My sin makes me so tired. This weekend I was really feeling the weight of it, and the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Over time this led me to the joy and freedom that comes when we exchange confessing our sins for the grace of Jesus. It is so healing to confess our sins to […]
Stop the Killing: Is there any hope?
I was driving to a friend’s church this morning when I heard the news on the radio that three Baton Rouge police officers were killed this morning and three more injured. Baton Rouge, the same city where police shot and killed Alton Sterling on July 5th, which was videotaped. This was the day before Philando […]
Jesus’s Gift To People Who Don’t Know What A Gift Actually Is
In the aftermath of this morning’s Christmas sermon and a week of getting and giving Christmas presents, I realized most of us don’t know what a gift is. Since most of me and my extended family’s gift-giving money goes toward our collective six kids, all age 5 and under, this year we decided to draw […]
What Does the Bible Say About God’s Love for Me?
What Does the Bible Say About God’s Love for Me? In the gospel, you are: Loved (John 3:16) Qualified (Colossians 1:12) Righteous (Romans 3:21-22) Accepted (Romans 15:7) Complete (Colossians 2:10 NLT) Reconciled (Colossians 1:22) Holy (Colossians 1:22) Blameless (Colossians 1:22) Without Blemish (Colossians 1:22) Free (Galatians 5:1) Free from Accusation (Colossians 1:22) Forgiven (Colossians 2:13) […]
How Saying “Merry Christmas” Turned into a Swear Word
I was chatting with the free sample guy at Meijer the other day, getting some godsend cups of red velvet cake that enabled my 2-year-old and 4-year-old to make it through the rest of the grocery run. After we got done asking each other about our kids and discussing the miraculous power of red velvet […]
Jesus’ Authority Keeps Us Unshakable When Suffering Comes
I had the opportunity to preach at Trinity Church in Lansing this past Sunday on Romans 8:31-39. Romans 8:31 and Romans 8:37 are home run verses that we love (and I love), but if we’re not careful they can become verses we take out of context and use to formulate a theology that bad things […]