going with the flow, while paddling upstream

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Audio Post

http://coffeeculturekingdom.files.wordpress.com/2022/12/audio-post-2022-12-22-19-26-52.mp3

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Sufficient Grace

My Cup Runneth Over**

[The following is an excerpt from a commencement address I was asked to give last week for Trinity Preparatory Academy in at Christ Community Church in Lindenwold, NJ. While there was only one graduating senior,  they have a big vision and I was proud to be part of the ceremony. The young graduate, Miss Ana Hernandez, is a regular attender at Mercy Hill]

As you begin your…

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Jesus' New Commandment

The commandment isn't new in the sense that it has never been said before. How is it then new?

Springtime flowers (photo credit below).

The “Maundy” in “Maundy Thursday” is a word from the Latin Bible where Jesus’ new command is translated as a “new mandate“–and since he traditionally gave that mandate or command on Thursday night before he was betrayed, the Church’s celebration of the Last Supper and its related events has come to be called Maundy Thursday.

But is Jesus’ command really…

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Growth in Jersey-some Christian reflections

Growth in Jersey-some Christian reflections

While ministry is primarily the work of caring for souls, and preaching and speaking the truth to people who God places in our path, there is a hard infrastructure unique to the work of church planting which includes things like demographic research.

When I moved to New Jersey in 2009 to start the process of organizing a new congregation in my denomination, the PCA, Gloucester County was the…

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Reading the Bible as a Coherent Story, but Not Too Much

Reading the Bible as a Coherent Story, but Not Too Much

Growing up as a new Christian, I learned a lot in a short period of time. Most of which I learned from reading the Bible. Seriously. Just reading it.

But, Bible reading aloneis not enough to make a Christian. On the contrary, the proverb is true: most heresies arise from someone “reading the Bible alone in his closet.” Reflecting on that period, I realize that I too developed some theological…

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Church S/Hopping in 2017

Church S/Hopping in 2017

Old Books

I recently came across the Reformed Reader, a WordPress site dedicated to encourage people who have an interest in solid Christian theology. I’d like to commend it to my readers here.

It is stewarded by a professor at Mid-America Reformed Seminary (Andrew Compton), and a minister in the United Reformed Church (Shane Lems) and has a good sampling of texts and quotes which are both old…

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Five Truths about the Incarnation that Will Blow Your Mind

Five Truths about the Incarnation that Will Blow Your Mind

The wisemen bring gifts to the Christ, a moment traditionally remembered on Epiphany.*

Today is the church’s traditional celebration of Epiphany. The church I serve recognizes the “five evangelical feast days” during the Christian year. While Epiphany is not one of them, by gathering for a meal as a congregation, for what we call our “Epiphany Feast,” this event helps us continue to…

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Why I Love Acts 29 & Why I'm Leaving

Why I Love Acts 29 & Why I’m Leaving

In March of 2017 I will have been a part of the Acts 29 Network for ten years. By “part of,” I mean that back in March, 2007, I was first assessed by a group of pastors in A29 while attending an Acts 29 Boot Camp at Mars Hill Church, Seattle. The assessment was used by God to help me focus on two things: first, a reminder that church planting required that I place a high priority on close…

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Sermons from the Last 18 Months

Sermons from the Last 18 Months

Acts chapter one from the Greek NT

Preaching is a big part of what I do; of the titles that I go by as “pastor,” one of my favorites is “minister of the Word and Sacrament.” Minister means “servant.” I’m literally, by that title, a “servant of the Word.”

To prepare for this task, I generally I aim to spend between 12-20 hours per week in sermon preparation and study. Not all of that is in book…

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Herod, a Great Builder of Antiquity, and the City of Caesarea

Herod, a Great Builder of Antiquity, and the City of Caesarea

Image credit: National Geographic

Herod, around the time of Jesus’ birth, was building the mighty city of Caesarea, and with it, a man-made harbor called Sebastos (Greek for Augustus), ,which were both dedicated to Caesar Augustus. A devoted follower of Rome and all things Roman, some have called this city Herod’s “Rome.” To furnish his Rome with fresh water, and run the many fountains he had…

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Speaking of Preaching...

Speaking of Preaching…

John Knox’s pulpit**

I discussed preaching in my last post. But what is preaching? Luther is supposed to have said:

“When the preacher speaks, God speaks. And whoever cannot say that about his preaching should leave preaching alone.”*

If he’s right, that God speaks when the preacher speaks, then it would make sense that preaching is an important element of worship. From an historical point of…

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Ten Evangelical Affirmations in Light of the 2016 Election Results

Ten Evangelical Affirmations in Light of the 2016 Election Results

Listening to the radio and reading the paper today there seems to be no end to the expression of “surprise” and “shock” and even “disbelief” over the fact that Donald Trump now stands as the president-elect of the United States of America.

While I felt similarly, it occurs to me: not everything is strange. Not everythingis unclear. In fact, here are ten truths, in the form of…

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Thoughts on Welcoming the Weak

freshly convicted reading Rom 14:1 which commands Jesus people to "welcome those who are weak"

In wider cultural circles, Christians often come under attack for failing to express to one another those virtues which we say are so important. I’m talking about things like love, sympathy, acceptance, and showing undeserved kindness.

This is, in one sense, a decoy topic for someone who has refused to consider the claims of Jesus. All too often their reasons amount to nothing more than excuses…

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Calvin's Prayer following His Lecture on Ezekiel 3

Calvin’s Prayer following His Lecture on Ezekiel 3

After lecturing on the third chapter of Ezekiel, Calvin composed this prayer, which both summarizes what he said in his lecture regarding the importance and calling of pastors to the Church, and adds to it a note of personal pleading with the Lord.

In his prayer, Calvin says, in effect, that if pastors are so important, make us, therefore, the kind of people who want godly ministers to lead,…

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Israel Day 5: Mediter-antics

This day began our three night/four day excursion outside of Jerusalem. Our first stop was Caesarea Maritima (Caesarea by the Sea), and besides being beautiful, it granted me the opportunity to cross yet another item off of my bucket list: see the Mediterranean Sea.

The next item is to take a cruise and get a tan on the Mediterranean Sea.

Caesarea Maritima was built by Herod the Great over 2000 years ago (Read More). I think it was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been.

Later we were off to Nazareth, Jesus’ hometown and sort of the Duluth of his time. Here we saw the spectacular Church of the Annunciation (another one of those enormous churches built on top of ruins that may or may not be the place where: Gabriel visited Mary and told her that she was to have a child). I jest with my tone, of course. These sites could be thought to be more devotional than archaeological, meaning that the point is not really whether or not this or that happened in this spot; the point is that hundreds of thousands (if not more) people make pilgrimage to these sites every year, and as they journey physically they often find new ways to journey spiritually. I have not even begun to unpack my experience, but when I do, I’ll be sure to share my oh-so-insightful reflections. ;-)

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Good journal entry. I look forward to making the trip myself someday.

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Summertime Parenting

Summertime parenting: an opportunity for parents to honor God and promote family well-being

With older children who go to school, our house is quiet during the day. But won’t last much longer. In just a few short weeks, we will experience a reverse exodus: the children will come home and stay for the summer.

This presents special challenges for our family. First of all, my study is at home and having little bodies around during the day can make getting some kinds of work done more…

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Pastors Turning Tail

If the world is a battlefield on which pastors are called to fight, the godly will stand fast.

To turn tail describes behavior of a coward, someone who runs from danger. Mr. Crane described the dynamics of cowardice in The Red Badge of Courage. I read it in eighth grade and will never forget the experience.

In days where denominations and departments of state are turning tail and running from the clear teaching of Scripture, pressure will increase on pastors to do the same. If the world is…

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