The Names of God 3 - Abba In the second installment of this series, we discussed the holiest name for God – YHWH. This installment will look at the most intimate name for God. This word is not a Hebrew or Greek name but an Aramaic name. Aramaic was the common language of Israel and …
Quick thoughts on Works vs. Faith
The balance between grace and discipline – or justification by faith and works – is a New Testament tension. Usually, those who emphasize grace point to Paul’s letters. Paul emphasized grace through faith over works-based salvation. This fact is evident especially in Galatians and Romans because there was pressure from some Jewish groups to adhere …
Sermon Video: The Awesome Power of Worship
This is a video of the sermon I gave 02/12/2022. There was an outbreak of COVID at Grace Community United Methodist Church, so we closed church for the day, and I made this video for the congregation. https://youtu.be/xTVNfYFDOk0
Sermon Video: The Power of one small word – Hesed -Psalm 136
Here is a video of the sermon I delivered 10/31/2021
The Power of one small word – Hesed -Psalm 136
This essay is a transcript of a sermon I delivered at Grace Community United Methodist Church October 31, 2021. If you want one of the bookmarks mentioned, please send me a message and I will get one to you. I invite you to read Psalm 136 with some other people to experience the power of this small word.
John Wesley’s Sermon #2: The Almost Christian
Introduction The foundation for all flavors of Wesleyan theology (United Methodists, Nazarene, Free Methodists, and the newly formed Global Methodists, among others) is the sermons of John Wesley (1703-1791). In these sermons, Wesley spells out the distinctiveness of his approach to holiness, salvation, evangelism, and many other areas of doctrine. In the sermon The …
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The Covenantal Nature of the Church
Introduction When the people of God gather in worship and proclamation, there is an agreement that is understood. The corporate gathering of believers links the individual with the church. The Holy Spirit is the common linking denominator between believers. However, there is also a standard agreement of doctrinal beliefs, culture, worship style, and more. …
Evangelism Part 3 – Speak the Language Acts 17:16-34
Introduction When my wife and I were married in 1988, we embarked on a honeymoon that was a bit different than most folks. We decided to go on a student trip to Europe, visiting and studying in England, Western Europe, Scandinavia, Poland, East Germany (as it was known then), and the Soviet Union (back …
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How To Study The Bible Part 3: Exegesis and Hermeneutics
How To Study The Bible Part 3: Exegesis and Hermeneutics In this video, I get into the guts of Biblical exegesis and hermeneutics. I mention a 4th class in the video but I will not post a video for that. The 4th class focuses on doing exegesis and hermeneutics together focusing on a specific passage. …
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How to Study the Bible Part 2: It’s All in the Translation
https://youtu.be/DpiHMWjy2G0 Links to some of the Bibles mentioned: ESV Bible CSB Bible NET Bible MEV Bible NLT Bible KJV Bible
The Kingdom of God Part 8: The Kingdom of God is at War
The great British journalist Malcolm Muggeridge once said that "The depravity of man is at once the most empirically verifiable reality but at the same time the most intellectually resisted fact." The human condition of war is evidence of that. War involves pain. War involves sacrifice. War involves death. While war is identifiable, the pain, sacrifice, and death are the results of the kingdom of the enemy. That is what is resisted.
Video – How to Study the Bible Part 1
Here is Part 1 of a four part series on how to study the Bible. This part looks into "What is this Book?" We look at how the Bible came together, the Septuagint, Old and New Testament.
The Kingdom of God Part 6: Come as a Child
My kids are grown now. Both have moved out of the house and are living lives that are independent of their parents. I am exceedingly proud of my kids and what they have accomplished in their lives. But in that pride is a bit of sorrow. I miss picking up my daughter and her beeping my nose, saying, with a laugh, “Boopies, I got you first!” I miss having deep conversations with my then four-year-old son. “Daddy, what ‘cuz the world to go in circles around the sun?” Yes, they had their times of disobedience, and they needed to be corrected from time to time. However, those memories have faded into the past. Mostly what remains are memories of happy, joyous times with my children.
Jesus Breaths: The Reception of the Holy Spirit in John 20
In John 20, Jesus does something entirely unexpected. The resurrection itself was quite surprising, but now, in the upper room, Jesus breaths on the disciples and states, “Receive the Holy Spirit. John 20:22 (CSB). This essay will review the background understanding of the Holy Spirit for the Jewish disciples, exegesis of John 20:21-23 with observations and interpretations, and conclude with an application.
What is Truth?
Pilate ends the discussion with the famous question from John 18:38 – “Veritas, quid verum?” Pilate then, literally, walked away from the Truth.
The Kingdom of God – Part 3 The Kingdom of God and the gospel
Let me ask you a question. What do you understand the gospel to be? Some might answer like this: "Accept Jesus as your Savior, and when you die, you will go to Heaven." Or "Put your faith in Jesus, and your sins will be forgiven." Or "Follow Jesus, and you will find meaning and purpose for your life." All of these answers are right – but they are only partially correct. These statements are parts of the gospel, but they are not the entirety of the gospel.
CMA Encouragement Devotional
Here is a video devotional I made for our CMA chapter during the COVID-19 pandemic. My prayer is that these words can give you comfort during this stressful time.
Easter Sunday Sermon Luke 24:13-32
Are you living in the Third Day - the Resurrection Day, or are you living in Saturday - a day of hopelessness?
The Life in Christ – Choosing Things Above Colossians 3:1-17
Failure – The Beginning of Restoration
The Kingdom of God – Part 1 What is the Kingdom of God?
Welcome to the first in a series looking at the Kingdom of God (KoG). Through this series, I will be writing about how the KoG impacts our lives now as well as how we have something spectacular to look forward to in the future. To start this series, I want to look at how Jesus and the Bible talk about the KoG.
The Circle, the River, and the Bridge: Symbolic Imagery from The Dialogue of Catherine of Sienna
Lost and Found Psalm 119:9-16
Weapons of Spiritual Warfare Part 3 – Fighting Grudges and unforgiveness with forgiveness
Weapons of Spiritual Warfare: Part 2 – Fighting despair with worship
In the first part of this series, we looked at who exactly we are fighting. We examined the fact that we are not fighting people but fighting against spiritual satanic forces. The enemy uses people, but they are not the enemy. In this part I am going to look at the wicked weapon of despair, and how God has given us a powerful weapon to defeat that weapon in worship.
The Wandering Wesleyan 