In Jr. High, one of my best friends developed a (thankfully temporary) pain in his knees because of how rapidly he was growing. And in a similar manner, our congregation has grown so rapidly since COVID that our “bones” need to catch up. ...
In a new book released last week, The Age of Grievance, American journalist Frank Bruni has offered an insightful examination of the ways in which grievance has come to define our culture (especially in politics, on both the right and left). Bruni documents how more and more of us are keeping a record of slights or pulling out the tape measure on our perceived misfortunes and blaming others for it. As Bruni would say, “The blame game has become the country’s most popular sport and victimhood its most fashionable garb.”...
First, I have to admit that the entire world of modern telecommunications still amazes me. I actually know why we say, “Hang up the phone!” because I grew up when a phone was attached by a cord to the wall, and to end a call, you had to “hang it” back up where it always stayed....
If you ever played hide-and-seek, did you ever really love being the one who was doing the seeking? I hated it. First, it meant that I had been caught first in the prior round when I had been hiding (so it felt like I had failed). Second, I always had a sinking feeling of dread, wondering inwardly, “What if I can’t find anyone?”...
Think about how you are the same, no matter what your age, as the day you were born. Just as an acorn grows from being a large nut to a sprig to a 200-year-old mammoth of a tree, you have gone from being an embryo to a fetus to a newborn baby to a toddler to whatever you are today....
The right tool fits the job. You wouldn’t try to drive in a nail with a tape measure. Even if you tried to do that, failed, and then complained, “This tape measure is no good!”...
If you’re reading this, my guess is that you are not a kid. So, I also suspect you understand basic anatomy and sexuality. ...
We asked, and you answered — thank you! Last month, our leaders asked me to communicate to you that we were behind on giving for 2023, and your response has been encouraging....
For many of you, you may not even know what a sabbatical is. Traditionally, it derived from the world of university professors who were granted a period of paid leave for study or travel. ...
Over the last few years, we’ve weathered COVID-19, profound social and political tensions, and behind it all, there has been a steady shift in what sexuality even is — let alone what is now considered sexually appropriate....
First, why does the Church have a surpassing Value? The Church of Jesus is not a thing. The Church is a single term of all of the people Jesus has redeemed, past, present and future, and its value (their value?) is marked by His willingness to shed His blood to rescue each and every one of us. ...
Keep Reading Training to become a pilot (in what seems like another lifetime ago) I was quickly taught that you cannot control what is outside the cockpit. You can only prepare on how you could respond. Metaphorically it has proven to be an outstanding life lesson if you substitute “your heart” for “cockpit.”...
Keep Reading Many years ago, an older pastor, Dick Kaufmann, spent time with me, helping me grasp Grace. Counterintuitive does not even begin to capture my experience. Many of our natural instincts are put totally out of sorts by the LORD’s ways, especially our motivations for performance and earning. ...
Keep Reading What is the earliest motivation you can recall in your life? When can you remember being really motivated (or deeply frustrated if you had failed) toward a goal or an outcome?...
Keep Reading In our first year as a church plant, we went for training at a sister church plant that was several years ahead of us in its ministry....
Keep Reading After being assigned to teach the book of Romans to illiterate monks in his monastery, Martin discovered the Gospel of Grace by faith alone. What reverberated from this work of God in his heart has literally transformed all of Western history and much of the known world....
Keep Reading In what seems like another lifetime, I trained to be a private pilot. I loved every chance to be in a cockpit....
Keep Reading Whether it is an unpleasant anniversary of a Capital riot, or a virus that just won’t go away, or profound uncertainty overall, how is your new year starting?...
Keep Reading In school, I was never a fan of having to do book reports. The reading I never minded, but the effort to summarize what I read was always an enormous struggle. Now I’ve grown appreciative of a helpful summary – which is all I want to do for you today....
Keep Reading If you’re anything like me, then all too often, I need to be reminded that God is in the business of answering our prayers....
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