“Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” (Psalm 61:1-2)Bright and early this morn...  Read More

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:12-13)If you have been alive in this world long enough...  Read More

Today’s post is edited and reprinted from a January 8th, 2013 post.“You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify a...  Read More

“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and ou...  Read More

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness ...  Read More

“As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed him, includ...  Read More

“But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’ In reply Jesus said: ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They strip...  Read More

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in th...  Read More

As I reflected on this past Sunday’s sermon on the power of our words to encourage others, I thought of two prominent youth ministry leaders who influenced me when I was a youth pastor and how their w...  Read More

"He must become greater; I must become less." (John 3:30)As we enter the third month of 2015, one thing has been clear this year for me: it has been the year of the funeral. In January, I performed th...  Read More

“When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.’ He was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of Go...  Read More

So, how is that “read through the Bible in a year” plan going?Okay, so I’m sure not all of you set that as a goal, but for those who did, I am guessing that you have been slogging through Exodus, Levi...  Read More

“If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” (Luke 17:3-4)The 2...  Read More

During this past Sunday’s sermon, I shared a quote from the Donald Miller book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. As I meditated on that quote and the place of conflict and struggle in the story God...  Read More

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be abl...  Read More

This past Sunday I preached on the fact that God is eternal, that He exists outside of time and is fully present to every moment of time at once. He is the Alpha and Omega, the one who was there in th...  Read More

“It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.” (Ecclesiastes 7:2)Ecclesiastes 7:2 is a vers...  Read More

“Meanwhile his disciples urged him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’ But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you know nothing about.’ Then his disciples said to each other, ‘Could someone have brought hi...  Read More

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God is like a ma...  Read More

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sa...  Read More

Today’s post is adapted from the April 20th, 2010 blog post, and is dedicated to Jonathan, Karen & Hailey.“Yet to all who received [Jesus], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to beco...  Read More

“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sin...  Read More

“Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a...  Read More

“Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12)Over the past ten weeks,...  Read More