A Fresh Start

It's not easy to rest. Many of us fill our plates with more activity than we can accomplish well. And too often our cups overflow because we keep pouring more and more into them. Our TO DO lists seem to never quite get completed. And so we carry over from one day to the next what we didn't get done the day before.

Consequently, we tend to carry an ever-increasing load of projects and responsibilities. Worse still, we continue to add to our burdens with ever-decreasing hopes of achieving our goals. Sooner or later, much of our time is consumed with juggling what is urgent, while we drop what is essential and vital.

If we're going to manage our lives, our time, and our energy effectively, we must do two things:

1. Eliminate what is insignificant.

2. Elevate what is important.

That may not be new to some people, but many of us need to be reminded of those truths. We need to remember that we must maintain our balance. We do that by setting boundaries, sticking to our priorities, and resting before we are exhausted.

When we make rest a priority, we'll have the energy we need to accomplish what God wants us to do, rather than struggling to do what we think we must do. And we'll have the strength to say no when we are tempted to say yes and add one more item to our too-busy schedules. That will give us a fresh start—every day.

In the Greek

Sometimes words in the Bible don't mean what they did when they were written. We don't understand them. They're not relevant. Sometimes, because our world is so different from life in the first century A.D., we miss a deeper, richer meaning.

Baptism is such a word. For most of us, baptism means getting wet one way or another, at one time or another, as an act of our faith. But not many people associate the word with some of the origins and customs of that day.

The Greek noun, baptisma, conveys a process rather than a single act. Although the root word means "to dip," the concept is one of immersion, submersion, and emergence. In Bible times the verb form, baptizo, often signified the dyeing of cloth.

That action creates bonds at the molecular level as the color permeates the fibers. The noun describes the afflictions and judgments that Jesus voluntarily endured on the cross when he "became sin." The verb indicates the relationship between a servant and master. The one who voluntarily surrenders becomes so closely bound to the other as to be identified with that person as his son or daughter.

Therefore, the act of being baptized results in a transformation that begins where no one can see and continues until we look nothing like we once did.

Baptism doesn't save us, but through the process God surely rescues us from ourselves.

Dirty Hands, Pure Hearts

We are called to be holy. We should be obedient. We should not be like the world. But, we are not to remove ourselves from the world. We are to be in it.

The latter is not my problem. The boy is in the world. I just don’t always manage to get the world out of the boy.

The trick then is to be in the world, but not of it. To be so engulfed, so immersed, that some people won’t be able to tell the difference between us and those that God would have us reach and rescue.

My concern and caution then is that we shouldn’t confuse or misunderstand the verse that says we should come out from among them. What is unclean shouldn’t be fondled. But what is unclean?

The most unclean thing that a Jew can come into contact with is a dead body, a carcass or corpse. That doesn’t refer to those who are dead in their sins. But the thought does make me wonder about those whose faith is sometimes dead. Because sometimes that describes me.

Such faith is devoid of works. It doesn’t resemble the vibrant life that it once produced.

Our faith can become like that—lifeless, impotent—especially when it isn’t exercised. That’s when faith atrophies and can die. Then it’s incapable of regenerating life.

Today, perhaps more than ever, we need to be full of life. Now is not the time for spiritual tourniquets. Amputating ourselves from the world, even under the guise of spending more time with God, will not make us more like Jesus.

Sanctification is vital. But that’s a work of God, not the work of man. Our task is to stay connected to him, the source of all life. But God works on the inside. And because his work is internal, not external, it’s eternal.

Jesus showed us that time and again and pleaded for us to be like him. Jesus said: follow me, do what I do, go where I go, learn the unforced rhythms of grace. If we do, we’ll be known as he was--a friend of sinners. When we do, we’ll become saints with dirty hands, but pure hearts.

Failing To Succeed

Okay, I admit it. I’m not much of a reader and that’s odd for someone who professes to love words. But I’d rather see a good story. So when you consider the unlikely, unexpected places we find Jesus, think about films.

I find truth in so many places. Overt? No, not usually. But nevertheless, truth. For example in Seabiscuit there are several haunting moments and memorable lines. My favorite is when the wealthy Charles Howard meets the wandering Tom Smith. They exchange a few comments and Howard asks about a horse that Smith rescued. After Smith confesses that the horse will never race again, Howard inquires why Smith bothered to save the animal. Speaking of himself as well as the horse, Smith says, “You don’t throw a whole life away just ‘cause it’s banged up a little.” Later in the story Howard reprises those words back to Smith. And with them Howard confirms Smith’s worth, and ours.

That truth—that an entire life shouldn’t be discarded because a person fails—reminds me of Is. 42:3, in the NLT. Speaking prophetically of Jesus the prophet says, “He will not crush those who are weak or quench the smallest hope.”

Maybe, like me, you’ve attempted to do something. Something good, something useful. Maybe something for God. Maybe something for people in general. But you failed. Perhaps your dreams exceeded your abilities. Maybe you were in the wrong place or tried at the wrong time or simply didn’t know how to accomplish your heart’s desire. Perhaps you quit one day too soon. But whether you try again to do whatever it was that you once failed to accomplish or you attempt something else completely different, you need to understand one simple truth. Failing doesn’t make you a failure.

Some might suggest that such truth, such good news, can’t be found in anything from Hollywood. But I suggest that those who seek grace find it, sometimes in the most unexpected places.

God doesn’t hide himself. And he will use all means necessary to reach those who need to lose their way so they may find his. Whether such people are sitting in a theater or a church makes no difference to God. What’s important is not where God finds you, but where you go after he does.

Noble Ruins

Ever feel like your life is a shambles? Most of your time is spent running around in circles. The more you try to get done, the less you accomplish. You either need more time alone or more time with people.

I know that sounds confusing and you may wonder what I’m talking about. But take another minute and let me explain.

Introverts need time alone. How do you know you are one? If being around a lot of people and involved in activity, leaves you drained, you’re probably an introvert. You prefer solitude. Nothing refreshes you like curling up with a good book or listening to soft music. You’re happy when you’re strolling on the beach alone.

But not if you’re an extrovert. You like the beach when it’s crowded with people. Families building sand castles. Surfers surfing. Street vendors hawking dogs and hamburgers from their grills. Weight lifters grunting and volleyball players shouting. Kids squealing on the swings and merry-go-round, screaming when they fall off the jungle gym. Boom boxes booming. Dancers dancing. Noise and color everywhere.

Introverts enjoy a quiet sunset. Extroverts are too busy partying to notice.

Of course, most of us are a mixture of both and that’s why different activities appeal to us at different times. We need both—time alone and time with others. The trick is to recognize which one you need and when.

Then you can be most productive. Then those elements will work in your favor. You’ll be happier. Instead of feeling that you’re wasting time, you’ll discover how to use the energy and time you have. Instead of mayhem that leaves your life looking like the ancient Greek and Roman ruins, you can use what you have. And in the process what you learn can help others. That’s the definition of noble ruins—being useful again.

Private Preparation

A quick read of Mark 1: 16–20 may leave you with the idea that something magical or mystical happened when Jesus called his disciples. We’re told that Simon and Andrew “immediately left their nets and followed [Jesus].” Then we read that Jesus “immediately” called James and John.

The inference seems to be that they saw one another for the first time and immediately—almost hypnotically—were drawn to one another. But it’s obvious that Jesus wouldn’t act on impulse. So what really happened?

A look at other gospel accounts reveals more of the time line. It’s likely they met before. And even if they didn’t, these were not chance encounters. And it seems a stretch to suppose that divine revelation caused all five men to do what they did as if in response to a heavenly puppeteer.

Mark prefaces their call with the story of Jesus’ baptism. He also mentions Jesus’ time in the desert. These happened in preparation for his ministry. And although Peter describes himself elsewhere as “a sinful man”, it’s doubtful that he was as ignorant about God’s kingdom as some later supposed.

And while it’s true that God doesn’t always choose the qualified but qualifies those he chooses, we should learn another truth from this passage. Jesus knew enough to teach the masters of Israel by the time he was age twelve. And it’s likely that these men, called by God to become “fishers of men” had relied on God for some time. After all, their lives and their livelihood depended upon his grace.

We shouldn’t be any different. We are all called to follow Christ and both be and make disciples. But that’s only the beginning. Each of us has a destiny. Specific gifts and a calling to fulfill.

So it would be helpful if we remember this: Private preparation precedes public performance.

The Gospel Truth

When I sin I’m like Adam or Peter. I run away from God or tell him to leave me alone.

At those moments I don’t feel holy. So I don’t want to be around the Holy One. I know what I’ve done and I know there should be consequences for my actions. I don’t think I should be forgiven, even though I know God wants to forgive me.

And that’s the point Jesus made when he said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news!” (Mark 1: 15, HCSB)

Mark tells us that Jesus came preaching the good news. But when I’ve been bad, I don’t think I deserve to hear any good news. I expect at the very least to be scolded. I know I should be punished.

But Jesus died so that God wouldn’t have to punish me—or you.

Three times in the King James Version of the New Testament the word propitiation is used to describe the Messiah’s atonement. Other versions use various words, but the concept of one person dying for another is hard to grasp. But here’s a simple definition: the death of the innocent, on behalf of the guilty, to satisfy the wrath of the just.

Yes, we should be forever separated from God. But we won’t be if we accept the good news—that Jesus took our place and our punishment.

And that’s the gospel truth that leads us to genuine repentance.

Colonel Panic

I imagined what happened as a physical attack. Colonel Panic led the charge. And when the battle ended, my computer lay in ruins.

At first, it seemed the hard drive had been overrun, decimated. Then it became apparent that the logic board had been trashed. I wondered, what next? Was the motherboard destroyed? I knew enough by then to understand the scope of the problem.

Kernels, not colonels, are tiny bits of information embedded deep in the computer’s memory near the root commands. At start up, they tell the computer what programs and applications to run. But mine didn’t want to do what it was designed to do.

One tech defined kernel panic. “It’s like a two-year-old having a temper tantrum. It knows what it’s supposed to do, but it refuses to do it.”

So for two months, I struggled for survival without my right arm. I sent my laptop to be rebuilt, restored. What I got back was a clean slate, as blank as the day I’d bought it.

I had to reinstall primary software and drivers for my printer. Afterward, for two weeks I struggled to rebuild my files, preferences, and various folders. The good news? I lost no data. Before the erase and install the tech instructed me to perform, I bought a 500GB external hard drive and saved my entire user file. But only when I attempted to restore all that data did I learn he’d taken me into a minefield.

Instead of using one simple software tool to migrate the information from the external drive back to my laptop, I had to move one file or folder or individual item at a time. After two more days I managed to reconstruct my mailboxes and address list and directories.

The moral of the story is simple: don’t drop your computer and expect it to work. And in life, don’t imagine that you can control everything that happens to you.

I didn’t drop my computer, but I did knock it off a small table. It never hit the floor. The power cord prevented that. The sudden motion sensor locked up the hard drive. I lost no data. No immediate damage seemed evident. But the injury was real.

Sometimes that happens to us. We’re knocked around and bruised on the inside. There may be no outward sign of any problem, but we’re hurt. We think about the words someone said. We interpret the actions of others. We take thoughts to heart.

The old adage says, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” That’s a shield we use for self-defense. But it’s always deployed too late. Colonel Panic has already attacked and we’re already wounded.

At that point we may know the truth—that God loves us—but we may not believe it as much as we once did. Instead we often believe what others say about us, suppose that their opinions may be at least partially true, and conclude that God can’t love us since we aren’t perfect.

But the truth is we never were. We were born defective. The concept of original sin—that Adam and Eve infected us by what they did in the Garden of Eden—is true. We’re not responsible for that; God doesn’t blame us. He tells us what’s wrong so he can fix us. Our kernels have been damaged. We know what we should do, but we refuse to obey. The result? We need a new logic board.

We can’t think straight. Our concepts, plans, ideas, values, viewpoints, and understanding are scrambled. We need our thoughts to be replaced with new knowledge, fresh wisdom. We need God to reprogram us.

He will, if we let him. His thoughts can become our thoughts, his ways, our ways. And when they do, we can trust that we’ll be fully restored. Nothing will be lost. We will be saved.


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

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.