This past Sunday, I preached the first lesson in a Relationship series on Assertiveness. The part of the Bible the teaching came from was Matthew 18:15-20 where Jesus is teaching his followers how to get along with each other and navigate relationships through difficult moments. Right in the middle of

British ethics professor and writer for the UK’s Independent, Paul Vallely says, “Most people in the West would be surprised by the answer to the question: who are the most persecuted people in the world? According to the International Society for Human Rights, a secular group with members in 38

The 2017 Christmas Season – more accurately called “Advent” – has been really interesting in our household. My wife, Carrie, is 39.5 weeks pregnant with a due date on Christmas Day.  To add to the drama, our youngest was born two weeks early and Carrie has been having tricky contractions

My wife and I are both pastors and get the opportunity on a pretty regular basis to marry people. When we are approached by someone we don’t know about officiating their wedding, this gives us a wonderful opportunity to get to talk to someone new about our faith and our

Imagine dividing a tire into three pizza slice segments. That is one way to think of our spiritual vitality – a tire divided into the three segments of KNOWING, BEING, and DOING.  If one of them gets a little flatter than the others the tire jolts and bumps down the

As a pastor, there have been times in the past where the question I addressed on Easter morning was “did the resurrection of Jesus happen?”  It’s an important and fascinating question for sure, but I don’t think it’s the right one for Easter morning.  The right question for Easter morning

I could also phrase this question another way, “Is God disappointed in you?” I think it is a question that’s swims around in many people’s souls, especially those who have had difficult or painful relationships with their parents.  There are few questions that I believe hold people at a distance

[This is adapted from part of a sermon I preached a while back, but I think it bears repeating.] I can only assume that there are people sitting here today who don’t believe any of this, about the Great Epic – beginning, middle or end – or people who are

In the religious wars following the Protestant Reformation one of the things people fought over was Communion – also known as the Eucharist or the Lord’s Supper.   Even though participating in this rite has been a regular part of the Christian life for Christians around the world for the last

This is a massively important topic for our world today and for how individuals and churches live out the Christian life. You may not know what these two are, but if you are a Christian in a western society, they shape how you understand your faith, the Christian life, and