Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
Built for more than God…by God
The COVID-19 virus rages on and social distancing rules the day. It has been said that the introverts have been preparing for this moment their entire lives. Meanwhile, the extroverts suffer what they consider the most hellish experience imaginable. As the days slowly creep by, and the stay-at-home restrictions are extended seemingly without end, what were new rhythms become old familiar ones. The uncomfortable closeness with a few family members may be getting easier but, [...]
I need more than a verse…but not less
I recently began teaching a marriage class ONLINE. I have found that there is a real learning curve with this experience. Teaching to a computer full of faces is not the same as teaching to actual people face to face. Not only is the technology temperamental, I find that I experience more anxiety and discombobulation than normal. Moreover, I have taught this marriage material before, countless times. But, as I have grown and changed, I [...]
From Contempt to Compassion
17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these [...]
Don’t Hijack My Story…Just Hold It
After 46 years of life, I am continuing to learn more about myself. In some ways I am not who I thought I was, or at least I have never fully understood why I am the who I am. I remain curious as learn, but also a bit confused as to why God waited so long to reveal these things. More than likely it's because I was not yet ready to receive whatever I needed [...]
Healing Cannot Be Hurried
The older I get, the more screwed up I realize I am. For years, I dismissed the idea of "wounds", whether we were talking about wounds of Father, Mother, or circumstance. It felt too convenient or cowardly to point a finger at someone else as the cause (or at least contributor) of something broken in me. In the past year, I have begun to explore what therapists call "my story." I am not a therapist [...]
RE:Sermon |Jesus for Us and With us in Wilderness
As an English teacher I always used to say: "Second period always gets a good education." Like a pre-season practice game, first period often served as the place to test content, employ new strategies, and refine delivery. First period journeys with the teacher as they "perfect" an unfinished presentation . Second period enjoys the fruit of this labor. After 14 years, I have learned the same can be said about preaching--second service always gets a [...]
The Battle Belongs to the Lord (C@PP)
***This is the transcript of the sermon from our first gathering in Everett at www.thechurchatplannedparenthood.org . I post it here just in case you didn't hear the words over the honking horns or "Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun" songs blasting from across the street. There is nothing really special about this sermon, but my hope is that it gives everyone a sense of the WHAT, WHY, and HOW of this event. *** Thank you for [...]
An Open Letter to Restoration Road Church on the eve of my Sabbatical
Brothers and Sisters, I love our church. God has planted and grown something very special in this place. This is not the result of dumb luck or a detailed strategy. It is purely the result of the grace of God. I feel blessed to be a part of this church and humbled to be one of its leaders. Near the end of May, my family and I will begin an extended Sabbatical in accordance with [...]
WE NEED A PASTOR | Vision pt.3
How many pastors does one church need? Before I became a pastor I often wondered what exactly a pastor did with all of his time. Did he sit and study the Bible for 40 hours a week? Did he go from home to home checking in on each family in his church? Did he knock on every door in his neighborhood or spend every minute evangelizing at coffee shops? Did he wander in the wilderness [...]
MINISTRY: WHAT WE DO | VISION Pt.2
The church is more than a place where Christians just happen to hang out on Sundays. It is more than a once-a-week event, more than a religious outing, more than a Christian club. The church was not an addendum to God’s plan for salvation, in fact, we believe it is central to it. Jesus did not die for a person, he died for a church—a specific group of people—through whom he would continue to restore [...]
MISSION: WHO WE ARE| Vision 2020 Pt.1
This past Sunday, our church gathered for a family meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to update the church on our current health, and cast vision for the next few years. We discussed some important needs and shared some exciting opportunities. In a series of blogs, we will share more details about each part of our VISION 2020. The booklet can be downloaded here and audio can be listened to here. The first, and most [...]
A Way to Pray
Brethren, I have to EXHORT YOU TO PRAY FOR OTHERS. Before I do it, I will ask you a personal question. Do you always pray for others? Guilty or not guilty, here? Do you think you have taken the case of your children, your church, your neighbourhood, and the ungodly world before God as you ought to have done? If you have, I have not. For I stand here a chief culprit before the Master [...]
Sanctification 103: The Holy Spirit & Me
This third blog about sanctification has one simple point: Everything was done by Jesus, not so that you could do nothing, but so that you would desire and be able to do something. That "something" is gospel-inspired, spirit-empowered, pursuit of righteousness and fight against unrighteousness. The purpose of this pursuit is, ultimately, satisfaction in God. I would agree with John Piper whose life is devoted to the belief that: God is most glorified when I am most [...]
Sanctification 102: The tools and how they work
Our sanctification began before CREATION. According to His purposes, to the praise of His grace, God SET APART a people to be saved from sin. Sanctification is completely accomplished (IN OUR SOULS) through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus, increased throughout life in our flesh by the Spirit (IN OUR BODIES) , and completed at Jesus’ return. There some argument over prepratory sanctification, minimal argument over positional sanctification, and a lot of argument over [...]
Sanctification 101: The Different Kinds
For the last several Wednesdays, our church has been spending time exploring the theological concept of sanctification. Simply stated, the idea behind sanctification is that of "setting apart" someone, or something, for special use. Biblically, this primarily describes the act of God who separates or consecrates something as holy. The first instance of this happening is when God sanctifies the 7th day of creation—recognizing it as holy. The secondary meaning of the word involves the idea of “moral” [...]
“Submission” for the Single Ladies
After preaching on Biblical Womanhood last week, I received some excellent questions from some godly single women in our church. None of them expressed issue with the sermon, but they all desired a better understanding as to how some of principles of marriage may apply to singleness. A Good Word Used Badly One question that came up centered on the idea of "submission". And although this concept was not highlighted in my sermon, it is [...]
“Helping” for the Single Ladies
Yesterday, I preached a sermon on Biblical Womanhood from Genesis chapter 2. Preaching these kinds of sermons always feel like trying to navigate a minefield. One wrong step and "boom", you are hated or misunderstood by the women in your church. Even though the Scriptures are quite clear about biblical manhood and womanhood, anyone who teaches on these topics must speak with tremendous amounts of grace (especially if they hope to be heard the same way). Unfortunately, many [...]
On God, Science, and the Age of the Universe
This past Sunday I preached a sermon focused in the six days of creation. I began the sermon by reading Psalm 19.1-2: The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handwork. Day to day pours out speech and night to night reveals knowledge. The point of beginning with this Psalm was to remind us of the true purpose of creation—to make much of God. Essentially, instead of always asking HOW [...]
The world needs Genesis right now
We began our series on the first 11 chapters of Genesis this week. I am becoming more and more convinced that the Book of Genesis is probably the most important book ever written. There are 66 books in the Bible and few, if any of them, make sense without a basic understanding of Genesis. Yet, I find a growing number of Christians unfamiliar with the story of God. They wrongly believe that they can jump in the [...]
Donkey Corralling is God’s Work
This past week we preached through the not-so-triumphal entry in Matthew 21.1-11. This is the well-known passage where Jesus rides a donkey into Jerusalem. I find the first verses of this passage, preparing to enter, the most moving. The disciples were curious as to why Jesus would ask them to go impress a donkey from a stranger. What is even more curious is that they obeyed! The disciples did not know why Jesus asked [...]
Everyday is Sunday
Whether you are irreligious or religious—you must respond to Jesus. To paraphrase John Stott, you cannot have a moderate response to Jesus. In the Bible no one ever had a so so…”Hmmphh”…response to Jesus. If after today you understand the WHOLE story, who Jesus is and what He did, you better hate Him, hide from Him, or run to Him. And don’t stop short in the story… Those who are IRRELIGIOUS stop on FRIDAY with [...]
A word for our men…
Men, I want to thank you for attending our PUSHBACK retreat this past weekend. As several men shared, God is doing something powerful at Restoration Road Church. Our church is not perfect; we are never perfectly balanced; we are never wise enough to not be desperate. Despite our insufficiencies and weaknesses, God has blessed us with an amazing church full of amazing people. With every passing day, God reveals more leaders who are willing to [...]
RE:sermon | Who Jesus Receives and Rejects
RE:sermon is an effort to share the best thoughts from the most recent sermons. Too often, some of the "nuggets" of truth get lost in the noise and length of the sermon. Some of these need to be forgotten while others need to be repeated. As Doug Wilson once told me, "If it is good enough to say once, it is good enough to say twice." With that in view, the following quotes were taken [...]
Hula Dancing and Jesus
I found this in an old sermon back from 2008. It made me laugh. I thought I'd post it for kicks... One Hula Dancing Boy The other day, my oldest son Fischer came home with a special flyer from this school. Apparently, a local group was offering Hula Dancing Lessons to boys and girls. For $120, my son, my one day going to be a man son, could experience 8 weeks of grass skirt hip [...]