November 2020

Christams Surprise

The Christmas story is an old familiar one to most of us, isn’t it? In sermons and Sunday school lessons, Christmas pageants, carols and Bible readings, we have all heard the story loads of times. And besides just hearing the story, sometimes I feel like I have actually seen it. That’s probably because of all […]



Pouring It Out

In this message we dive into the twelfth chapter of John which begins in a very seasonally appropriate way with a Thanksgiving dinner. This Sunday we’ll be studying verses 1-8 of John 12 and thinking deeply about the nature of Christian Thanksgiving. One thing is for sure, a quick survey of all the Bible says […]



Sovereignty

It has been a few weeks since we were last in the Gospel of John, but this Sunday we’ll be picking things up where we left off in chapter 10. From beginning to end this chapter illustrates powerfully the perfect sovereignty of Jesus. By sovereignty I mean the absolute right of Jesus to do whatever […]



Together

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 says, Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how […]



The Politics Of It All

I can still remember the moment when I first understood that Ronald Reagan wasn’t going to be president anymore. I was downstairs in the fellowship hall at the Advent Christian church in Hyattsville, MD. It was 1988, and I was swilling down some punch with a big glob of vanilla ice cream in it. As […]



October 2020

We Are The Body

Back in 2010 I was riding my bicycle after dark, when I made an unexpected and violent exit from my normal, day-to-day routine. An enraged dog charged out of nowhere and became entangled with the smoothly whirring operation of my 10-speed, which, in turn, caused me to proceed over the handle bars and land with […]



The Good Shepherd

Sheep are the animal most often mentioned in the Bible, and although many analogous comparisons are employed in the Bible to describe the relationship between God and His people, that of shepherd and sheep is definitely a favorite among the biblical writers. In John 10, the next portion of John’s Gospel that we will begin […]



Free Slaves

I once had a friend who told me the unorthodox story of how he first came to put his trust in Jesus for salvation. His Dad had unexpectedly pulled him and his younger brother out of school one day to take them on an impromptu field trip. He was just a young boy at the […]



Is The Bible Reliable

If you turn in your Bibles to the next section of the Gospel of John you will find the story of the woman caught in adultery (John 7:53-8:11), which contains one of Jesus’ most memorable quotes, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” If you […]



September 2020

Chained Lions

As you all may know, Sarah and I lived and served for nearly a decade at Camp Maranatha in the San Jacinto Mountains of Southern California. During late summer when the San Jacinto Mountains become a dry, brittle and thirsty place, and the dust along the walkways becomes as fine as baby powder there was […]