I recently was listening to a question and answer podcast by a pastor that I’ve highly respected over the years. And the question posed to him was something along the lines of, “How much should a pastor get into correcting the cultural muck of our times, in the pulpit?” While the pastor answering has a…
Ben, Don, and Trent. These are three guys that share the distinct privilege of being full-time vocational pastors at ReCAST Church. Both Ben and Trent came to ReCAST from working in very different fields. Ben was a teacher at a local Christian school. Trent was full-time military. Both began attending ReCAST before they ever considered…
I wouldn’t wish my experience between the hours of 10 p.m. Saturday evening to 4 a.m. Sunday morning last week on anyone. But without the events that transpired between 10 p.m. and 4am I wouldn’t have had the privilege of seeing what happened between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. Sunday. I was so incredibly sick.…
I was suddenly made aware from multiple directions that there is a new solution to children’s discipleship that is going to fix the next generation and be sure to keep them in the faith. While other kids are growing up to question their faith and leave the church in their 20s, your kids or grandkids…
More Than Entertainment I am currently preaching through the book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament. And this week is chapter 3. It is comprised of 32 verses listing out all the ‘contractors’ who completed sections of the walls around Jerusalem. It doesn’t contain the intrigue of broken relationships, like the book of Genesis. None…
December 23rd marked 30 years of marriage for Linda and me. And I’ve blogged before about the naivety in which we married. We were young. We didn’t know how important this decision was. And further, we didn’t know as much about each other as we thought we did. Fast forward 30 years, and I am…
When we started ReCAST Church back in 2009, we had no employees. Technically, I was paid full-time as the church planter/pastor, but I was paid fully by another church that entire first year. Berean Baptist Church in Portage, MI, was generous and gracious to give us a great financial start! But now, fast forward to…
I am preaching on a passage in the gospel of Luke this week, where it is recorded that Jesus cast a demon out of a man in the synagogue in Capernaum. It doesn’t happen in the Upside-Down. It doesn’t happen in the ‘spiritual realm’. It happens on planet Earth. In Galilee, in the town of…
I fear that far too many American Christians have formed an opinion of their responsibility to the poor from experience or from political leanings. I have had many conversations over the years about poverty that concluded with discussions of poor choices and drug abuse. I have also spoken with people who have a shocking level…
Putting those words together in a blog title is part of my bold sense of humor. As an unofficial reformed Baptist who would not baptize infants, I am including these two together at the connecting point of church growth. ReCAST Church has continued to grow. It has grown in size as well as in depth.…
Last week my wife spent a few days near the Florida-Alabama border with several others ladies from the church. The event was for women and was called Bible at the Beach with Nanny G (Nancy Guthrie for normal people). And while I missed my wife, I was glad for the time she was able to…
Every time another church is attacked I go deep into what ‘ifs’. As a pastor of a flock, I am called to care for my flock. But the metaphor gets cloudy. Am I supposed to wrestle with bears and lions? Am I called in any sense to physically preserve my sheep and protect them from…
