Everything here, newest first. Most of these posts orbit around Jeremiah 17:7-8. They are merely my opinions, so test them.
Hell is a subject most of us, even most pastors, avoid. But Jesus talked about it more than He talked about heaven. A look at what the Bible actually says about Hades, Gehenna, and the lake of fire, and why it should change how we live.
Recently, I heard a teaching by a guest pastor at my local church. He preached on the end of 2 Corinthians 11 and the first part of 2 Corinthians 12, where Paul talks about his hardships and boasting in his weaknesses. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the…
How’s that for a controversial title? Let me show you why it’s true, though. If there’s one thing the pandemic and the last couple of years have taught me, it’s that I don’t need to hear about leading from a place of strength. I need to hear about leading from a place of weakness. The…
And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27 Whether you’re a Christian or not, listen up. If you don’t find some kind of rhythm of rest in your life, you’re going to damage your soul, your relationships, and your life. There’s this constant theme that…
The ‘Rona finally got me! I am currently quarantining after testing positive for COVID yesterday. With this “forced” rest, I finished a book called “Soul Keeping,” by John Ortberg. It came heavily recommended by a great friend. I think he’d been encouraging me to read it for over a year. I finally started it a…
A Context for the Experience of Weariness “The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, but…
I remember a friend saying something some years back that really stuck with me. The cliff notes version of it is this: Whenever you come to Jesus beating yourself up about everything you’re not yet in life and what you suck at it in life, he doesn’t give you 10 other things to do and…
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? – Romans 7:24 1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. –…
“Beware of cynicism. It’s such a killer. Avoid it like the plague. It will rob you of joy, of fellowship, of faith. It’s not childlike, so don’t develop it.” -Terry Virgo I first read this tweet from Terry Virgo about 7 months ago and it really struck a chord with me. Too bad quotes or…
1 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away…
I remember listening to a John Piper podcast a year or two ago talking about the importance of the commandments throughout the New Testament. The cliff notes version of Piper’s teaching is this: You only get half a Gospel if you only focus on Jesus’ blood-bought Grace, but not Jesus’ blood-bought empowerment for us to…
Six months have passed since I last posted on this blog. Life tends to move rather quickly. The last 6 months have kind of led to a crescendo; it seems that one thing Jesus has been teaching me through hardship, high demands, and spiritual dullness is this theme of commitment. Wouldn’t you agree that we…
Would you consider yourself to be a strong person? If so, what is the source of your strength? Have you ever thought about this? For some, their source of strength may be their family or their upbringing. For others, it may be their commitment to morality, a particular cause, good looks, education/intellect, income, a healthy…
Aside from the way Christians love one another, I believe that one of the other primary ways a person demonstrates whether they belong to Christ is by their response during suffering, trials, and hardship. And beyond just suffering well (yet imperfectly), another distinguishing mark of a good tree is a person’s perspective on trials and…
Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face. – Mike Tyson Mike Tyson may be slightly insane, but he is right about getting punched in the face. I’ve experienced some substantial changes this year; particularly over the last few months. I’ve wondered, does our theology (and not just theology, but our faith)…
I have to admit, my posts have been somewhat serious or even borderline melancholy lately, but I’ve decided that’s not necessarily a bad thing. This post is no exception. It’s been a tough season for Theresa and I, but it’s also been a tough decade or so—marked with suffering along the road of obedience, but…
About 17 people perished yesterday when a small boat cap-sized in Branson, Missouri. Can you imagine what the families and friends of those people must be going through? We like to separate ourselves as far from death as possible. We tend to do this with all of life’s unpleasantries, but especially death. This isn’t a…
Part of being rooted like the tree described in Jeremiah 17 is having truths to grip onto during both life’s tumult’s, and zeniths. I used to be so excited about putting together mixtapes/CD’s back in the 90s and early-2000s What did we do? We essentially compiled a track of our most treasured songs. Like, you…
Have you ever wished you could build a perimeter around your house and make it difficult for people to be able to walk up to your front door and start knocking? I have, just now, about 10 minutes ago and many times prior to that. It sounds kind of funny, but it’s also kind of…
Parenting has many challenges. We are all thrust into it, basically without any training, and many people are just simply armed with poor examples from their own childhood. It’s basically a trial-by-fire situation that we find ourselves in. Beyond just the normal, carnal instincts that kick-in, there is very little instinct when it comes to…
One word to focus on today: Consider. “Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.” – Psalm 13:3 “And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man,…
Most of my blog posts are motivated by my observations, experiences, and emotions. That can get kind of risky when you start talking about spiritual matters, especially if those observations, experiences, and emotions aren’t grounded in Truth. They can be a bit subjective. Nonetheless, I do not claim that what I write here is perfect.
No, this won’t be my last blog post (unless I die tomorrow), in case the title threw you off. I’m talking about Christians. We’re the “Last.” It’s a theme that seems to be coming up for me today. So why are Christians last? There are at least 4 reasons… Reason #1: We’ve given up everything…
It’s early-2018 and so some resolutions are still in full-force. Among all of the resolutions and newly-adopted mantras I see during each new year, one of the more troubling ones I see is the mantra of “ridding one’s life of all negative people or people who don’t inspire you or believe in you.” From a…
I’ve had these things on my mind lately, so I felt so inclined to bring them up. I apologize in advance if some of what I say is a bit heavy-handed. That is not my intention and I’m not trying to say anything shocking. Just trying to be real. If you’re a Christian, you more…
The Holidays are always an interesting time of year for me. Christmas is great—by far my favorite holiday. Besides celebrating Jesus’ birth, there is a lot of nostalgia surrounding the Christmas season. This time of year doesn’t come without a few challenges though: 1. Lack of Routine. I don’t necessarily “like” routine, but I have…
Recently, my thoughts have been gravitating towards the sobering reality of Romans 8:22: “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” The context is the subjection of all creation to futility—that there is suffering in this present time. The word “groaning” is such an accurate…
“A great sinner pardoned makes a great singer.” -C.H. Spurgeon I wish I could take credit for the title of my post, but they’re the words of C.H. Spurgeon, from his commentary on Psalm 51. I have made it clear that this blog and essentially, my life, orbits around Jeremiah 17. If I had to…
Criticism: “The expression of disapproval of someone or something based on perceived faults or mistakes.” -Google Definition; “The act of criticizing usually unfavorably.” -Merriam-Webster Definition Criticism has many different contexts and is helpful in some contexts (criticizing literary or artistic works, Biblical criticism, etc). The criticism I am concerned with is under the umbrella of the…
It’s not a big secret, but there are a lot of quotes and statements that we ourselves have used/made or read, possibly even from a young age that are not necessarily true. I remember a particular poem from as far back as elementary school called, “Invictus” written by William Ernest Henley in the mid-to-late 1800s.
I have had a long hiatus from blogging. It has been a busy summer. I think if you made a word cloud of my life, BUSY would certainly dominate the landscape. It’s been (mostly) good busy though. We have moved twice and the kids have been in 3 schools in the last year. We finally…
35 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.” – Luke 12:35-36 For me, and I think many others, the hard…
Where am I going with this? I’m pretty sure I didn’t think of the term first, but I want to spend this post talking about why I consider myself neither an optimist or pessimist, but rather a ‘hopeful realist.’ When pessimists defend their position, they will say they’re not pessimists, but realists. That basically implies…
I heard a few Sugar Ray songs the other day for the first time in awhile and I felt a little nostalgic. Depending on which decade you grew up in, you probably have a handful of songs particular to that era that bring back memories from your childhood or teenage years (good or bad, right?).
What do you do for Fun? I get asked this question a lot. I also find myself asking the question quite frequently: What do you do for fun? Have you ever NOT been able to answer that or have you had a long pause when asked? It’s like, man you just put me on the…
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease…
Have you ever been disappointed? Of course you have. Disappointing things happen in life. Almost everyday. You don’t get the job you were hoping for, your friends or family let you down, plans fall through; the vacation you were really looking forward to gets rained-out the whole time; the buyers for your house back out…
Growing up, I was the youngest. My only brother is 7 years older than me, and I am the youngest of 5 cousins. Obviously, there are a lot of negative perceptions (is that the word I’m looking for?) surrounding the “youngest.” The youngest is usually viewed as the one who is most spoiled and gets…
Just to preface, these are only my opinions on things. You could apply that to everything I post here. I want to share a few of my observations on cars before I start talking about buying a house, just because it’s fresh on my mind. We are so dependent on cars in our society. They…
It’s rapidly approaching the 6-month mark since my wife and I packed up our family and moved to help plant a church in Gainesville. That number is hard to believe. It seems like it was just yesterday that we felt God’s leading to move across the country. In this 6 months, I have compiled a…
