Everyone has family Christmas traditions. I'm sure one of yours instantly was brought to mind. After years of Alexandra and I trying to establish our own for our kids, we have finally discovered one that was an instant hit, and that is being repeated as we speak - hopefully to be repeated year after year: Using Handel's "Messiah" as a sort of Advent Devotional Guide for nightly family worship....
This is not the first time the Church has faced a crisis. Let's look back at Saint Augustine's ministry to the Church during the sack of Rome in 410 A.D., and examine his pastoral, Gospel-centered message that still relevant to us today....
A brief introduction to this Summer's sermon series...
If you watch the news or engage any areas of social media or just look around, it is clear that there are areas of racial tension and injustice in this nation and many of these issues have been polarizing in the church rather than bringing unity. It is nearly impossible to engage the topic without offending someone who sees things differently. It is further complicated by many of these issues be highly politicized. It's hard to know what to say or do. But even if it's difficult to know what to say or do, doing nothing and saying nothing should not be an option. The church is on the precipice of opportunity to be a light in the midst of confusion. But how do we engage this topic with wisdom from above and be vessels of change? Hopefully this modest contribution is a start. ...
Check out the new blog on Spiritual Forgetfulness, how it impacts our pursuit of Jesus and what we can do to combat it. ...
This past Sunday, we wandered away from our passage for a few minutes to look at the words of Jesus from Matthew 25:41-46. It was the section about the final judgement, and in that section, Jesus compares those who will recieve eternal life with those who will receive eternal death: Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.Fo...
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I've been slowly working my way through John's Gospel over the last month or so, and the other morning I found myself in chapter 4. Before opening up my Bible, I sat silently before God for a few minutes. I then asked Him to teach me, to guide me through the passage. I started to read. I was in v.v. 46-54. I read it once out loud to myself. Inoticedthat Jesus came back to ...
Keep ReadingOn April 20, 1999, 15 people were killed in Littleton, Colorado at Columbine High School. I was 16 years old, and I remember sitting on the couch in my parents sun room for hours watching the footage unfold. I was terrified, angry, sad, and confused. It was all consuming for me. I had so many questions, and sadly there were few if any real answers. I don't believe I was a ...
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It was the beginning of the pandemic, and we were still living up in Sayreville. We can all remember the fear, the anxiety, wiping down our groceries with sanitizer wipes. It was a stressful time, mostly because we didn't know what was going on. We watched the news, obsessing over the numbers. We were inundated with information about how many people were infected and how m...
Keep ReadingI'm not too sure how to say what I want to say. It is January 7, 2021, and we are a day removed from the events that transpired in our nation's capital. There are so many things I could say in this post. I could talk about the violence that occurred, as a protest turned riot found its way into the Capitol Building, how first responder's lives were put at risk, how a woman ...
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Jesus says in Matthew's Gospel that "the kingdom of heaven is like atreasurehidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Thenin his joyhe goes andsells all that he hasand buys that field" (Matthew 13:44). In the world of Facebook Marketplace and eBay, selling isn't as easy as it sounds. I know I personally have items that have been on eBay for months, without a si...
Keep ReadingOn the eve of what many are calling, the most important election in recent history, I believe that we as Christians have an enormous opportunity to show the world what God is like. Before I unpack that, let me first explain what I don't mean. There is an enormous amount of fear surrounding this election. What if we become a socialist country? What if we lose our religi...
Keep ReadingThe Upside-Down Kingdom: An Introduction When I first became a Christian, I very quickly learned the acronym, WWJD? (What Would Jesus Do?). That was the question, and still is the question, followers of Jesus are trying to answer? How in the world are we to live this life as Christians? What are we supposed to do? Why are we supposed to do it? What are we allowed to do, a...
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With an Eye Toward Glory "O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD! Let them vanish like water that runs away; when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted. Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime, like the stillborn child who never sees the sun". Psalm 58:6-8 May the Lord bless the reading of His word; at least ...
Keep ReadingA brief introduction to this Summer's sermon series...
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