Christian Life
“Abide” – What Does it Mean to “Remain in Christ”?
This weekend I started the new sermon series called “Abide”. For two weeks we will be studying what God says through His Word in Chapter 15 of John. Perhaps there is no more important sermon Christ gave while on earth than the simple instruction to abide in Him. But what does that really mean? What does it look like for...
A Prodigal’s Tale and the Search for Peace
The young man trudged along the rocky path to the field where his master’s pigs waited for their breakfast. His muscles were stiff and sore from sleeping in the barn, with nothing for a bed but moldy straw, which even the goats refused to lie on. He poured the foul smelling buckets of food over the fence and marveled...
Peace at Last: The Homecoming You’ve Waited For
Everyone goes through life with a gnawing sense of unease, an unspoken dread we’ve lived with for so long we hardly know it’s there anymore. It taints everything we do with a strange sense of displacement and dissatisfaction. Even when things are going our way, at the end of the day, alone with our thoughts, the whispering anxiety remains....
The Messiah in the Book of Isaiah
The storyline of redemption unfolds throughout the Holy Scriptures and reveals God’s intent to reconcile people to Himself and establish His kingdom on earth. With each turn of the page we find a piece of His plan fall into place, His promises kept, and His prophecies fulfilled. The book of Isaiah is one of the clearest depictions of all...
Is “The Gospel” Just a Vintage Throwback Term We Are Trying to Make Cool Again?
Vintage. There is something about things that are vintage – relics of the past – that cause a certain amount of hype within each passing generation. For people my age, we like things that remind us if Mr. Rogers, 80’s music through a boombox, Gumby, Mario Bros., The Smurfs, and New Kids on the Block. Major companies and sports teams...
The “If Only” Game We Play with God: A Lesson for Dealing with Divine Disappointment
Anger is the aircraft carrier in the fleet of our emotions. Not only because of its massive size, but also its ability to do harm because from it proceeds a multitude of other feelings—grief, sadness, hatred, loss, horror, and doubt. Anger in itself is not necessarily wrong. It is an emotion God has given us, but as with anything...
Avoiding Lies From Hell by Acknowledging Satan is Real
Allow me start tell you a story that still sends shivers up and down my spine. I was sitting on the New York Subway with a few friends, when a man literally crawled on all fours through the doors and upon the seat across from me. He was wearing all black, with black eyeliner and a pale white make-up...
Lest We Forget God’s Love
Over the last decade, I have become increasingly aware of God’s supremacy in all things. Through study, conversation, circumstance, and spiritual maturation, the sovereign rule and reign of Christ as Savior and Lord has propelled me to a loftier view of God. This is not wrong; however, this paradigm shift has caused my view of God’s love and the...
Prayer of Honesty: God of Jacob?
Dear God of Abraham, Isaac and - of all people - Jacob? Why are you his God? Why did you bless such a dirty rotten scoundrel? Why did you wrestle with him instead of killing him? Why? You are not fair God. You don’t move the way I would expect you to. You don’t play by the rules. You are not like the rest of us. But I...
Pot Calling the Kettle Black: Dispel Hypocrisy
I bet you’ve heard this phrase before, “The pot calling the kettle black.” This idiom was probably coined back in the day when pots and kettles were used over wood-burning stoves and the longer they hung over the fire, the blacker their bottoms would become—so a pot and a kettle used over the same stove would be equally as...
Amazed By Christ, Changed Forever
It was a discouraging morning. Peter, James and John had been fishing all night and come back empty handed. As a fisherman, there is nothing that will suck the wind out of your sails more than having an unsuccessful fishing trip. Often when you are discouraged (or even slightly embarrassed), the last person you want to talk to, yet...
My Socks & the Sovereignty of God
It was bone-chilling cold outside, as most nights are in Chicago. I had just gotten off from waiting tables at a restaurant on Chicago’s famous Magnificent Mile and was making the trek back to my apartment. I was disappointed that my tips were nothing more than a measly nineteen dollars. I just wanted to get home and have a...