There are plenty of reasons people fast from certain things. There are medical, dietary, and religious fasts (Ramadan is an annual Muslim fast seeking to earn favor). Why would or should Christians fast?Before I share why we should fast, let me address one misplaced motive. We should not fast to get something from God. Several Christians seem to add fasting to their regular disciplines to convince...  Read More

That is the title of the first chapter in John Piper's book, A Hunger for God. (Click here for a free ebook). It's also a question lots of Christians ask. Since Lent is most often associated with fasting, and most of us probably don't practice the spiritual discipline of fasting often, I thought it would be good for us to consider this question in this season. In short, the answer to the question ...  Read More

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. Maybe you have friends who are Roman Catholic or from other protestant but more liturgical denominations than ours who went today and were marked with an ashen cross on their forehead. We aren't going to practice Lent in the same way, but that doesn't mean this can't be a season of intentional and heightened seeking of the Lord and His will for us as His peo...  Read More

This Wednesday, February 14th, is not just Valentine’s Day. It’s also the first day of Lent. Much like the season of Advent, Lent is a season of preparation. While Advent is focused on Jesus coming to us, Lent prepares us to reflect on and celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection. Starting on Ash Wednesday, it lasts until Easter. It is 40 days long, not counting Sundays, since these are considered ...  Read More

As the old saying goes, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." This is as true with regular time in the Word as anything else. I can't read it for you, but every year, I do strive to provide several options you can use as a plan to read the Bible more this year than you did last. Getting through Leviticus or 1 and 2 Chronicle is already tough enough. So help yourself out, choose one of these pla...  Read More

Philippians 1:3–5 (ESV) — 3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.One of my favorite dishes at Thanksgiving is broccoli rice casserole. It wasn’t a dish I remember being made while I was growing up, and I don’t know that it would be considered “tra...  Read More

How we approach the book of Revelation, or the interpretive lens we use, as we seek to understand the visions that John has relayed will radically, affect how we understand it. For example, when I first began to study it I was a Futurist not because I really understood what that meant, but because I thought that basically that meant the vast majority of the visions John relayed would happen at som...  Read More

There are lots of great resources to point you to in order to study beyond what we will cover in the sermon series. Below I am giving you a sampling of several that will provide basic overviews, but others that will assist you in digging deeper into the text. Don't try to digest all of them, I'm providing more than any one of us needs because each of you will be looking for different things. So, t...  Read More

Listen to It Here - (Click Here) or read it below.To be witnesses to Jesus requires we call people in the world to repent and believe.If, in our efforts to evangelize, we never call someone to repent and only call them to trust Jesus, we are only asking them to put Jesus alongside all their other "gods." But, if in our efforts to evangelize, we never call someone to trust in Jesus and only call th...  Read More

For one of the previous videos click the following links Part 1, Part 2, Part 3To listen/watch: Click hereSigning a document is an indication of our commitment to one another. We sign contracts, licenses, and all sorts of other things affirming our commitments and the truthfulness of our testimony. We practice signing a covenant together to that same end. As we sign and recognize others who have c...  Read More

For Part 1 of Membership Matters (Click Here)For Part 2 of Membership Matters (Click Here)Click here to watch/listenI've often heard it debated as to whether we should use terms like minister or missionary to describe every Christian. According to biblical instruction and wisdom, the answer would suggest that we can have specific roles identified as minister or missionary while recognizing that we...  Read More

For Part 1 of Membership Matters (Click Here)Click here to watch/listen.This is the value question, the cost/benefit analysis question, and the is it really worth it question. First, let's be clear, there is much to gain by being a committed member of a local church. But before we get to that, let's address the elephant in the room.We live in a world where membership often conveys certain benefits...  Read More