Podcast Audio: In the last three weeks we have been talking about the making the daily reading of God’s Word the core part of our lives – the foundation of our relationship with God. We’ve said that God’s Word, the Bible, is our umbilical cord to Jesus. We started with looking at the Parable…
Podcast Audio: We’re continuing our sub-series in the Gospel of Mark which I’m simply calling “God Still Speaks”. Last week we talked about seeing the condition of our hearts, and how we have a responsibility to make sure we are not crowding out God’s voice with unrepentant sin or other things we are giving…
Podcast Audio: We’re getting back into the Gospel of Mark today, but as we step back into it – into Chapter 4 – I want to do it by way of a mini-series, of hopefully only two or three sermons, about something that is very near and dear to my heart – meeting God…
Podcast Audio: How Do You Devo? Devos, Daily Devotionals, Quiet Time, Private Meditation, Time with God, 1-on-1 with Jesus, Daily Prayers — there are lots of names for it and likely as many ways to do it. And I want to know yours! I recently filled my very first prayer journal and got a shiny new…
Podcast Audio: I’m so proud of our Sunday school kids, and the teachers, for taking the time to memorize the Romans Road to Salvation over the past few months. Memorizing of scripture takes time, concentration, and energy – and it is a way to worship God. That time is never wasted and these kids will…
Podcast Audio: This is the final week we will be spending on Psalm 15. We have been going through it for nine weeks now, and it has been a challenging, and hopefully encouraging, piece of scripture to study. I know it has been for me! And from the responses I’ve heard from some of…
The drama surrounding Rob Ford continues to make headlines as investigators dig up facts and new allegations come to light. Americans and Canadians are fascinated by what Maclean’s Magazine called “the greatest political train wreck of our time.” I don’t want to add fuel to the already blazing inferno of craziness surrounding Ford’s words…
“Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. And he told his disciples to have a…
If you were converted later in life, or have friends that are non-Christian, then you have probably had the conversation about “what you are allowed to do.” The underlying question is always, “What kind of burdens have been placed on you now that you are a Christian?” And it’s a justified question because becoming…
Jesus and the Mob Boss We’re going to talk about Mark 2:18-22, but let me set the context first. Jesus is sitting at the table of Levi, also called Matthew, who has just left his Tax Collectors booth and has followed Jesus. They went to his home where Jesus sat down to…
What we are going to study today is a deeply convicting passage of scripture for me. Though this passage is short, the concepts, teachings and applications found in this little section is both overwhelming and humbling. That makes it very tough to preach because there is no way I can feel like I’ve ever done…
I celebrated a milestone. On Thursday, August 8th, 2013 I was officially 13,000 days old. That’s 1857 weeks and one day. Or 427 months. Or 35.6 years. I’ve learned a lot in my 30s. It has truly been the most productive and spiritually challenging decade of my life – so far. But I’ve…
I started a series on the Gospel of Mark a while back and have been planning to get back into it for a while. We barely made it through Mark’s introduction before we interrupted it by studying “Resolving Everyday Conflict”, went into the Advent season, and then spent a lot of time on the…
I haven’t been posting for the past while because of a big move and some vacation time, but after coming across this piece of news on Facebook (also here), I felt I had to rush posting the sermon I preached this week. We’ve been going through the Gospel of Mark (I’ll post previous sermons soon)…
We talked before about how every Christian is called to service, “Drinking the Cup” means accepting our divinely appointed destiny, acknowledging that we are “saved to serve” and that Christianity is NOT a commodity exchange. We serve sacrificially because of our connection to Jesus Christ the perfect model of a servant. What I want to…
Sunday morning isn’t the sum of the Christian faith experience, but it can be a conduit, a beginning to it, if we take the time and effort to prepare ourselves and be ready for what God wants for us for each Sunday morning. I spent some time yesterday going through the first five ways…
I promised in my previous post that we would get very practical today, so let’s get going. Today I want to introduce you to the Tools and Techniques you can use to study the bible to make sure we get it right. We need two things: Tools and Techniques – let’s start with tools. The…
We’re studying the Four Core Christian Disciplines right now. Can you remember what they are? Prayer, Bible Study, Church Attendance and Serving Others. Last week we talked about “How to Pray” which brings us to this week’s topic: “Why and How to Study the Bible”. Lets begin with “Why” and start with this question: How You…
[If you are part of my church — SPOILER ALERT — this is Sunday’s sermon! I’m sending this out into the world early to help folks who are looking for a little Mother’s Day inspiration. This isn’t just for mom’s though, it is a message for everyone with children in their lives — the…
(Click here for the video) Praise for AWANA Have you heard of AWANA? Essentially, AWANA is a biblical, discipleship program for kids aged 2-18. Each week they play games, memorize scripture, hear the gospel, have a small group discussion, and participate in local and global missions. It’s been around for around 60 years and…
I’m a HUGE fan of the AWANA program and had the opportunity to speak again last Thursday night. I gave a talk called “Wisdom or Foolishness” to a group of kids aged 5-12 and their leaders (which included some pretty fun pictures!). Here’s the audio: I want to play a game with you that I’m going…
(This is a follow-up post to The Foundations: The True Gospel) The Second is Sola Gratia, or Grace Alone, was the overarching theme of the Reformationists, not because the Roman Catholic Church was teaching that salvation isn’t from the Grace of God found in Jesus, but because they teach that other things must to be done as well.…
(This is a follow-up post to The Foundations: The True Gospel) Sola Scriptura, or Scripture Alone, is the principal and belief that The Bible is the supreme authority in all spiritual matters. It is the acknowledgement that the Bible contains the very Words of God. They are not, as 2 Peter 1:16 puts it,…
Controversy & Division The church deals with a lot of issues, and there are a lot of controversies swirling around both inside and outside the body of believers. Moral questions, political affiliations, missional differences, a million stylistic opinions, global concerns and theological interpretations are only a part of the everyday life and conversation for…
I want to start by welcoming all the new subscribers! If you didn’t receive your free e-book, contact me. Second, I want to apologize for the error I made yesterday that accidentally sent a message to everyone I have ever emailed in my entire life! I am very sorry and I’ve been working hard…
A Daunting Task I have a deep and abiding passion for discipleship, which is probably why this series is has been hard to write – because I want to get it right. I don’t want to leave out anything important. I want to give you everything you need to be forgiven, know God, and…
I have a deep and abiding passion for intentional discipleship and designing a path to take people from “unsaved” to “church elder” has been my preoccupation for a few years now. The intensity of this fixation has increased recently as I have worked through a re-visioning process with the church I’m currently serving, and then doubled…
As I was cleaning off my desk, I stumbled across a note I wrote during a counseling session a while back where a man asked me, “What does it mean to be a Christian husband?”. He didn’t grow up in a Christian home and didn’t know what scripture said, so he didn’t have much…
I’m currently on a “staycation”. I was starting to feel tired and distracted, and I know what happens when I travel down that road too far, so I scheduled some time off. I’m not going anywhere, but I get to sleep in some, hang out with the family, and do some fun things around…
On October 14th I had the amazing privilege of baptising my sons Ethan and Edison. It was such a wonderful day, and my wife and I are so proud of them. I’ve finally uploaded their testimony and baptism video to youtube and want to share it with you. The audio isn’t that great, so here’s a…
In light of current events I put together this handout to give to my church tomorrow. I thought it might be helpful to give you some things to do when you hear or experience bad news. This is by no means a comprehensive guide, but is what is on my heart to share right…
I don’t know why this never occurred to me before, but it wasn’t always hot and sunny while Jesus walked the earth. Maybe I’ve seen too many pictures of Jesus standing in a sunbeam or walking along a desert road, but it never really crossed my mind that Jesus would have been cold. I tried to…
The above video spurred me to write this entry. It touched me deeply and reminded me of who God is creating me to be, where I have come from, and why I do what I do the way I do it. It is beautifully shot, and powerfully narrated by John Calvin. I encourage you…
“You can please some of the people, some of the time”, they say. I would add, “and some of the people who aren’t pleased have no problems telling you why.” Criticism is something we all have to deal with, isn’t it? None of us are perfect, and yet it surprises people when someone makes…
I just paused my sermon prep for a moment so I could post this to the blog. I’m currently writing a sermon on The Powerful Witness of Unity in the Church and remembered that I had written in a Facebook Post earlier in the week. The two didn’t really connect in my mind until…
I preached this sermon on Sunday, October 31 2010 as a way to help the congregation process Halloween, but it grew into something much bigger. It became a sermon about how to make all kinds of decisions. I repeat it here in hopes it will encourage you to make wiser choices, release you from…
Own Your “Why?” Some time ago I came up with a phrase that I try to live by and give away as much as possible — “Own your ‘Why?’” What it means is that when you do something (anything), make sure that you own up to your motives and reasons for doing it. Don’t…
If you haven’t heard of Michael Jr. yet, you are seriously missing out on some funny and meaningful stuff. Here’s a sermon he recently gave at the Gateway Church. [Also, this is officially the first sermon I have ever watched that has a commercial!]
During the “Ask The Pastor” meetings on Wednesday nights at the church I serve, many questions come up that I don’t have the time or equipment to be able to give a full answer to. I believe there are many who have similar concerns and questions, so for a little while I’m going to…
During the “Ask The Pastor” meetings on Wednesday nights at the church I serve, many questions come up that I don’t have the time or equipment to be able to give a full answer to. I believe there are many who have similar concerns and questions, so for a little while I’m going to…
I love Wednesday nights at the church because we have been doing an “Ask The Pastor” time where people come and ask questions about life, church, theology, and everything else. Sometimes it feels more like ‘Stump the Pastor”, but I do my best to give a biblical, helpful and practical answer. It has…
I know that video has been around for a while, but it still amazes me how amazing God made people. And this video is only scratching the surface — consider the intellectual, artistic and psychological feats we can attain! When He was designing us, it wasn’t so that we wouldn’t be able to understand or participate…
I’ll admit it — I have a man-crush on RC Sproul. What an awesome teacher! Last week RC took on a favourite hot-topic among Christians – predestination. Every time I have an Ask The Pastor night this question comes up over and over. It is clearly close to people’s hearts and people want a…
In my heart of hearts I’m a student. I loved school and now I love learning about Jesus and His Church. For me, being a teacher, preacher, leader, vision-caster, etc. isn’t a job but a natural expression of the things God built me to be interested in and impassioned by. I’m energized by reading books, articles,…
Continued from yesterday: These are, without a doubt, the blogs that have most helped and challenged me to become a deeper person. I’m in awe of the men and women who contribute to these blogs and thankful to God for their insights and passion for growing people in the Christian faith. Remember that…
The internet is full of extremely bad blog writers, but coming across a good one can be a real blessing to spiritual growth and open life to new and challenging ideas. Therefore, I’d like to introduce you to some of my favourite blogs. On a practical note, I’ve been using Google Reader to follow blogs. It’s…
There’s some confusion among Christians regarding male Eldership and the role of women in the church. This is a concern to me because it can easily become a divisive topic if it’s not clearly communicated and carefully (and humbly) studied. I want everyone to understand what God says about the different roles of…
I feel some of you may need to hear the advice I recently gave a friend who is going through a tough time: “Sometimes we feel bad after praying that God would take our burdens and then picking them back up again after we say “amen”. We think that there might be…
Meditation is a multifaceted and religiously loaded term. There are many Christians today who shy away from practicing meditation because they aren’t sure that it’s “allowed”. Let me assure you it is, and it is the key to developing a deep life and focus on God’s priorities for you. Christian meditation only has two…