BLOG

Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” – Genesis 22:5

It has been almost five and a half years since I last wrote about this passage; personal study I was doing on worship throughout the Bible that eventually led me to begin blogging. As I read over it again this morning, I was reminded of the cynicism I had towards ...

Do not say, “I will repay evil”; wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you. – Proverbs 20:22

My sons do not have a lot of patients when dealing with each other. They get it from my side of the family. More specifically, they get it from me. I’m not the best example of calm when something gets under my skin.

I want to be a good parent, so I find myself quoting Proverbs 20:22 or Romans 12:19 when ...

Excuses are what we use to justify not doing what we should be doing. Paul showed us there is no room for excuses in becoming everything God intends for us to be.

COMFORT FOR CAUSE
Paul willing went towards “imprisonment and affliction” because his life was more about God’s will and the advancing of the Gospel than his own safety.

PATTERN FOR PURPOSE
In speaking with the Ephesian elders, Paul reminds them is they do not continue to pursue holiness in every ...

O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever! – Psalm 30:12b (ESV)

Over 50% of marriages end in divorce. People rarely live one place more than ten years. It’s almost expected to not stay at any one job very long. I’d say we’ve lost touch with forever. Even trying to exegete the true meaning of “forever” and it’s implications would give most people a headache.

The idea of forever haunts us. To focus on one thing without giving ...

Paul didn’t just preach and move on. He had an invested interest to see the churches he helped start succeed and be cared for.

ENCOURAGE THE SAINTS
Paul did not just preach the gospel and move on. He planted churches and appointed local leadership he had an invested interest in seeing succeed.

ENGAGE THE STRUGGLING
The church at Corinth were in sin valuing outward appearance and eloquence over the genuine work of the Spirit. Paul rightfully called them to repentance for the ...

People always ask, “What does an oak leaf have to do with Christianity and/or church?” The honest, real answer – absolutely nothing. The name originally came from a neighborhood in Jacksonville, FL (That’s a long story I’ll tell some other time).

When I was called out to be a church planter, I spent a considerable amount of time praying about whether I should come up with a new name or stick with the one that I inherited. Obviously, I kept ...

The opposition brought against Paul and the disciples revealed the Ephesian’s affinity for an identity that would not last long.

EVERY COMMUNITY WILL CHANGE
The only thing a community can hold onto that will not change is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul hoped they would choose the one true God over Artemis as their new identity.

NOT EVERYONE WILL LIKE THE CHANGE
Jesus told us in Matthew 10:16-22 people will hate us for trying to live our lives like Jesus. The ...

Our January Big Give was called the Great Grace Race. I’m sure this is not an original idea but I’ve never heard of another church doing it quite like this. The intent was to do as many acts of kindness as we could in a short period of time. It was obviously more about the grace than the race but we set a time limit from 11-2 so families could be involved together and we so we might hit to ...

The people of Ephesus were involved with some crazy stuff until Paul showed up with a message with real power.

PAUL IS USED BY GOD
To the not so careful observer, one would think it was Paul performing miracles. No, it was God “by the hands of Paul.”

PRETENDERS TRY TO USE GOD
There is a big difference between God using us and us trying to use God. The Jewish exorcists learned the hard way.

PRAISE WAS LIFTED TO GOD
You’ll see in ...

Everyone has an opinion about discipleship.

I’ve got several dozen books on my shelves on that subject alone.

Whether it is Sunday school or small groups or house churches or whatever, the fix that worked for you should work for everyone, right?

I’m going to go out a limb here and say I don’t have a fix.

I’m not even sure I know what discipleship is (I can hear the draws dropping).

And I’m pretty sure I was never discipled.

But if you asked me, I ...