As the staff of our church knows, I love the 1970 movie, The Cross and The Switchblade. I saw this movie so many times in my youth group that if the reel-to-reel projector ever broke down, I could have acted out the rest of it....
This Sunday at Grace we will come to the final exhortation of Paul’s letter to the Colossian church before his closing greetings. He tells them to live and speak wisely and in ways that seek to silence the slander of unbelievers against them and to...
This week our community experienced another school shooting that resulted in a murder, a suicide, and deep trauma for many. We pray for help and healing for all impacted by this tragedy. This morning I read one of the many opinion pieces that included a list...
I’ve been in some settings where the icebreaker question was of the “one thing” type. What’s one thing you would take with you to outer space? What’s one thing you can’t live without? What’s one thing you hope to do in the upcoming year? Whenever...
At this time every year, we can count on another round of posts and podcasts telling us how to make and keep New Year's resolutions. And we fall for it again. With renewed inspiration, we resolve again to start, stop, change, or adjust something that...
The three means of grace the Holy Spirit has used to keep me in faith, and the three practices that I have employed to keep myself in the way of the Spirit’s work are prayer, reading the Word, and participating in the church. You can...
Starting the new year with a Bible reading plan has become cliché. But don’t let that stop you from doing it anyway. The legalists may say they will not plan to read the Bible in 2025 because they need to break the “should” cycle in their lives. The...
As I shared earlier this week, the Lord has used the simple practices of prayer, Bible reading, and participation in the church to keep me growing in grace and following him since the day of my conversion. As we approach 2025, I encourage you to make growing...
Images are used to help explain realities, but it’s important that we interpret them well so that we know what is real. This is the case with Colossians 3 and the clothing imagery used to communicate the new self in Christ and the practices that are...
“The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.” Psalm 147:10 Fear and hope are friends when they reside in the heart of one whose eyes have seen the glory and grace of the Lord. Psalm 147 is a great Thanksgiving...
