I grew up in a world of concrete good and bad. Wrong and right. Everything to my young developing mind was black and white. When I came to understand Christ and was saved through faith in His sacrifice, I went through a phase of systematically removing the bad and replacing it with the “good”. Out…
DetailsWe can tend to think that Jesus only ever came to give encouragement. He would always leave his people with gladness and joy. Many churches have turned the church service into a pep talk. The implication would be that if we have connected with God and Jesus we would surely leave with good feelings. But…
DetailsHow much glory was obscured in that manger? Who was this baby, that came to us in such strange circumstances? This week I will be preaching from Matthew 17:1-13 to identify just how much Jesus was hiding. I believe that many of us drift off theologically this time of the year. We drift off into…
DetailsHow in the world is it possible that my next sermon in the book of Romans arrives right on the week of the public hearings for the impeachment of a sitting president? I can only explain it as one of those things that I see as the hand of God. Some people believe in coincidence.…
DetailsThis week, I am preaching a text that contains over 31 commands! Yes, it is firehose of instruction that intentionally was written by the apostle Paul to overwhelm us with a portrait of genuine love for one another in the church. By the end of Romans 12:9-21 we have a pretty amazing picture of what…
DetailsTen years ago when ReCAST church was just a baby church, we started with a pretty low view of membership. In my idealistic and poorly informed view of church membership, I brashly stated to many people that church membership is not something that we see in the Bible. And so it was de-emphasized for the…
DetailsMan, oh man, did John MacArthur irresponsibly back his way into a hornets nest! He apparently told Beth Moore (an evangelical author and bible study leader) to, “go home!” when asked to give the first thing that came to his head when her name was mentioned. First of all, let me just start by tackling…
DetailsI don’t care for you to know my personal opinions about global warming. They are a hodge-podge of theories and unsubstantiated feelings that come from reading various articles and opinion pieces based on little to no research. I do not know who to trust on the subject. But I do want to be clear that…
DetailsSince that first meeting in a basement 10 years ago, ReCAST Church has experienced waves of growth. It has been God’s Grace that the waves have been spaced out to allow for acclimation each step of the way. This is not a minor thing. It would be problematic for a church to experience little…
DetailsI have dropped many things in my life. One time many years ago, while living in an apartment shortly after Adam (my first born) was born, I opened a fresh two liter of Orange Fanta, and proceeded to drop it from cupboard height right onto the linoleum floor. The resulting fountain was so impressive…
DetailsI was a lifeguard in my youth. I served at Camp Barakel as a lifeguard, a head lifeguard, and I even worked at the Y as a paid lifeguard when I was newly married and trying to work as much as possible to make ends meet. And one lesson that I learned as a…
DetailsPeople have strong opinions about money. As a matter of fact, I believe that many people actually love money. But when money and faith or money and the church combine in discussion, I have found over the years that people get nervous, angry, or opinionated. Personally, I have have intentionally worked to make sure…
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