Dear Church,Did you know that in the seed of every tree, plant, fruit, vegetable and flower is the full complement of structures for the mature form? Yes, every seed of an oak tree has, in it, a miniature, and in some cases microscopic, root, trunk, branch and leaf. Every seed. Every kind.Did you know that when a caterpillar creates a chrysalis and begins the metamorphosis process, the entire form...

Dear Church,Since the beginning of our COVID misadventure, we’ve been intentionally walking through the Psalms in a continued effort to tend our heart, tuning it to God’s voice as found in God’s Word. Today we come to a psalm that, to be frank, defies commentary. I find that my words continue to fail in description, introduction or application. But I’ll try nonetheless. You can sympathize with me ...

Dear Church,While the perfection and beauty of heaven, in the full Kingdom and Reign of Jesus Christ, is and should be a compelling vision of hope for all believers, I want to draw your attention today to one specific thing we cannot do once we’re there. It’s something we can only do here, this side of heaven. There, the veil is removed and our worship of vision of Jesus is without interference or...

Dear Church,The Scriptures use the word “spirit” in various ways. Often it is used of the Holy Spirit of God. But it is also used for angelic spirits, both evil demons and holy angels. One of the overlooked ways that the Bible speaks of “spirit” is in reference to the human spirit, that immaterial part of men and women created in the image of God that is a major factor in our experience of existen...

Dear Church,Today is the beginning of something new. It may simply be a new week, but it could be much more than that. It could be a fresh new start to a whole new “season.” In this COVID era, we tend to wake up and imagine that today and tomorrow will just be more of the same. But that does not have to be true. The universe God intricately designed brings good out of what we call “bad.” Think abo...

Dear Church,Power over chaos. That’s a pretty good biblical definition of sovereignty, except that the power to overrule chaos is always personal in the Bible, attributed to the Triune God of the Bible, creator, sustainer, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The truth of Scripture reveals that God is sovereign. There is nothing beyond His power. Nothing out of His control. Nothing that corners Him. N...

Dear Church,Have you ever noticed the very large difference between the thoughts your heart screams at a particular moment of anxiety or conflict and the perspective you have on that same moment a few days or weeks later? I have. This outlook-delta seems endemic to the human condition. And I don’t believe there is a vaccine or cure beyond the full redemption of our bodies and minds, the redemption...

Dear Church,Earlier this week we looked at the ancient prayer of Moses in Psalm 90, and my heart will not allow me to skip the next one. Psalm 91, to which I invite you today, is simply too beautiful to dismiss in our slow saunter through this ancient collection of worship songs. Take some time to read it today. I hope you read it through multiple times. As you do, you will likely recognize its me...

Dear Church,It’s not common to find the name Moses in the book of Psalms. While he appears by name in five of these ancient psalms, there is only one attributed to his authorship: Psalm 90. I would like to invite you to read these words of Moses today. If you are familiar with Moses’ story - the raw, gritty, multi-colored story of fear, faith, anger and sorrow - then you will be able to smell it i...

Dear Church,During the last few months, the topic of mental health has been on the hearts and minds of many of us. In times of restriction, anxiety, anger and an uncertain future, the heaviness of decisions and fears can make us “throw out” our emotional and spiritual back. I’m not sure if you’ve ever “thrown out” your back, but I did for the first time last year. Even now when I think about it, m...

Dear Church,Well, here you are in August 2020. You made it this far. Congratulations. I know you have the strength to continue. I know that, because I know just a scratch of the strength of your Heavenly Father. There’s nothing He can’t do. Even as we look down the road to the start(?) of school for our kids, many of us are still concerned with jobs, finances, finding a job, extending the finances...

Dear Church, If you joined us on Sunday morning - in-person, online or afterward - you will remember an encouragement from Psalm 40. My challenge was to read and pray through Psalm 40 every day this week. It is a timely word that perfectly fits this stage of our challenge. Psalm 40. Trust me. I don’t know about you, but as a child of the 70’s and 80’s I usually hear U2 in the distant background wh...

Dear Church,In a continuing season of “less,” I’d like to invite you to “more.” And a far better “more” than you might imagine.The past four months have definitely been the most challenging in my entire pastoral ministry experience. I’m sure you can relate. Most of us have had to make do with less. Less freedom and less options. (Hopefully not less toilet paper.) Less movement. Less gatherings. We...

Dear Church,Ask a husband how long he has been married, do so in front of his wife, and what do you get? Often you’ll see a nervous man and an overly attentive woman. I have often wondered why meaningless song lyrics can get stuck in our head for decades, but we fail to remember key, critical, memorable and special events. My wife has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of birthdays, birth years, ann...