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When one meditates upon who God is, there are many titles, adjectives, and descriptors that may come to mind. According to the pages of Scripture, our God is a God of War (Exodus 15:3), He is a Shepherd (Psalm 23:1), and He is a Refuge (Psalm 46:1). There are many characteristics that could be attributed to God, but did you know He is a gardener? In Genesis 2:8, the Bible says, “The LORD God planted a garden…” (NASB 95). In…

Are you familiar with ear worms? If you have ever found yourself singing or humming a song throughout the day-sometimes even unintentionallythen the answer is “yes.” “Ear worm” is the colloquial term for a catchy tune stuck on repeat in your head. The song you hear on the radio that sounds great and just sticks with you. Not all ear worms should be secular songs. The Psalmist wrote, “Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage”…

A failure to practice the Word of God causes us to forget who we are. While hearing and humbly receiving the Word of God are essential (James 1:19-21), we “delude” ourselves if we do not also believe it necessary to become a “doer of the Word” (James 1:22, NASB 95). If we fail to act upon the Scriptures, we will be like the forgetful man in James 1:23,24. As soon as he looked away from the mirror, he immediately forgot…

The Cambridge Dictionary defines “confidence” as “the quality of being certain of your abilities or of having trust in people, plans, or the future.” Spiritually speaking, confidence is one of the Christian’s greatest blessings. John said, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:13).…

English writer John Heywood is said to have written the proverb “There are none so blind as those who will not see.” The statement perfectly captures the stubborn unreasonableness of one who willingly rejects truth. Sadly, the world is full of such people. Tragically, some can even be found in the church of our Lord. While Heywood perfectly captured the stubbornness of rejection, the Psalmist identifies the antithesis–the desire that should be found in every child of God. Psalm 119:18…

Dear brothers and sisters, words cannot fully express how thrilled Shelby and I are to work with this wonderful congregation. It is our goal to work alongside you as we all strive to imitate our Lord Jesus and diligently follow that great commission He gave His followers all those years ago (Matthew 28:19,20; Mark 16:15). When Jesus came to this earth, He came with a divine mission from His Father. When an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, he…

We are blessed to welcome Bryce and Shelby Mayfield to the family of God here at Southwest. They are both 2024 graduates of the Southwest School of Bible Studies and were married in October of 2024. They come to us from the Canyon Lake congregation where Bryce preached for just under a year. Bryce will serve as the associate minister for the Southwest congregation. He will be the primary coordinator of our evangelism program and will work with the youth…

The sins of Judah were numerous. Even a casual glance at the books of the Prophets reveals that truth clearly. But there is a curious, and perhaps overlooked point mentioned in Lamentations 1:2, “…All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies.” The list of Judah’s sins included friendship with nations like Egypt and Assyria (Jer. 2:18). When trouble came, God’s people would run to their pagan friends for aid. Only to learn that Egypt and…

Jeremiah 31:17 shines like a bright light in a dark night. In a book overflowing with doom and destruction, we find this statement: “There is hope in your future, says that Lord, that your children shall come back to their own border.” Judah was going to Babylon and nothing could be done to stop it. Their sin had found them out (Num. 32:23)! And yet, there was hope. After 70 years (Jer. 29:10) Judah would return, the walls and the…

The old colloquialism, “Your word is your bond” has roots in scripture. Numbers 30:2 says, “If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.” But, in a culture that no longer values honesty and integrity, it can be easy to forget that our word must be trustworthy. Consider three examples that are…

Shakespeare’s Hamlet said, “Ay, sir; to be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thousand.” How right he was. Solomon asked, “But who can find a faithful man” (Pro. 20:6)? He sought for a man who was dependable, trustworthy, and truthful. That kind of person may be hard to come by in the world, but it should not be so in the church because God’s will for His people is that they be…

Psalm 34 is thought to have been written by David in remembrance of his escape from the courts of Achish, king of Gath, as recorded in 1 Samuel 21:10-15. For fear of his life, David fled from the pursuit of an angry king Saul. He made his way to Gath, evidently expecting to receive quarter from Achish. But, David was not met with the greeting he expected. Instead, the servants of Achish identified him as king and he quickly realized…