After years of being part of churches and around Christians, I have observed a type of Christian (and I’m not sure what drives all this) that has a constant, insatiable hunger for something new or different. Usually, this type of person couches this hidden hunger by saying, “I’m looking for something deeper.”  Please don’t misunderstand me. The Apostles teach that there are incremental and growing levels of understanding that accompany maturity in Christ.  They compare the early truths of scripture like a drink of milk – we have easy access to them and they are easy to digest. ...

“The healthiest exercise of the mind of a Christian is to learn to apprehend the truth granted to it in vision… by prayer and determination we have to form the habit of keeping ourselves soaked in the vision God has given.”  –J. Oswald Sanders The Movie Braveheart documents the life of one of the most focused leaders in the pages of history.  William Wallace was a man determined to bring freedom to his Scottish countrymen.  His Passion and vision was the result of a life story filled with moments of pain and victory.  His triumph call of “freedom” still echoes throughout...

R - Reverence for God, and His leaders E - Enthusiastic for fulfilling God’s purpose S - Sympathetic toward needs of others P - Prompt in all aspects of life E - Economical C - Courage to stand for what is right T - Truthful in all aspects of life F - Faithful in friendship U - Understanding toward those who are different L - Learning and growing

A confession – prior to my visit to the Northwest, I was in need of a break.  I was grouchy and discouraged.  (Joel Osteen would not have approved of my disposition).  It is amazing to me how much perspective plays a part of our well being.  And sometimes we need to pull away and unplug from the daily routine to find rest.  With intentional rest comes perspective.  If we violate Sabbath rest, something morphs in our soul. We start to get edgy and anxious.  The psalmist tells us, “It is in vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors; for He gives...

After all this, God tested Abraham. God said, “Abraham!” “Yes?” answered Abraham. “I’m listening.” Genesis 22:1 (MSG) One of the paradoxes of life is that testing times are transforming times.  We don’t like them, we may even dread them, and we wish they would go away.  Yet without testing there is no transforming. I grew up in the Northwest surrounded by mountains. Many times I would sit by the streams and creeks that run down from the mountains. Those sights and sounds are etched in my mind. They are both stunning and inspiring. But take away those...

For the past six weekends we’ve been looking at a few Old Testament Characters.  Their lives revealed God is purposeful even when we cannot see it.  God uses ordinary people to accomplish his extra-ordinary plan in surprising ways. We’ve discovered that everyone of them was challenged and tested.  They learned the nature of temptation and perhaps also their own points of personal weakness; they discovered the faithfulness of God and His ability to keep them in the trial.  Of course they were exposed to this reality: There is no other way to know whether or not God keeps His promises than...

How do you live out the Gospel in life between the world that is and the world that is to come?  How do you live out the Gospel between Sunday morning and the following Saturday night? How do you live out the Gospel in life between cultural engagement and Christian distinction or between community in the market place and Christian community? The central challenge for Christ followers is embodied in Jesus’ commandment from Luke 10:27 (ESV):  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Two...

Several years ago, a good friend of mine was grieving the loss of his father.  It was a sudden death; the kind you don’t anticipate. He wasn’t sick or suffering from any type critical illness. One day, his dad was alive; the next, he was gone. My friend said to me, “I don’t feel I am ready to be the patriarch of the family.  But I am the only one left – so I guess it’s up to me now.” The Bible has a lot to say about fathers.  There is no way in which I want to address all of it. I would like to however focus on three verses:  Proverbs 3:11-13 (NIV) 11 My son, do not despise the...

While I am preparing my message on Samson for this coming Sunday, the significance of grace keeps floating to the surface. The story of Samson’s lapse of judgment is a tragedy of the first order.  From beginning to end there’s not much to applaud. From the beginning God gave Samson everything he needed to succeed in his God given purpose.  He was to lead and deliver Israel from the Philistines.  Though he did not fulfill that purpose God’s grace overruled his lifetime of regret. Most of us will never have the opportunity to perform a heroic act at the end of our life, but all of us will...

Today I attended the memorial service of James Hill. He was 82 years old. Pastor Greg Youmans lead the service in a way that made each one there feel like they new James personally.  What moved me the most was a tribute by his grandson Matthew.  You could tell Matthew and James had a special bond. Following the service I got in my car to drive back to the church.  While driving back Iwas listening to a CD my son had just given me.  “Overflow” by Tommy Walker.  The song “Find Me Faithful” overwhelmed me to the point I had to pull the car over.  The message of the...