It was a great plan. As you know, I was scheduled to speak this past weekend, near Yosemite, for the Family Camp of the Presbytery of Northern California. I spoke there about 10 years ago and greatly enjoyed the people there and I was really looking forward to being with them again. The plan was to speak on the book of Job. It was hard work trying to capture the essence of the book in a weekend of lectures but I was pleased with what I had come up with....
It’s striking that one important preparation for being a compelling witness to the world is gratitude. In Philippians 2, Paul connects putting away our grumbling with becoming a compelling, shining light of the Gospel to the world. Christians are contented people who joyfully thank God in all circumstances and, because of this, present a striking contrast against the landscape of a grumbling world....
A few weeks ago, in my sermon on Ephesians 5:1-2, I spent a little time talking about culture – specifically how Dutch West Michigan culture is defined by lots of good things – like family and apple pie, but also by some not-so-good-things, like a lack of humility and love. Cultures come with blind spots because we assume that “the-way-we-do-life” is normative and biblical. (The blinding power of culture is clearly seen historically, for instance, in the church’s complicity with slavery and, later, the Jim Crowe laws.) So my question is this: in what ways might our West Michigan, predominantly Dutch, middle-to-upper class, Reformed, married, white culture impact our ministry? In what ways might our “West Michigan culture” hinder a truly “gospel culture”? ...
In case you missed it, this previous Sunday we hosted four different outreach ministries during our Sunday School presentation. The vision driving this is simple -- a desire to connect Harvest members to outreach efforts that are already happening in our community and beyond. Paul explains to the Ephesians in chapter 4, verses 5-6, that there is only one Lord, and this one Lord has gifted and called Word ministers to equip saints for a variety of different forms of ministry. You can view the recording below to see the different ways you can support and get connected with Harvest brothers and sisters who are already engaged in different important areas of outreach....
The work of making disciples of Jesus is not easy. Sharing the good news of Jesus with those who are not Christian is hard for many reasons. We aren’t sure what to say, how to say it, or when to say it. We are afraid of what speaking up will do to relationships we care about. The world despises what we have to say and Satan will do all that he can to thwart and discourage speaking of Christ with others. Sometimes we’re lazy, often we’re distracted, and, at the end of the day, we must admit that at times our love for God and others is too weak. ...
What kind of heart does God revive? “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite’’” (Isaiah 57:15)....
After making a six-hour road trip down to Louisville, Kentucky, here is a sampling of the topics we heard: Kevin DeYoung urged and reminded us to cling to the reality that we are justified by faith, H.B. Charles called us to never forget to marvel at the beauty of our salvation, Greg Gilbert explained the reality that pride and division dies at the foot of the cross, ...
There will be messages preached all over the country this week using the death of Christ to affirm the value of the listener. Those messages will fundamentally misrepresent the Scripture and miss the point of the cross. Good Friday and Easter did not happen to magnify the worth of fallen man. ...
The first pitch of the regular season tells me that spring, with sunshine and warmer weather, is on the way… yes, even for Michiganders! I look forward to the sounds of the game—the crack of the ball hitting the bat, the hecklers in the stands, the roar of the crowd, the sound of cleats in the dirt. ...
How can I find comfort in the doctrine of predestination? By predestination we mean the teaching which says that before time began God chose some to be saved and he passed over others unto eternal condemnation. But here’s what we need to understand. The Bible tells us that we are sinners by birth and by choice. What all of us deserve as willful rebels against God is eternal condemnation... If we expect that God must save all, then salvation is not the outpouring of God’s mercy and grace, but the duty God was compelled to render. In other words, if we object to God predestining some but not all, we are ultimately resisting God’s merciful character. We can delight in predestination as it helps us to see salvation as being drenched in God’s mercy. ...
Earlier this month, Joanne and I had the pleasure of visiting a sister OPC denomination. I always enjoy visiting a church where I am not preaching and not known. It frees me to just “be a visitor” and observe a church from that perspective....
Keep ReadingLike many of you, I have watched with horror, anger, and grief over the chaotic and panic-stricken scenes being broadcast from Afghanistan as the Taliban resumed power. I’m sickened by images of people falling from airplanes, young women pleading to escape expected sexual violence, and reports of parents passing their children over barbed wire fences in hopes that at lea...
Keep ReadingMy wife and I are thrilled to be back in the USA and at Harvest OPC to begin a new chapter of our lives. Katie (formerly Wagenmaker) is a past member of Harvest who went to Westminster Seminary California in 2006 and met a debonair, slightly balding Texan. I got my Masters of Divinity and Katie got her Masters of Arts in Theological Studies degree in 2008 and we married in...
Keep ReadingI love introductions. This is probably a little weird. Most people pull toward the familiar and are unsettled by meeting people, making small talk, and trying to move a conversation along with someone with whom they're not sure how much they share in common. So I recognize I'm the odd one out....
Keep ReadingWhen I was growing up, no one in my world asked this question. There was one and only one option for anyone who attended a conservative Dutch Reformed church (unless they were RCA). The Christian school was seen as an essential, non-negotiable third leg of the “three-legged stool” of a committed Christian community. (The other two “legs” were the home and the chur...
Keep ReadingGotta moment for something different? Cindy and I got such a kick out of the following that I thought you might enjoy it, too;...
Keep ReadingWhat a difference a welcome makes! I recently had a very enjoyable conversation with a family that had attended Harvest and Living Hope. They shared how they were encouraged by the welcome that they had received at both churches. They said people were friendly and took the initiative in engaging them as guests. They even shared how much it meant to them that some memb...
Keep ReadingIf you knew my Uncle Bill, who died last month at 52 years old, you would have liked him. Everyone did. He was a charmer. Uncle Bill loved going to weddings. He always found a way to fill up his dance card with the pretty girls at a wedding. He would sneak over to the DJ to play his favorite hits and then proceed to command the dance floor. We also had to keep a watch o...
Keep ReadingIn recent years, there’s been a lot of talk in the news about government surveillance. I know little to nothing about this earthly sort of intelligence gathering, but I have come to know something about the unearthly sort of personal monitoring revealed in the Bible: “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the...
Keep ReadingOne of the best benefits of getting older is the joy of having “old friends”. I often smile when I hear an earnest 19-year-old give a wedding toast to her friend whom she’s known “almost her whole life” ...
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