Resurrection week is one of the BEST weeks of the year to bring someone to hear the clear gospel of Jesus Christ. If you live in New England, 57% of the population said they would respond positively to a FRIEND inviting them to church. How cool! That’s an amazing open door. So, I challenge you…
Why we struggle. How to struggle. Finding Hope in Struggles. On average, probably more than twice a week, I hear from another pastor who, in a moment of painful transparency reaches out to me saying, “I’m struggling.” It’s so common, I believe pervasive is a more appropriate word. I hear the same from church family…
I’m a “story buff”! From Narnia to the Shire to the planet Tatooine to Oz, I love a good story, and I’m not alone. It’s a human thing. Present-day Americans spend many hours every week consuming stories—from books, to movies, to TV—for good or bad, we are a story-craving people. Why? Often, it’s an escape…
“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” (Matthew 1:23) Jesus is… God enough to judge, but good enough to save. Big enough to execute cosmic justice, but small enough to cry from a manger. Dreadful…
Seven years ago, today, I was one treatment into nearly a year of chemo and radiation, wondering what God was doing. I was praying treatment would work. Six years ago, today, cancer treatments were successful and cancer was in the rear-view mirror; but God was calling weak-me to follow Him away from everything I knew….
“Something about this being a church just strikes deeper at the core of our hearts,” she said, searching for some way to process the tragic shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Her name is Jennifer, a reporter for channel 4 news in Hartford, and she came by the church this morning asking me for a short…
How Grace Generates Generosity and Joy One of the most amazing accounts in all of the gospels is found in Luke 19 when a greedy little traitor named Zacchaeus has a saving encounter with Jesus. When I think of Zacchaeus, I always think of Gollum—the sniveling, back-stabbing, mutant Hobbit of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Gollum only thinks…
What is subjective separation, and what is biblical separation? I believe in one and reject the other. Let’s break it down. Biblical separation is discerning and emphasizes what the Bible clearly says. Subjective separation is undiscerning, and creates issues where the Bible is silent or where God gives space for conscience. In this post, I’m…
Celebrating a Five-Year Journey… Five years ago yesterday, we officially began our journey of renewal and gospel ministry with the Emmanuel Baptist Church family. The months prior had been laced with many late-night wrestlings with God over His call and a lot of biblical counseling with godly, objective advisors. By May 2012, His word and…
This morning I read a great thought from Oswald Chambers in regard to obeying Jesus: He said, “If when God said ‘Go,’ you stayed, because you were so concerned about your people at home, you robbed them of the teaching and preaching of Jesus Christ Himself. When you obeyed and left all consequences to God,…
We’ve been studying the Gospel of Luke on Sunday mornings at Emmanuel—for 18 months. It’s been, for me, a life-changing and heart-shaping study. The journey of examining Jesus’ heart and ministry up close has been wonderful. So many aspects of His life rise to the surface—qualities you wouldn’t see by speed-reading the gospel. One particular…
Make Sunday More Meaningful for Your Soul… Going to church tomorrow? I hope you will be in a healthy, thriving, gospel-centered, substance-rich environment. A healthy church is the most beautiful organization on earth, and makes Sunday the BEST day of the whole week. I hope you can anticipate Sunday! I hope God has placed you…
What does a healthy church look like? How does a healthy church function? Between examining the New Testament Church in God’s word, my personal experience in healthy church families, and then seeing/experiencing healthy churches—there are biblical qualities of health that clearly rise to the surface. In the list below, the operative words are: growing, increasing,…
We’re talking about leading healthy change. In Part One we discussed discerning “good change” and “bad change.” In Part Two we discussed the starting point of appreciating “what is,” and managing the tension between “what is” and “what could be.” In Part Three we began discussing the first two of six steps in the process—building healthy relationships and communicating effectively. In Part…
I recently came across a powerful quote from an 18th century English pastor named Job Orton. Ironically, he wrote to the ministers of his day about doctrinal compromise. The struggles of churches nearly 300 years ago are the struggles of churches today. Read what he says: “I have long since found (and every year that…
Do you ever have moments where your heart sort of just “crashes?” You hit a wall spiritually. Suddenly, you don’t feel like going to church. You don’t feel like reading God’s word. You don’t feel like caring. You don’t feel like exercising. The list goes on. What do you do in that moment? Do feelings…
Do you love your church? Do you help your church to thrive? Do you cooperate with your church family to make every Sunday as powerful as it can be for as many people as possible? Have you considered what you could do to make this Sunday even better? Here are some “two-degree” shifts that you can make…
I’ve never had a conversation with God in which His voice was audible. But I’ve had many where His voice was clear. As a spiritual leader, my daily conversation with God is often drawn by His Spirit back to recurring themes. As Jesus asked His disciples “Who do you say that I am?” or “Will you also…
We’re talking about leading healthy change. In Part One we discussed discerning “good change” and “bad change.” In Part Two we discussed the starting point of appreciating “what is” and managing the tension between “what is” and “what could be.” In Part Three we began discussing the first two of six steps in the process—building healthy relationships and communicating effectively. In Part…
A few years ago, my son, Larry, and I were on a preaching trip in Maine. I preached in the morning, and had a break in the afternoon, so we decided to have some “father/son time.” It was a very masculine thing—hang out, watch an action movie, and eat snacks. Total awesomeness. So on the way…
