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.”
On Church Planting #1: The Command to Go
After His Resurrection, the Bible says that Jesus spent 40 days with his disciples teaching about the kingdom of God. We can only imagine what Jesus taught , what he clarified, or what he warned his disciples about. The only words that we have recorded are Jesus' last words to His disciples. It follows then that these are the only words, from those forty days, that Jesus wanted us to concern ourselves with. [...]
On the Lord Jesus, the Book of Acts, and the Planting of Churches
Our church will officially turn 7 years old in November. In that time, God has done more amazing things, personally and corporately, than I could ever possibly list--and those are only the ones I know about! There are countless attacks God has protected us from, mistakes he has turned us from, and decisions he has stopped us from. By grace and power, Jesus has built his church despite us. From the beginning, we intended to [...]
Lesson from Honduras #3: We have nothing to give
Throughout the mission in Honduras we had many “moments of grace.” These are those brief moments of revelation, when the Holy Spirit makes one truth beautifully clear. Sometimes that truth is about God’s heart and sometimes they are about our own—but all the times they are unexpected gifts from God. The timing of these moments are divine. They have come to me while I am parenting my children, praying in my office, driving my car, [...]
Where is the Spirit leading you?
I was reading in Matthew 4 today and couldn't get passed the first verse: "Then Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted (tested) by the devil"Jesus' 40 day journey into the wilderness is a replay of Israel's 40 year wandering in the wilderness. Hungry, weak, and vulnerable, the devil himself comes and tempts Jesus to deny God the Father, to lose faith, to sin. Using the Word of God, Jesus success where Adam, [...]
#2 Lesson from Honduras: The mission BEFORE the mission
First, I am not a "missions" expert. These are simply my rambling reflections about our recent mission trip to Roatan, Honduras. As our trip for Honduras approached, I became more and more anxious. Part of my anxiety came from the "unknown". The other half came from what I knew, rather, what I had learned from our Dwellings contact about our build. In the weeks prior to our departure, he posted pictures first with posts in [...]
#1 Lesson from Honduras: Out of my context
As both of you know (figure that is how many read this thing), I returned from a mission in Roatan, Honduras last Sunday. A team of 10 men spent a week building a home for a single mom, engaging with the Honduran culture, and learning about the dwellings ministry we partnered with. The experience included everything imaginable and a few things unimaginable. I don’t yet fully appreciate everything that happened there, perhaps I never will. [...]
Words of Men: Dangerous Calling
In my pursuit of more joy this year, I have begun reading Dangerous Calling, by Paul David Tripp. From its very first pages, the book cuts like a knife--in a good way. By God's grace, as I read this I am reflecting on where I was, not where I am. So while this a book every pastor should be required reading for every to read, I doubt a pastor can really appreciate what is written until they [...]
39 Years Down…
I turn 39 today. As I was driving I heard “Forever Young” on the radio, an old 80’s tune. It made me think about the fact that most young people spend their years wishing they were older and most old people spend their years wishing they were younger. Overall, no one is really satisfied with where they are at. I want to be content at 39. At the same time, I don’t want to be [...]
Is there any life apart from Christ?
In Philippians 1.18b-26, It is clear that Paul has the expectation that his experience will result in his deliverance. But, his definition of deliverance is freedom from prison OR freedom from his life. Either way, his greatest hope is that he will not be ashamed in life or death. In fact, Paul sounds torn between what he feels is better. Not that he really has a choice in the matter, but he has a great desire [...]
Only Pain will Tell
In my pursuit of joy during 2013, I have been spending the better part of January in the book of Philippians. Ironically, though Paul is writing from within Roman imprisonment, this letter is full of expressions of joy. It is a convicting read.This morning I am reading Philippians 1.12-18. Throughout these verses, Paul expresses his joy over the fact that Christ is proclaimed. This is his greatest motivation for his own life and greatest hope [...]
Monday Morning Preacher: Called to be Fools (1Cor. 1.18-31)
Yesterday, I preached 1Corinthians 1.18-31…three times. I've noticed every service I preach, the sermon sounds different. 1st service (1st period) is where I make all my mistakes. 2nd service, like 2nd period gets a "great education". And the 3rd service is different for all kinds of reasons...I feel more relaxed, the group is smaller, its evening, and I know I'm going to Fred's Ale House for a pint right afterwards. But all three sermons this [...]
Damascus Road Snohomish is born!
Forgive me for my delay in sending this report. I wanted to take a moment to give God glory for all that He accomplished Sunday night in Snohomish. God is good and I delighted in watching Him work. By grace, he planted a new church in an old town. He filled it with his presence and began to gather what I hope becomes a family of families in Snohomish. By His Spirit, he employed the [...]
Monday Morning Pastor: God Planned to Lose
Good giving begins with good theology. In other words, what we give, how we give, and who we give to is directly connected with our understanding of God. It is essential, therefore, to understand who God has revealed Himself to be, specifically, through how he gave to us. In the first sermon in our GIVE series, we saw that God gave generously. God does not measure out his giving like some kind of greedy spinster. [...]
God gave generously, so we sacrifice.
Last week, we began our Advent series titled Give. The first sermon focused on the generosity of God and how good giving begins with good theology. Our giving is a response to who God is and what He has done. Failure to give is not only unloving, it is a sign of unbelief. Refusing to give means rejecting man aspects of God's character. Driven by the fear of losing prosperity or security, we reject that [...]
He gave, so we give.
We are starting a four-part series for Advent called GIVE (The word is a clever acronym for generous, intentional, volitional, and enthusiastic). This series is not titled TITHE or DOUBLE HONOR or INDULGENCE because this is not a series designed to make up a budget deficit or launch a new building campaign. This is a series for disciples of Jesus to consider how, what, and why you give in response to a God who gave. [...]
The True Samson Gets What We Deserve
**Taken from Judges 16.22-31: The Faithful Death Samson gets what he deserves. Samson reveals what WE deserve. Samson represents every sinner, each one of us. Left to ourselves, we will love the world in rebellion and end up blind, bound, and in bondage our sin. Unless we turn from our sin, we will die in them, because the wages of sin is death and God is faithful to his promises to judge. But God is [...]
Re:Sermon – Selective Lordship (Judges 16)
From Judges 16: Unfaithful Heart - "Samson wrongly believes he can be devoted to God and the world at the same time. He identifies with God when he needs to, and identifies with the world when he wants to. He practices something we are all guilty of—SELECTIVE LORDSHIP. He will submit to God those things in his life that are easy, convenient, and comfortable. BUT he will befriend the world and its ways when it [...]
It does matter: Our statement about So-Called Same Sex “Marriage”
The following is a statement that was prepared several months ago on behalf of the Elders of Damascus Road Church. It was initially made available to our church privately. With the upcoming election, we feel it prudent to make the statement publicly in all forms available to us. Through the internet, television, and radios, our communities are being inundated with confusing arguments about Referendum 74. Many of these emotional pleas are coming from "religious" individuals [...]
Re:Sermon – The Beautiful Mess that is the Call of God
From Judges 14: Faithful Calling We never presume the will of God, the mission of God, the call of God is going to be messy. We want God to work things out cleanly and clearly. But we forget about something—sin. Samson is devoted to God, devoted by God, and devoted for God, but that does not make him SINLESS. With Samson we get a picture of a man who is BOTH a faithful servant of [...]
Re:Sermon: Would anything change?
From a sermon titled: Faithful Servant: Judges 13 Israel has become comfortable in their enslavement. They have come to accept their oppression and their idolatry as the NEW NORMAL. They do not cry because their sin no longer bothers them—they are content living in, like, and for the world. We need to fear being that comfortable with our sin. John Owen famously said, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.” One of the [...]
The Uncomfortable Call
This past week at the men's retreat, we learned a lot about call and being "on mission." We learned that every Christian has a calling, a gift, and a place to begin "going", whether that be in our home, our church, or our "work" (everything else). I was reminded yesterday, listening to an excellent sermon by Tim Keller, that going on a "radical" mission with God is safer than being comfortable without him. But [...]
Church Planting Lesson #31: No One and Everyone
Over the limited years I have had as a pastor/planter, I have learned that there are two kinds of CHRISTIANS that come to, and sometimes through, a church. They both have very different expectations coming into a church family and, as a result, both have very different experiences. One comes in expecting to get everything and plans to give nothing. They reach out to no one. They connect with no one. They talk with no [...]
Church Plant Lesson #30: Pruning
Do you really believe God knows what He is doing? Do you really believe God is in control of everything that is done? Do you really believe that everything He does is purposed for good? I have been asking myself these questions today. When your expectations are met, they are easy questions to answer. When your expectations are not met, the answers come more slowly, as the substance of your faith is tested. Because God [...]
Weeping to the Glory of God
32 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So [...]
Re:Sermon – Jesus, Hula Dancing, and John 14.
Below is an excerpt from an old Sermon in 2006. It made me laugh.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 gyrating exercise that would be the envy of manly Dad’s everywhere. Not [...]