Judas's role in the crucifixion of Jesus has always fascinated me. What could have compelled him to betray the Lord? The Bible tells us that the devil entered into his heart; and that must have been the case. How else could someone live so close to Jesus---hear him preach, see him heal, eat from the…
As I was reading the last chapter of John a few months ago, God began to show me how poetically the gospel of John ends. The details weave together perfectly to give the reader a beautiful crescendo of faith. John tells us that faith/belief is the reason that he wrote his gospel: "that ye might…
This post was accidentally posted several days ago because of a glitch in our post scheduling system...and we weren't even done writing it yet! We are sorry for this accident. Here is the full post. The Hebrew name Judah means "praise." Because of this, Biblical episodes involving the patriarch Judah, or the tribe of Judah,…
I admit the title of this post might be a little shocking. I can hear the murmuring now: "What do you mean there is no such thing as a music minister?? I'm a music minister! Don't you think worship is important?? Don't you think worship leaders are important?? How can you possibly say there is no…
A few days ago I was having a Bible study with some of my friends from church. As we were going through the lesson, an interesting conversation started about the unique role of ministering/preaching in the church---and about how it is different from the role of music/worship, or any other aspect of serving in the…
As of today (1-22-19) I have been married to my best friend for seven months. I know that every young couple says these sorts of things, but she truly is my best friend and I love her so. Since the day we were married, living life with Cheyanne has taught me so many things about…
As we stand on the threshold of a new year, we tend to wax philosophic. We think about the circle of the year; we think about the steady hourglass of time. We think about all of resolutions we meant to accomplish, but never seemed to have the time. We intended to achieve our goals, but…
In a Facebook forum that I belong to, one of the members asked this question: since all Christian doctrines are important, which ones are essential for our theology and preaching? Below is my list of six essential doctrines of the Christian Faith. 1) salvation by grace alone through faith alone, via the atoning work of…
The title is a mouth-full, I know. But several days ago the Lord began to deal with me about some foundational principles of worship, and these three words were the best descriptions I could think of. If we can understand these three components, it will revolutionize our worship. As someone who has been raised in…
We tend to idealize the great apostle Paul: he saved many souls, wrote a big chunk of our New Testament, did great things for the kingdom of God. But we also need to understand that things were often terrible for Paul. Of the many things that he suffered, Paul was beaten by the Jews five times…
Lectionary 