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Beloved, I was pacing back-and-forth in the kitchen as usual, deep in prayer. The sun had yet to rise, but Vos had already risen. He was in the back room strumming away on the acoustic guitar he had recently gotten…

“But we are no longer under the law!” That was my ardent response to the patient pastor sitting before me at a corner table in Panera Bread. He was seeking to show me the abiding validity of the moral law,…

Beloved, All it takes is an energy-sucking head cold or a restless toddler needing a new pull-up at 1:30am or a dental exam revealing the beginnings of a cavity on my back molar to remind me that I am far…

Beloved, It occurred to me recently that the core principles of our church provide a framework for a humble church. What does a congregation in the corporate grip of the downward disposition of a Godward self-perception look like? It looks…

Beloved, As I’ve continued to meditate on God’s twofold exhortation through Haggai, “Set your heart on your ways” (Hag. 1:5,7), it has struck me what a mercy this call to self-examination is. Yesterday in my morning devotions, I was in…

Beloved, All of us make resolutions. We might not call them resolutions or think of them as resolutions, but unless you are drifting through life in passive resignation, you are striving after objectives that you deem worthy of your pursuit.…

Beloved, This Sunday marks not only the beginning of a new week but also the beginning of a new year. A couple of weeks ago, I commented on Matthew’s masterful grasp of the Old Testament and encouraged you in the…

Beloved, 2022 is coming swiftly to a close. Can you believe it? This Sunday marks the last Sunday of the year. And what a year it has been for our congregation! As I’ve been preparing the schedule for shepherding visits…

Beloved, Massive tomes could be written to explain all the nuances of our second core principle – God-ordered worship. The worship of God is one of the primary themes of Scripture and it is our most important vocation as redeemed…

Beloved, Even since Tessa’s grandpa died last Tuesday, death has been up front and center. As the family grieves and prepares for the funeral, death is a reality we must stare in the face. And personally, it has been a…

Beloved, It has been a decade since Tessa and I stepped into our first worship service in an Orthodox Presbyterian congregation. It was quite a shocking experience! After weeks of brushing shoulders with these brothers and sisters in worship, it became…

Beloved, Can you believe we are already nine sermons into our series on knowing God? These introductory sermons have helped us think through what the knowledge of God is, why it matters, and how fallen creatures like us can obtain…

Beloved, As new covenant priests, there is arguably nothing more fundamental to our vocation than public worship, as we “offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5). Old covenant priests were not free to offer up…

Beloved, After a few weeks of random pastoral ramblings, we return to considering our five core principles as a congregation. To refresh your memory, those are: God-centered TheologyGod-ordered WorshipGod-delighting PietyGod-exalting GovernmentGod-dependent Mission We had just begun looking at the second…

Beloved, I will keep this short and merely ask you to pray for me. I feel like the busyness of these last couple weeks with presbytery, church life, and moving has been slowly and subtly squeezing God out of my…

Beloved, I love the doctrine of providence. What a sweet comfort to know that our Father rules over all. There are no accidents. There are no random occurrences.  We are closing on our house tomorrow, and our realtor texted us…

Beloved, As I have wrestled with my AM sermon text, I am freshly astounded by the glorious goodness of our God! But to be honest, yesterday I found my heart lagging. I found myself asking, “How can I be trafficking…

Beloved, Perhaps all this recent talk of God-centered theology has left you thinking to yourself, “Isn’t the phrase unnecessarily repetitive? After all, theology refers to knowledge about God so of course it is going to be God-centered!”  One wishes that…

Beloved, In my sermon this past Sunday, I quoted the definition of true theology given by Fransiscus Junius: “the knowledge or wisdom concerning divine things, divinely revealed, for the glory of God and the salvation of rational creatures.” This is…

Beloved, I intend to get back to fleshing out our core principles next week, but today I want to draw your attention more broadly to the first two of those principles: God-centered Theology: knowing the Triune God of creation and…

Beloved, Two years ago today, Tessa and I arrived at our new home on Lookout Mountain with a nervous excitement in our souls. A new place with new people who had called me to be their new pastor. It is…

Beloved, It won’t come as a surprise to you, but we are a congregation in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. As a pastor in the OPC, I enjoy watching peoples’ responses to the O-word when I tell them the name of…

Beloved, From the start, there has been no method to the madness of my weekly pastor’s email. Every Thursday I simply write about whatever is on my heart. This isn’t necessarily bad, and I hope my weekly quips have served…

Beloved, This past Friday and Saturday, I had the joy of teaching a mini, five-session conference for visitors and prospective new members. It was a sweet time of teaching and fellowship, and personally it served to renew my vision for…

Beloved This morning I took my usual run route through downtown. As I passed the divorce attorney office just a mile from the church, something caught my eye in the window. It was a treasure chest full of candy with…

Beloved I’m very excited to introduce to you our first book of the month which will be promoted and available during the month of July. Michael Reeves, the president of Union School of Theology in the UK, has written a…

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and renew a right spirit within me.” Those were the words of broken-hearted David upon the heels of his lying, adulterous, murderous escapade with Bathsheba. He needed restoration and renewal of soul,…

Beloved, I’m beginning to wonder if Danny Olinger, our General Secretary for the Committee on Christian Education, can see into the hidden recesses of my heart. In the past year, he has asked me to review two books for New…

Beloved, Every week I go into the grocery store to get one thing: avocados. Can you think of anything that combines robust flavor, smooth texture, healthy fat, and essential nutrients quite like an avocado? That is a rhetorical question. The…

Beloved, Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been reconsidering my theology of the sabbath. Before you jump to conclusions and move to file charges, let me assure you that I’m not questioning the abiding validity of the fourth commandment…

Beloved, We had planned to go hiking, but due to the weather I ended up taking the boys to the library on Monday morning. We climbed the stairs to the second floor and were greeted by a friendly librarian who…

Beloved, Right as I was getting back from a run yesterday the UPS man pulled up to the church and got out carrying a large box. My heart leapt for joy because I knew it was a box of books.…

Beloved, Ever since preaching Psalm 1 in April, I’ve been gripped by this man who makes Yahweh’s word His continual meditation. He has an obsessive love affair with the word of God, and he is chewing on it day and…

Beloved, As I have been working through the psalms in my Bible reading, I’ve been noticing a consistent theme. David’s favorite place in all the world is the tabernacle. Just listen to this sampling from Psalms 26-29: • “O LORD,…

Beloved, After a late meeting last night, I decided not to set my alarm. At around 6:40am I woke up to the sound of the loud voice of a little boy. He was on the other side of the house,…

Beloved, I am going to keep this short today because I started coming down with a flu bug yesterday afternoon, and I am quite under the weather. This morning I was laying in bed, aching all over and head pounding,…

Beloved, Life is full of interruptions. Or, at least, that is the way I tend to think. I have my days and weeks well planned, and then – boom! – something or someone comes out of nowhere and throws it…