From the Pastors' Desks

One of the things I love about the OPC is its commitment to getting the Bible right, and keeping Jesus Christ and him crucified at the middle of everything.

Over the past several months, the facility expansion committee has been meeting for the purpose of planning our fundraising efforts, organizing our pledge campaign, and preparing marketing materials to clearly communicate the plan and vision for our building project.

What the good news of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection created in Paul the Apostle was not primarily intellectual fascination or emotional enchantment, it was a sense of immense urgency.

Hebrews 13 suggests that churches ought to care for the joy—the happiness—of their pastor. Why? Because a miserable pastor—a pastor who never knows the winds of encouragement in his sails but only the headwinds of opposition at his face—is rarely an effective one.

Our goal is to see a healthy, Reformed church established in Northwest Grand Rapids that is committed to seeing disciples of Jesus made and matured as God’s Word is prayerfully applied to the lives of people. 


As I was meditating on Psalm 34 this past week, it struck me that, like so many of the Davidic psalms, it was written during a season of transition.

I arrived safely home from Thailand on Tuesday night and am working through jet lag. It was a great trip and I’m so thankful for the opportunity to go. It was engaging in ways I expected it would be – and transformative in ways I didn’t.

The elders and I have been praying for the past year or so that the Lord would help us, as a church, to become more engaged in the gospel mission outside our building– both in our own community and around the world. I believe that the Lord is beginning to answer those prayers in wonderful ways.

The Heidelberg Catechism—that tested and proven instruction manual on Christian doctrine—has a helpful three-part answer for us.

What is happening when we pray? The king of heaven and earth, stoops down towards his beloved children, and listens to our cries. When we forget our relationship with the king of the universe our hearts become cynical.