This past Sunday, Kirsten & I had the privilege of worshiping with Epiphany Fellowship in downtown Philadelphia. And during the service one of the songs we sang was “It is Well with My Soul.” And on this day, I thought about the song in ways I never really had previously. While I realize the song [...]
I often hesitate to speak publicly or write about topics I’m personally working through. I try to be the kind of person that listens long enough to form an opinion worth voicing. But there are times where I feel like I’m working through a thought that I’d like to invite others to join me in [...]
This past Sunday we started a six week series on the parables of Jesus, and we started the series off by studying the Parable of the Sower. In this story, a man sows seed that falls on four types of soil: hard, rocky, thorny, and good. Now as we pointed out on Sunday, Jesus’ main [...]
Continue reading about Three Comforts for the Anxious Christian
It’s no secret that I’m a sports fan. There’s just something about competition that can teach us so much about life, about ourselves, and often sports can illustrate spiritual truths. I believe one such instance happened this week when Armando Galarraga, a relatively unknown pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, carried a perfect game well into [...]
Continue reading about What Umpire Jim Joyce taught me about repentance.
How did you sleep last night? Was it comfortable? The Scriptures tell us that the night before Jesus was crucified he was: – Betrayed by one of his own and arrested (Mt 26:47-56, Mk 14:43-52, Lk 22:47-53; Jn 18:2-12) – Taken before Annas, the former High Priest and Father in Law of the current High [...]
This past Sunday I had the privilege of preaching on Acts 4:23-31. In that passage we see the Apostles who had just been arrested go back to the church and relay the harsh threats against them. The religious had at a minimum threatened violence against them and likely threatened to kill them for continuing to [...]
In Matthew chapter 12, Jesus makes three HUGE statements about himself that would have rattled his hearers to the core (especially his Jewish audience). These statements should shake us up today, as well. What are they? Matthew 12:6 – “I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.” What was the temple? The temple [...]
“Christianity will indeed accomplish many useful things in this world, but if it is accepted in order to accomplish those useful things it is not Christianity. Christianity will combat Bolshevism; but if it is accepted in order to combat Bolshevism, it is not Christianity: Christianity will produce a unified nation, in a slow but satisfactory [...]
Genesis 3:11-13 – “He said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?’ The man said, ‘The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.’ Then the Lord God said to the [...]
Continue reading about Really, Eve? The serpent did it? Really?
In Matthew 16:13-20, Jesus foreshadows to Peter and the other disciples that he would build his “ekklesia”, which means ‘assembly’ or ‘church’. While many have debated the significance of Peter’s role in the establishment of Jesus’ church, what is striking to me in this passage is the fact that Jesus refers to the church as [...]