Prayer

Prayer is not good thoughts or positive vibes. Prayer means more than just saying prayers or praying through a list. Prayer is much more than believing in the power of prayer. Prayer is calling out to and depending completely upon the the personal, triune, sovereign God of Heaven who wants us to pray, hears us when we pray, and moves because we pray.

Comparisons

When we try to understand a person's greatness, we often do so by comparison. It’s the same in the Bible, we look back at the pillars of faith: Abraham, Moses, David… By comparison, we understand the importance of these great people. The author of Hebrews pulls out what seems like an obscure comparison to make a significant point. He compares a priest named Melchizedek to Abraham, Moses, and the entire sacrificial system of the Mosaic Law to show how much greater Melchizedek was to all of them. And by further comparison to Melchizedek, JESUS is even greater. In fact, He’s perfect. 

Time

In western culture, we are obsessed with time. Calendars, clocks, alarms, reminders. We carry around time on our wrists and have alerts that are constantly reminding us of our plans or schedules. We measure time unlike any previous generation.  Modern day scientists and microchip engineers have split time down to infinitesimal measurements. A zeptosecond, for … Continue reading Time →

Perfect Storm

Neither of the two major political parties or platforms fully represents the values of the Kingdom of God. Instead, the church represents God’s Kingdom party. While I’m a citizen us the US by birth, I'm an eternal citizen of the Kingdom of God, I answer to one Lord, and I'm ultimately accountable to one King - JESUS.

Lament

God welcomes our laments. In fact, nothing is more freeing and healthy in our relationship with Him than voicing how we really feel and knowing He totally understands. Our questions and frustrations don’t frustrate Him. In fact He wrote the book on them. The bulk of what we call the wisdom books of Scripture, Job and Psalms, are laments. The wisdom of God, it seems, is lamenting to God.

Racism. What can we do?

Just a few months after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed African-American in Ferguson, MO in August, 2014, I began meeting with a racially diverse group of pastors to build friendships, establish trust, and prepare to lead our churches and community in case a "Ferguson" situation occurred locally. We began meeting every other … Continue reading Racism. What can we do? →

Enough

On most Sunday afternoons, I’m thinking about the message I preached that morning. Almost every Monday morning, I’m still processing what I could have said differently, explained more clearly, or, perhaps, illustrated better the day before. I wish I had sermon do-overs. I imagine most everyone who communicates on a regular basis (teachers, professors, salespeople, … Continue reading Enough →

Church

The recent global pandemic of COVID-19 or Coronavirus and the need for physical distancing has raised a significant question, "What is the Church?" All of a sudden, the meaning, significance, and purpose of the church has raised some interesting, practical questions. If we can’t meet at a particular place or gather together at a specific … Continue reading Church →