Is my money doing the most “good” it can do?

Dear First Baptist Family, My third-grader, Valerie, left her Sunday school worksheet on my desk recently. Her class had been learning about giving generously, and they had identified the gifts they could offer unselfishly to others. Each gift was written on the image...
Do You Know the Story?

Do You Know the Story?

By Steven Norris      It is very hard to read and accurately understand the Bible when you already “know” what it says. As a pastor, I find that the hardest passages to preach are often the ones that most people in my congregation have heard numerous times.      We...
Clearing the Dross

Clearing the Dross

By Steven Norris      Last week, I wrote about the image of God as a refiner’s fire in the writings of Malachi. Following that column, the Spirit led a reader to ask how to “get rid of the dross.”      In metalworking, raw ore is smelted — heated beyond the melting...