I’m doing things a little bit differently today. For now at least, I’ve mostly lost the ability to type, so am going to try my hand at a little bit of video. If you want, you can click play to learn more. Transcript We’ve got lights. We’ve got a camera. We’ve got a microphone. Let’s…
Every now and again I like to share an order of worship from Grace Fellowship Church. This service’s cast of characters included Paul (our lead pastor) as the preacher, Josh as the lead worshipper, Peter (one of our Assistant Ministers) as the service leader, Thushara (one of our deacons) as Scripture-reader, and Steve as the…
In some ways it seems like the New Calvinism has been around for a very long time. In other ways, it seems like it’s still a brand new thing. Whatever the case, it has lasted enough now that people are beginning to trace its roots, evaluate its accomplishments, and project its future. While this has…
There was a time, and it was not so very long ago, that we wanted heroes who were flawless. We would look to the past to find people who had an outsized impact on our world and prepare biographies tipped well in the direction of hagiography. We might read a thousand or two thousand pages…
There is no sin that cannot be overcome, no transgression that cannot be put to death, no consequence so grave it cannot be undone in 365 days. At least, that’s what you might think as you read about pastors and other Christian leaders who rise, fall, and rise again. It’s the unwritten but often-followed “one-year…
Because the weather on Tuesday was wet and gross, we spent most of it combing through museums in Basel and Zurich. We ended up visiting two day’s worth of museums in one, which left today wide open. We decided to make the most of it by heading for the mountains. We left our Airbnb outside…
Where yesterday was spent driving through the Swiss countryside and mountain ranges, today was spent in castles, museums, and churches. We were looking for objects related to Anabaptists, Desiderius Erasmus and Ulrich Zwingli. The locations delivered! Here’s how the day went… (But first, thanks to Logos for sponsoring this trip. Please check out their church…
There is no individual and no group the Bible does not address. Through its pages God speaks to husbands and wives, children and adults, masters and slaves, Jews and Gentiles. As we read the Bible we often find ourselves wondering if and how a particular instruction applies to us. How do I, as a man,…
As you know, I’ve been traveling through Switzerland for my EPIC church history project. Today we had no museums to visit (since they are all closed on Mondays). Instead we drove from Geneva to Bern, and followed a circuitous but scenic route. Here are a few shots I took along the way. I am now…
My EPIC trip to Switzerland continued today. I suppose it actually began today, since it was only this morning that our plane touched down. Here are my journal entries from the day that was.
A little while ago I announced a new project I’ve titled EPIC. In a series of journeys unfolding over the next 12 or 18 months, I’ll be traveling all over the globe searching for church history. I’ll be looking especially for key historical objects through which I’ll be able to tell the story of the…
The Bible is a book—God’s book. Even a child knows this, right? Except that the Bible isn’t a book. Not really. The Bible was at first oral transmission passed from person to person, events and conversations observed, remembered, and shared. But it was still the Bible. Then the Bible was a collection of scrolls, each…
If it is difficult to be a leader, it is far more difficult to be a good leader. If there are challenges that come to those who lead, there are far greater challenges that come to those who wish to lead well. This is exactly why we have such deep respect for leaders who are…
This life is full of loss and full of grief. Though there are times we experience great swells of joy, we also experience deep depths of sorrow. No sorrow is deeper than the sorrow of loss. At such times it is important to consider how Christians grieve. Christ has Lordship over all of life, even…
This is an article I’ve prepared with no small amount of trepidation. In the past I’ve written frequently and confidently about the role of a husband within his marriage, and especially about how it is tersely and perfectly summarized in Ephesians 5:33: “Let each one of you love his wife as himself.” But the last…
Today’s Kindle deals include a little bit of this and a little bit of that. (If you weren’t checking in over the weekend, be sure to check out the various audiobook, Kindle, and Logos deals I shared on Saturday and Monday.) If All My Sins Are Forgiven, Why Must I Continue to Repent? Stephen Wellum…
Christians have spilled a lot of ink attempting to discern how we can know and do the will of God. Like many others, I have written about this often, including a little series called How To Know the Will of God. Today, though, I want to turn our attention to something that is related but…
This week has been one of the most difficult in the history of Grace Fellowship Church. On Monday we learned that Beti Mubili, a young lady who had been long-time member of the church, had been killed in a recreational skydiving accident. We met spontaneously on Monday evening to just be together in our grief…
Beti loved adventure and loved to invite others to join in them. Her latest thrill was skydiving. “You should come with me,” she told Sam. “You’re crazy,” he replied,” “There is no way I’m jumping out of a plane. Why do you like stunts like that, anyway?” “Because they give me joy.” “And what if…
The New Testament clearly, repeatedly, and unapologetically lays out the qualifications of a pastor. What is so remarkable yet so often overlooked is this: Pastors are called and qualified to their ministry not first through their raw talent, their finely-honed skill, or their great accomplishments, but through their godly character. Of all the many qualifications…