spent on trying to find a place where we fit, a place where we feel comfortable. We want to be part of something more than we can ever be on our own. We want to belong. We long to be applauded, even acclaimed, for our gifts and talents. But we want more than that.

We’re not content with being liked for what we do. We want to be loved for who we are.

Unfortunately, today too many people feel excluded by the church, rather than included in it. The church—that vast cross-cultural, diverse group of people, not a collection of buildings—isn’t intended to either isolate or insulate us from the world. The good news of God’s love isn’t meant to immunize us against temptation, but rather to inoculate us against sin.

Will we sin after God forgives us? Of course we will; we’re human. And when we do, we need fellowship with fellow strugglers. We need to know we’re not alone and that God isn’t mad at us. Likewise, others need to hear from us that we’ve been where they are, that God helped us, and that he doesn’t love us more—or less—than he loves them.

This is one of the primary reasons we belong in church: We need one another. And I can’t think of a better place to be than where I’m needed most.


Want to learn more? Visit http://praisechapelkingman.podblaze.com to hear a sermon by Senior Pastor Howard Pennington or any of our pastors or guest speakers.

High Priority

What does spiritual wellness have to do with physical health? In his third letter, John makes a connection when he expresses hope that we will enjoy both.

So if there is a correlation, even a causative effect, how can we improve our quality of living?

There’s nothing new about our need for healthy food, regular exercise, and good rest. So, why don’t we do what we know is right?

One reason may be because we misunderstand grace. While all foods are lawful, not everything we eat is food. Sometimes we make poor choices; we neglect our physical health. Other times we wish we could be someone other than who we are; we reject what God has given us. Or worse, we blame him for our behavior. We can also go to the extreme, become obsessed with our bodies. The results can be disastrous, even deadly. We can be lured into dysfunctional lifestyles or self-worship. And when we do anything other than what God recommends, grace won’t prevent us from suffering the consequences.

God wants us to enjoy living. To get the most out of life, we need to make choices based on what God says is good for us. When we do, we can rest assured that he will keep his promises. And we’ll literally eat the fruit of our labor.

So, go ahead. Live it up. Make time for yourself to eat right, enjoy your leisure, and rest. Make healthy living a high priority. God doesn’t mind if you take a little time off. In fact, he created one day each week so you could do just that.


Want to learn more? Visit http://praisechapelkingman.podblaze.com to hear a sermon by Senior Pastor Howard Pennington or any of our pastors or guest speakers.