Praying for your cold, dark heart

What comes out of a person is what defiles him.  For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person." 

Mark 7:20-23

Grace for Sandusky???

I have watched the revelations surrounding Penn's State's football program with horror and sadness.  This week, Jerry Sandusky, a former coach at Penn State and founder of Second Mile, a charity for underprivileged boys, was charged with 40 counts of criminal sexual assault. Over the last few days, Penn State's President (Graham Spanier), Athletic Director (Tim Curley), Sr. VP of Business (Gary Schultz), and legendary football coach Joe Paterno have either resigned or been terminated. I believe that this is just the beginning, and could lead to the resignation of the governor of Pennsylvania.

What is your authority for "Truth"

This article, originally posted on the church leaders.com website, is a great example of why Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids scares me. My comments follow the article.

David Wisen: Investment Manager

I alway struggle answering the simple question: "What do you do"? I have worn several different hats and been involved in several businesses, and over the past 20 years the answer to that question has included analyst, stock/commodity trader, real estate developer, baker, and president of the Van Kampen Group. Add to that husband, father, coach, elder...and now Pastor. For the past five years, my business card has simply listed my title as "Bondslave of Jesus Christ". This created a platform for my testimony in the business community. Now that I am a pastor, I think I am going to use reverse logic and refer to myself as an "Investment Manager". I am beginning to realize that the roles of managing money and pastoring are similar in many ways.  For instance;

"He Changed My Life"

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important." Steve Jobs, 2005.

The Law and Grace

One of the things that makes me smile as the pastor of a new church is the diversity of people and the different backgrounds they bring to our church. This past Sunday night our church had a fall picnic - about 300 people attended. We had an inflatable obstacle course for the kids, the adults played soccer and bag-toss, and we cooked up burgers and brats. On Monday morning, I received a call from a man questioning if this was a proper activity for a Sunday.

Four Reasons not to fight with the Pen

One of my favorite websites is The Gospel Coalition. It has a wonderful collection of sermons (40,000+) sortable by topic, preacher, or Scripture reference. It also has a blog that can be a wonderful resource. This Spring, when Rob Bell's book Love Wins was released, the Gospel Coalition published several worthwhile  reviews/responses/critiques to Rob's position. Reviews to note: Justin Taylor. and Al Mohler.

However, when their isn't a major topic to discuss, the blogs can begin to create infighting. Case in point: the debate over multi-site churches. Today's post by Thabiti Anyabwile: Multi-Site Churches Are from the Devil (http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/thabitianyabwile/2011/09/27/multi-site-churches-are-from-the-devil/) is not constructive in settling this issue or leading to open discussion on the matter. Reading through this post, I was reminded why I don't like to respond to people through e-mail - I would much rather settle disagreements face to face.

Great Sources of Spiritual food

In all of human history, there has never been a time when so much good preaching is available and making such little difference.

If you are someone who struggles to be in the Word consistently, let me recommend some of the places I lean on for strong Biblical insight. The pastors listed below are usually strong on Biblical interpretation, and the websites listed contain good content. I have tried to arrange the pastors by style, depending on what you are looking for.

How a Pastor Celebrates.

Several people have commented this week that I should be on cloud nine. This past Sunday was an exciting week at our church, with dozens being baptized and several making new commitments to follow Jesus. As the week comes to a close, I was looking back and reflecting on the week - you might be surprised how a pastor celebrates.

Five Signs your Church is Gaining Traction

1.     The Ministry is Messy. Everyone wants to be part of a missional church, whatever that means. We long to attract the masses, baptize new believers until were pruny, be forced to expand by explosive growth (for examples, see TheVillageChurch.org or Elevationchurch.org). Praise God for stories of blessing like these! However, no matter the size of your church, it will never sustain its mission (think Great

A visit with my Mom

A Visit with my Mom

I visited my mother today. She was sleeping when I walked in her room. I sat quietly in a chair watching her sleep.

Life can be most cruel when your body outlives your mind. Her children have watched her become more helpless over time. She struggles to communicate, cannot stay with conversations, and at times becomes frustrated and agitated. This is not her - dementia has taken its toll. As I sit, I remember little of past conversations or lessons taught. I remember a woman who grieved with those who grieved and rejoiced with those who rejoiced. She was simple in many ways, but she was faithful. She was faithful to a husband who could be difficult. She was faithful to children who could disappoint. She was faithful to her church: preparing meals, organizing funerals, teaching children, bearing slights.  A lifetime of “you before me” – caring for her family, her church, serving her God faithfully. Faithful trumps brilliance.

I pause for a moment and thank God for her condition. While I wish she knew my kids (she would have loved to hear Calvin preach), and I could express my love, I know that the current limitations have lessoned the sting of losing her husband – her daughter. I thank God that this is “temporary, light affliction” – and look forward to an eternity where there is no more sorrow, or tears, or suffering, or disappointment. I am reminded of the long-reaching effects of sin, and I am filled with a sense of urgency not to waste the days or “waste my suffering.”

Her eyes open and she says, “Oh, wow!” She cannot tell you who I am – but she knows I am someone special. Our visit is limited by language – we hold hands and she smiles. She yawns and drifts in and out of sleep, each time awaking and saying, “Oh, wow!” I gently let go of her hand and try to time my exit for when she is asleep. I kiss her forehead and whisper, “I love you”, and leave for what I expect will be the last time.

As I drive away, I am limited by language to express my love for the mother who prayed with me as a child and led me to Jesus.

John Piper - Why he is so loved

John Piper, maybe more than any other pastor today, has made a huge impact on a generation of younger pastors. Sometimes when I read his books, it seems like it takes him ten pages to say what could be said in two sentences. Sometimes when I listen to his sermons, I find myself wishing I was listening to a more

Great article about being a wife by a wife

Once again, as soon as I am done preaching on a topic - a great article on the issue is released. The great thing about this article - it is written by a women. It creates more credibility than if I were to say the words.

Killing off Marriage

Murphy's law at work again! Why is it the moment I am done studying a topic (marriage), I find a bunch of new resources on the topic.

Nine Myths about Sex

The following article gives some useful information about what people believe about sex and marriage. I am throwing it on the blog for reference purposes. I find it interesting, after spending the last two weeks studying and preaching on marriage, that every time the world comes up with a "better way" to do relationships, you end up with a lot of unsatisfied people.

Dying Churches = Revival of Faith

I am very grateful to be involved in a young church that is growing, seeing people commit their lives to Christ and responding to the Gospel.  I am also glad to be part of a fellowship of churches that is growing and planting new churches throughout the world.

The Roots of Bad Theology

The Roots to Bad Theology

Seldom does bad theology spring up all by itself. I remember years ago there was an issue that made a stir in our community: Mars Hills church in Grand Rapids had decided to have women elders. Now there are a lot of churches with women elders and while I disagree with their decision, this is not some earth-shaking issue. However, what was interesting was why Mars Hill had made this decision.

Rob Bell - Cover of Time?

As a pastor in West Michigan, I have wondered over the past few weeks just how big the controversy is surrounding Rob Bell and his book "Love Wins". Being "in the neighborhood", it is hard to tell if this issue is as big a deal in the bigger world of Christian Evangelicalism. However, Rob making the cover of Time Magazine, the week of Easter no less, appears to remove any concern I may have that this is a local issue. Consider, in the past week:

Woe to the Pharisee in me.

One of my favorite chapters in the gospels is Matthew 23.  Jesus, using direct and creative language, jabs at the Pharisees for their hypocrisy.  My favorite lines include:

Not Alone

I found myself reading a book this week entitled "Radical" by David Platt. I am a little late in discovering this book, I know. As I read, I became curious about the author. I discovered that David is 32,  and holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism (A.B.J.) from the University of Georgia, and a Master of Divinity (M.Div.), Master of Theology (Th.M.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. I suddenly feel old and annoyed.