March 2019

A Blind Guide Exposed

The only training I ever received in delivering a death announcement was during my time at the Vermont Police Academy. One afternoon, the belt broke on a vacuum cleaner as it was being used in one of the academy’s hallways. We had just received a block of instruction on CPR so our instructors thought they […]



The First Frontier of Mission: Our Own Wicked Hearts

I remember once in Junior High I overheard a classmate of mine explain to a teacher why she celebrates St. Patrick’s Day. “St. Patrick was Irish,” she said “And my family is super Irish!” She was dressed all in green with temporary shamrock tattoos on both cheeks. The teacher was smiling and nodding her head, […]



The Changed Mind of Paul

As I have disclosed previously, I am a fan of westerns, and it seems to me that one of the unsung heroes of all the many westerns that I have watched are the horses. I mean really, what would a western be without horses? Would the bad guys just walk into town? Would the good […]



Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

A few years ago, while living in North Florida, I took the kids fishing at Watertown Lake. Like all of the lakes there in North Florida the water was very dark. They say it’s from all of the tannins in the oaks. I always thought it was beautiful- like a tea that had been steeping […]



February 2019

More Than We Can Ask Or Imagine

I remember a time several years ago when I attended a conference in Philadelphia. The hotel I was staying at was located several blocks from the site of the convention center where the conference was being held, and every day as I walked back and forth I encountered dozens of panhandlers on the street. Some […]



Weak and Afraid

In this message, we’ll be introducing our next sermon series that will take us through eight of the conversion stories that we find in the book of Acts. It is my hope and my prayer that studying these passages together will be both an encouragement and a practical help to us in our own efforts […]



The Main Character Problem

The Bible contains both inspiring stories of faithfulness that we are to imitate and also cautionary tales that serve as a warning. In 1 Corinthians 10:6&11 Paul explains the value of studying Bible stories that show the consequences of living in ways that are selfish and disobedient. (Verse 6) Now these things occurred as examples […]



All Things To All People

So far in 2019 we have been talking a lot about our calling to make more and better disciples here at State Road church. I say “more” because part of being obedient to the Great Commission calling will involve winning new converts out of the world, and I say “better” because once a person has […]



January 2019

If You Love Me, You Will Keep My Commands

Generally speaking, Christians are more comfortable with commands to act than commands to feel. It’s one thing for God to command us to witness to the lost, but another to command that we also be heartbroken over their state of separation. It’s one thing to command that we serve our enemies, but another to command […]



Tuning Our Hearts

In Joshua 5:13-19 we read about an encounter that Joshua had with an Angel before the battle of Jericho. It says that Joshua, “lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you […]