A Question of When
Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper. (Jeremiah 29:5-7 NIV) This past Friday was Sarah’s and my 10-year wedding anniversary, and we had planned a nice trip, with both sets of grandparents scheduled to come and spend half...
Read MoreJust Keep Showing Up
‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’ Haggai 2:3-5 One of the things I enjoy is reading articles written by successful people on lessons they’ve learned over the years. Last...
Read MoreThere Are No Accidents
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 NIV) This past Sunday, Keith Ferrin preached from Romans 8, which is consistently my favorite passage in the Bible. An old study Bible had a note that compared the book of Romans to a cathedral and Romans 8 to the pinnacle of the cathedral. One of the things we’ve been talking about at Creekside is clarifying the language around our mission statement with a strong focus on encountering Jesus. While it was many years ago, I’d like to share the defining...
Read MoreOnly the Middle of the Story
“And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.” (Genesis 45:5 NIV) I’ve always loved books and movies where it seems like the villain has outsmarted the hero and then all of a sudden, the tables turn, and the hero was really a step ahead the whole time. As the “how” is revealed, it turns out that lots of little things I hadn’t even noticed or that seemed insignificant at the time turn out to be crucially important when they all come together at the end. As we were wrapping up the book of...
Read MoreThe Problem of Suffering
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27 NIV) This article is a little heady, but I was inspired by Mark’s sermon on loving God with our minds! So here’s an example of examining the logical flaws of a common point of view. I recently heard an interview on the radio with...
Read MoreThe Grand Weaver
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV) Last Friday was a sad day for my group at work. We learned that a friend and colleague had died suddenly of a heart attack the night before. He was relatively young and had two small children. My first and natural reaction was to ask, “God, why? How could you let that happen?” Over the weekend, while still thinking and wrestling with this, Sawyer (our 5-year-old)...
Read MoreTry, Fail, Succeed
Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. (Acts...
Read MoreAs We are Able
For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. (Romans 12:4-6a NIV) Last month I had the privilege of working with our Middle School and High School students to prepare Creekside’s Good Friday Service. We gave the kids the basic framework that we were going to walk through a Seder (Passover) meal as the centerpiece of the service, but what that looked like was left completely...
Read MoreYeah, It’s Gonna Hurt
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:26-28 NIV) The other night I was reading The Velveteen Rabbit to the kids before bed, and I was struck by a scene early in the book where the rabbit is...
Read MoreFoundation of Love
“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.” (Luke...
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