Thoughtful Reflections on Faith and Life
Is this a good time or a bad time for the Christian church? Is Christianity thriving or is it struggling? There are those who see the church as being threatened from the outside. I see the threat as being from the inside. In my late twenties, it was recognized that there were dangers to the … Read More “4 Things That Scare Me About the Church Today” »
Galatians 5:13-15 Introduction What is real Christianity? How would you answer that? I have heard many Christians accuse other Christians of being fake Christians. I, myself have been accused of being a fake Christian. Usually this happens when a person becomes extremely passionate about a certain aspect of the faith, so much so, that they … Read More “A Great Commandment” »
Colossians 3:13-15 Introduction We are beginning a new series on the fruit of the Spirit as described in Galatians 5. This passage is pretty amazing. Paul pushes back against a Christian faith that is purely rules-based. What Paul argues about in Galatians is that the Christian life, instead of being about obedience to a certain … Read More “Be Clothed in Love” »
John 13:34-35 Introduction As we reflect on what it is that Jesus wants us to do, one of the verses that we should keep in mind is: “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:8) In this passage we see that love is a part of the essence … Read More “Love One Another” »
Matthew 22:39-40 Introduction When I was a church attender and not a pastor, I generally hoped for new insight into the Scriptures. I was hoping the pastor would find some deep truth about God that I had never thought about before, a hidden gem that would bring about a fresh understanding of God. Not the … Read More “Love Our Neighbour” »
Matthew 22:34-38 Introduction We have been looking at what Jesus wants from us. This is an extremely important question for us to wrestle with. Thankfully, we have plenty of material available for us to find Jesus’ thoughts on the matter. Last week, we saw that Jesus wants us to follow him. Logically, that is the … Read More “Love God” »
Isaiah 62:6-12 Introduction I want you to think about a time that you really felt loved. I don’t mean that you just understood the fact of it on an intellectual level but when you actually felt it inside of you. It could have been from a spouse, a parent, a child, a friend, or even … Read More “A People Sought Out” »
Romans 12:9-21 Introduction As young people are returning to school, my mind is drawn to my experience of attending university for my undergraduate degree. I really had no idea what I wanted to study but I applied for history. At the very last minute, perhaps thirty-five years ago this week, I switched to a business … Read More “Let Love Be Sincere” »
1 John 3:11-24 Introduction When you think of October 31, what first comes to mind? While many people think immediately of Halloween, for many people that day is remembered as Reformation Day. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther, who was an Augustinian monk and a theology professor, nailed his 95 theses to the door of … Read More “Love in Action” »
I have been thinking a lot about the role of love in the Christian life and what that looks like. Two different things have been bringing this together. One is preaching through 1 John at our church and the other is some Twitter interactions with some very conservative evangelicals. It is incredible how much of … Read More “What Does Christian Love Look Like?” »
1 John 2:3-11 Introduction Someone comes to you and asks “How do I be a Christian?” What do you say? You might say something like “believe in Jesus” which is a great start. But what is someone actually asking when they say “How do I be a Christian?” Are they asking how they become a … Read More “A More Christ-like Church” »
1 John 4:7-21 Introduction A couple was getting married. The bride wished her pastor could be there but he lived too far away. He was asked if he wanted to send a message to be read at the reception. He wanted to have read: “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out … Read More “Love is the Key” »
1 Corinthians 13 Introduction In my experience, there are two types of people who tell stories. There are those with the laser focus that want to take us on as direct a route as possible from point A to point B. They will share the necessary details but only as much background information as absolutely … Read More “Love is the Foundation” »
Micah 5:2-5 Introduction We are very familiar with Christmas but is it possible that we are too familiar with it? Is the story so well known that we have stopped thinking about actually took place. Here is how I understand what happened. God created the world, including humanity. Humanity rebelled against God, forsaking his way … Read More “Love in Action” »
John 13:34-35 Introduction I have a love-hate relationship when it comes to tradition. On one hand, I really love tradition. It may be connected with my appreciation for history, including church history. There is so much that we can learn from the past and tradition is an excellent way of passing on those lessons. Not … Read More “Jesus: The Love-Giver” »
The two most important things a pastor needs to do is to love God and love people. Often the loving of God comes easier than the love for people. Some people are easier to love than others. What does it mean for us to love our congregations? It doesn’t necessarily mean that we are filled … Read More “31 Days to Become a Better Pastor: Love Your Congregation” »
Love is one of the highest values of our culture. It is the subject of countless songs and stories. But what do we mean by love? Zachary Krueger turns to C.S. Lewis for wisdom on the nature of love. So I brewed a pot of coffee (the natural starting point of my inquiry), poured a cup … Read More “What C.S. Lewis Can Teach Us About True Love” »
This is sermon based on 1 John 4:7-12 that I preached at the Spanish congregation at Queen Street Baptist Church. Introduction In addition to my role as a pastor at Queen Street Baptist Church, I also teach the New Testament at Tyndale University College. There are a number of differences between the two roles, even … Read More “Advent Four: Love” »
A sermon based on Luke 6:27-36 and preached at Queen Street Baptist Church. Introduction I don’t think that I need to preach too hard on the importance of love. I’m sure that there are very few people who would argue that love is unimportant. A random search for quotes on love brought up such thoughts as: … Read More “Tough Love: What Does It Mean To Love Our Enemies?” »
A sermon preached at Queen Street Baptist Church based on 1 John 4:7-12. Introduction If we were to tune into a random radio station, how long do you think it would take for us to hear the word ‘love’? How long would it take for us to hear it a hundred times? If we looked … Read More “All You Need is Love” »
I was giving great thought to what I should share for my weekly good news post. Our family is still going through a difficult time. I am still in the process of finding a full-time job. The end of August to the beginning of September is our tightest time. What could possibly be good? Sundays … Read More “Got My Good News!” »
1 John 2:7-11; 3:11-20 Introduction Last time we discovered that one of the tests for faith is that of sin. However, Christianity is not as simple as just avoiding sin. Christianity is much more complex. Christianity is also about love. How much is Christianity about love? I would argue that love is the theological centre … Read More “Faith Test: Love” »
One this Valentine’s Day I want to ask, How do you know when it is love? The emotions are great. I remember our wedding day and seeing Amanda walking down the aisle. What a beautiful bride! We definitely have had our fun times. We have had the opportunity to travel quite a bit, including two … Read More “She is My Valentine” »
A devotion based on 2 Thessalonians 1:3. A thanksgiving was a normal part of an ancient letter. Paul took what was a routine section of a letter and infused it with meaning. When Paul says “Thank God,” he is not just being polite, he is really thanking God. He had something specific for which he … Read More “Devotions: 2 Thessalonians” »
The uniqueness of Christianity One of the most common claims is that all religions are the same. This is incredibly false. Each religion has its own claim to being unique. Here are five ways in which Christianity is unique. 1. Christianity is falsifiable. Did the Buddha achieve enlightenment? Did Muhammed receive revelations from Gabriel? Even … Read More “5 Ways That Christianity is Unique” »
One of the reasons people don’t want to be involved in apologetics is that they do not want to have a intellectual faith. If they had to choose between a head faith and a heart faith, they would go with the heart. But the point is that you do not have to choose. There is … Read More “Heart vs. Head” »
A devotion based on Jonah 4:2. Jonah is known for being the prophet swallowed by a fish. However, the most significant part of the book occurs near the end. Jonah had been hoping for the destruction of the people of Nineveh only to be disappointed by God’s grace. Can you imagine being angry that God … Read More “Devotions: Jonah” »
Atheism claims to have reason on its side. I think that is an incredible overstatement. However, I would like to look at something else. How do atheists explain love? According to atheists, love is just a chemical reaction in the brain that has evolved to allow the species to continue. I often want to ask … Read More “Atheism and the Problem of Love” »
When God loves, revealing His inmost being in the fact that He loves and therefore seeks and creates fellowship, this being and doing is divine and distinct from all other loving to the extent that the love of God is grace. Grace is the distinctive mode of God’s being in so far as it seeks … Read More “Karl Barth on Grace” »
Romans 12 Introduction There are many things that people of different religions and philosophies disagree on but there is one thing that almost everyone agrees on: the importance of love. It doesn’t matter of you are a Christian or an atheist or any other belief system, people instinctively know that love is important. We see … Read More “The Power of Love” »
I recently had a conversation with someone about what it means for God to be all-powerful and all-loving. Since I don’t want this to be just buried in the comments section, I thought I would bring up the main points here. First of all, I have to say that there is a difference when it … Read More “Love and Power” »
It is always a fair question to ask: Why Christianity? Why choose to be a Christian rather than adopt any other worldview? I can see a number of good reasons but there is one that I would like to focus on here. When we think of other religions or philosophies, what is their core message? … Read More “Apologetics of Love” »
“Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. “You have heard … Read More “Sermon on the Mount Part Two” »
Something else that I enjoyed from James Lawrence’s Growing Leaders is this hymn loosely based on 1 Corinthians 13. If I cast a vision with the tongues of people and angels, but lead without the love of God at my core, I am a ringing cell phone or worse, a clamoring vacuous corporate type. If … Read More “A Hymn of Love for Leaders” »
