I’ve been back from an 8 week sabbatical for a few weeks and I’ve had a lot of opportunities to interact with a variety of people. I am grateful for the many who have asked how it went and what I’ve learned. But I still have a few people each week who ask and I…
I have had two recent meetings and a couple of passing conversations at the coffee shop about the nation of Israel. It also came up at our Saturday morning men’s group. The two sit-down meetings were from visitors feeling out what kind of church we are. They were coming from two different churches who have…
Every year, Merriam-Webster releases its word of the year. They take into account the usage of words in search engines coupled with correlating current events to select their word. In 2022 the word was ‘gaslighting’ but now in 2023, the word of the year is ‘authentic’. That sounds super close to a core value of…
I think it is impossible to fathom the level of evil that lies dormant in every single human heart. Hitler was made of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen . . . Blood, flesh and bone. And yet he stands as a man who converted a whole lot of potential evil into kinetic evil. The human heart…
I have found myself reflecting the last couple of weeks on the five solas of the reformation. The reason is because I attended a funeral and the church had some large banners hanging up front that declared in a flowing cursive script, “saved by grace ALONE through faith ALONE in Christ ALONE according to Scripture…
As a church planter, change has been a pretty constant part of my life. From meeting in a basement to meeting in store front and then going to two services and then moving to the Mattawan School center building cafeteria setting up and tearing down each week to then moving to our new building to…
The month of August marks 2 years of work on the part of a pastoral intern at ReCAST Church. Ben Wainwright came to us first as an attendee, then as a member, and now for two years as a youth pastor intern. Ben recently had a meeting with the elders to discuss next steps and…
I am still learning. But I am getting more set in my ways . . . Which is code for both knowing what I do and don’t like and knowing better the edge of my limitations. I am grateful for the ability to keep reading, keep observing, keep praying, and keep hearing from God through…
Deuteronomy 7:9 “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations” I once was a church planter, and now I am a pastor. Technically, I was both from the beginning, but…
I have commented over the years that I grew up in a town that was very similar to Mattawan. Middleville even starts with an “M”. Just a couple of traffic lights, no McDonald’s, huge school district, quality education, farming community that was growing into a bedroom community for a larger city a few miles away.…
I have learned two things in nearly 20 years of pastoral ministry. 1. I need a personal time in the Bible on a routine basis. I remember when I was younger, I would think that spending time each day in the Bible would make my DAY go better. I will have a better morning, a…
Throwback from 2019! How 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…
