“We have to FIGHT in this world for truth. This world constantly is telling us lies, and in order to keep our eyes on Jesus and rest in His truth, we have to fight. Or else, we’ll just fall into the lies, whether we realize it or not.”

Those words have not left my heart since my bible study leader said them a couple of years ago to our group. How wise and true they are.

We live in a world that constantly is throwing lies at us about who we are or who we should be. Billboards tell us to be cool. That you need to have a beer in your hand. That you have to be sexy to have a guy. Ads tell us in order to be cool, you have to have the latest gadget. Movies tell us … Read More »

It seems so easy to give God praise when things are going well, doesn’t it? It’s easy to say God is good and faithful and loving when life is easy. But we have all had those seasons when life just isn’t that simple. Maybe it was the death of a family member or the loss of a relationship. Or maybe you can’t even pinpoint a reason at all.

I have found myself in a dry place many times before. It’s in those desert places in life that I find myself tempted to ask God to get me out, to rescue me and to take away the pain. But as I’ve looked to God more and more in these times, he has been so gracious to teach me a better way to respond.

1. Do not compromise your time with the Lord.

It is … Read More »

 
These days if you wish to avoid the controversy surrounding the topic of legalizing gay marriage, it’s important that you not turn on your television or radio, read your email, talk with your friends, or even answer your telephone. Other than that, allowing the controversy to blow over without noticing should be fairly simple. It seems that it’s grown to become an everyday occurrence that I witness someone in the gay community being persecuted publicly in my Facebook or Twitter feed, and I can’t help but take notice.

The biggest argument from the Christian community is that legalizing gay marriage will harm and undermine the meaning and the sanctity of God’s marriage covenant. Now I won’t voice my stance on that statement, but what I will say is that I have a huge issue with the amount of time we as … Read More »

You stumble out to your car in the predawn darkness of a Tuesday morning in February and find your windshield frozen over. What do you do?

Well, my wife’s a scraper, my neighbor’s a defroster, and I’m a dyed-in-the-wool disciple of the “pour hot liquids on it and hit the windshield wipers” approach. We’ve all gotta deal with ice, and we’ve all got our favorite way of doing it.

The same is true of sin. We all sin – we all fail to live up to the moral standard that God has outlined in his Word and impressed on our hearts. And like a frozen windshield, we all have our preferred method of dealing with a guilty conscience.

Unfortunately, dealing with sin is a little more complex than dealing with ice, and the strategies we use to soothe a guilty conscience … Read More »

It brewed a strong cup of conviction the other day after I engaged in political banter. Since then, I knew it was the most fitting topic for this election season. Some of you would rather have higher taxes to fund more social programs, while others of you would like the budget, and government for that matter, to be out-of-sight and out-of-mind. You might feel strongly that women have a right to their own bodies, and others believe that a child has rights, too. Constitutional rights, amendable wrongs, democrat, and republican – it’s all irrelevant when you have an eternal perspective.

Am I saying that you shouldn’t stand up for the issues that matter to you and God? No. If Christians do not stand for the things that are important to our Lord then who will? … Read More »

I recently spent a Sunday with my co-workers, many of whom are predominantly non-Christians, volunteering at a local rescue center. They got up early in the morning to go serve their local community and exemplify servants’ hearts more so than I see in the church. Let me explain.

Here’s a trend I see in the church.  Often times, I see Christians getting pigeon holed into serving the church or “serving the body.” Let me clarify my position – I’m not condemning anyone for serving the church. Serving the church is a great thing that shows your church that you support its mission, whatever that may be.  But I am saying that increasingly more people are entering ministry because they think it is God’s calling in their lives; but I think that is a lie you have been fed since Sunday school.

Here’s … Read More »

High school seniors are being lied to everyday. To those who grew up in the church, it’s the need to only go to a Christian college, or if they must go to a secular university, to hide in their dorm room, not make any non-Christian friends, and certainly not go to any sort of social events on campus. The fear of their faith being contaminated by “the world” isolates so many freshman followers of Jesus.

Other students are hearing the lie from culture that is encouraging them to press the pause button on faith and experiment for 4 years. It’s the constant reminder that Jesus will be there when you’re done having fun. You can go back to him when you get married and have kids. There’s a mass exodus of 20 year olds from the church, and we have to … Read More »

1. Contemplate your sin in light of God’s grace and contemplate God’s grace in light of your sin.


When you contemplate your sin apart from God’s grace you end in despair. When you contemplate God’s grace apart from your sin you fail to see the cost of the cross. When you do both you’ll find yourself overwhelmingly thankful.

2. Remain in Community.

Doing life in community can be challenging but it’s crucial. Because we’re relational beings community is inescapable. Even if we check out of church we will end up in community. Also, communities are formative. Every community has certain values and virtues it provokes people to pursue. Remain in the Christ-focused community of the church, it will preserve your soul.

3. Ask your friends about what God is doing in their life.


Has it been … Read More »

Recently I became a college ministry worship director at a church near Central Washington University. After deciding to take the position, I immediately started contemplating what worship actually meant. I had been a part of the worship band for several years, seen worship teams flourish and fail, and ultimately thought I knew how to run it and what to expect. But I didn’t. I soon realized that worship was extremely hard to narrow down and define. What is it? Why do we worship? Is worship all of life? Is it only in a building while a band plays? Is it something I do by myself…or with others? How do I worship? When do I worship? Where do I worship? Well, what is it?!

“Worship is love on its knees before the beloved; just as mission is love on its feet … Read More »