Category Archives: Suffering

Reprise: Living The Doctrines Of Grace

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tulipsI am in the midst of doing something, I have longed to do for years.  I am preaching through Paul’s letter to Ephesians and more specifically I just finished preaching through what I consider the most beautiful, glorious and precious passage in the New Testament, Ephesians 2:1-10.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

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Book Recommendation: A Book of Comfort For Those In Sickness

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I am unapologetically a book guy, I always have been. For me books were a refuge and a comfort during a childhood that although happy wasn’t always peaches and cream. As a young adult, a city kid who moved to the mountain West, I learned a lot of the skills of that turned me into a competent outdoorsman from reading and as a new Christian in my late 20’s who had no Christian friends or relatives, along with being discipled by faithful men, I learned a lot about how to live as a Christian by reading.  As I began pastoral ministry, while also leaning on mentors, I also read, especially collections of letters, to build my skill set as a shepherd.… Continue reading

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I Was Arrested!

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On April 25, 2018, I was arrested. I was led away from the church in handcuffs. I was booked and charged with 3 counts of larceny and 2 counts of defacing a monument. I know, really shocking stuff. But what is even more shocking than a pastor being arrested, is what precipitated my arrest. I removed political signs that were posted on church property without permission. And because so many have asked me what happened, I thought I  should take this opportunity to relate the events, and also a few of the lessons I learned.

I want to be clear and open.… Continue reading

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Five Life-Shaping Books

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Last week one of my fellow PS23 contributors sent me one of those annoying Facebook challenges, in this case it was to post a picture of a book that influenced my life, with no explanation, for 5 days.  And while, as a rule, I find things like this annoying, and ignore them, in this case I was intrigued to think through the five books that impacted my life.  I’m a book guy, I always have been (even as a hard partying unbeliever and even as a child) so it was an interesting exercise to think through the 5 books that really affected my life.… Continue reading

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Storms, Jesus, and You

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Life can be straight up overwhelming at times.  Can I get an “Amen”?  If you’ve lived more than 15 minutes in this world, you surely know what I’m talking about.  Though I’ve heard it said, “God will never give you more than you can handle,” and though the words themselves sound very similar to the words of Scripture (1 Corinthians 10:13), whoever first used those words to suggest that the Lord is too nice to allow too much pain into your life – was dead wrong.  Overwhelming situations are like storms.  And Jesus has been known to lead his people through storms. … Continue reading

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