I must confess that I keep up with social media. And over the course of this lock-down I have observed phases of online content. There was the initial light-hearted phase where every other post had something to do with Corona Beer. Staying humorous, but getting more serious we went through the shopping and acquiring toilet…
DetailsIt didn’t take long to figure out that Mattawan Consolidated School is the heartbeat of this small community. Back in 2009 I moved my family here from Portage with the goal of planting a new church that would be centered in the Bible as the Word of God, and motivated to give love and blessing…
DetailsRather than add more content to an expanding body of opinions and speculation, I have decided to blog about 5 random points of gratitude that have nothing to do with COVID-19. 1. The Snow Drops are Up in the Woods by My House This is always the first sign of Spring around my house. The…
DetailsThis week will be my 42nd and final sermon in the book of Romans. I have been committed to preaching through books of the Bible since I began my role as the church-planter and lead pastor of ReCAST Church over 10 years ago. Since the start, we have been through the books of Genesis, Joshua,…
DetailsA glance over the headlines calls it COVID-19. Colloquially it is called Coronavirus. And it seems to be spreading. I have looked up the words pandemic and epidemic and neither word is entirely accurate yet. And further from reality are the words ‘plague’ and ‘pestilence’. I cannot imagine the latter word being employed by anyone…
DetailsI watched enough of the democratic national debate yesterday to know that it wasn’t anything new. I confess that I enjoy political debates and have an interest in the direction of our government. If I had to guess, I would say that I follow politics more than the average person. But from what I see…
DetailsAny conversation about Bible translation has the potential to bring up a lot of emotions. People who grew up in the church have likely become accustomed to a particular translation and they develop loyalties. Further clouding the issue is the way we naturally associate a favorite translation with people along the way. “Grandma loved that…
DetailsI 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…
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