God gives a “messenger of Satan”?

by | Jun 23, 2021 | Uncategorized

This past week, I preached from 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, the passage about Paul’s thorn in the flesh. We focused on the role of weakness and difficulty in the Christian life, and God’s will to draw us into deeper dependence and contentment in him. As usual, there is a...

More than a political party or social cause

by | Jun 2, 2021 | Uncategorized

This past Sunday we looked at Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18). In the parable, the Pharisee’s disposition and attitude towards God is one of relief that he is “not like other men.” He considers those who are known to be sinners or at...

Committed to mercy

by | May 17, 2021 | Uncategorized

Something that we have seen repeatedly in our journey through the Minor Prophets is that God has committed himself to a course of action that depends on his extending mercy. From before time began, God set in motion a plan that would require his compassionate and...

God is not mild in his affections

by | Apr 20, 2021 | Uncategorized

One of the most significant and pressing questions we are constantly asking, even if subconsciously, is, “What does God think about me?” Or, “How does God see me,” “What is God’s disposition or heart or affections towards me?” And our answer to this question has...

Always reforming: A pastoral confession

by | Feb 24, 2021 | Uncategorized

Those who know me have likely heard me say something along these lines: Everyone has a theology, and everyone is doing theology all the time. That is, everyone has ideas of who God is or isn’t, and these ideas are continually being shaped by, while also themselves...

A plea for reasonableness

by | Jan 11, 2021 | Uncategorized

I write this first and foremost to my church, to those I know and love, to those who claim Christ and display it with their lives. While I would love to extend this plea to Christians more broadly, my responsibility and my heart go first to the health, love and...

Reflections on a new year

by | Jan 4, 2021 | Uncategorized

Closing off one year and beginning a new year provides a good time for reflection. As I reflect on our life together as a church at this moment, there are so many things that come to mind. The story of a church is always a complex picture that includes the individual...

Shame and guilt

by | Dec 12, 2020 | Uncategorized

Both the Bible and our contemporary, western culture have much to say about human identity. And central to both the Bible’s and our culture’s understanding of identity are the issues of guilt and shame, and specifically how to overcome guilt and shame. But the ways...