I read a book on my most recent study break that has really gotten my attention. I’ve begun sharing it with the staff here, and hope to do the same with the Session. It’s not a “Christian” book – but it applies directly and powerfully to how we live together, as followers of Christ, in our families and our church. ...
By now you know that Harvest Church is hosting a special conference this spring called “Caring for One Another” (Friday-Saturday, April 21-22), featuring Dr. Ed Welch. Perhaps you’ve wondered, “Why should I attend this conference?” Great question! Here’s offering several reasons for your prayerful consideration: ...
Spring training tells us that baseball has arrived, but not yet in full. We get a delicious foretaste of what is coming as the sounds and sights of summer break into our winter. Similarly, for Christians, we come to experience the new age we’ve been rescued into as the Holy Spirit resides in us (Eph. 1:13-14)....
Three beautiful truths from Ephesians 3:14-21 enable us to rekindle lost love. First, love flows from all three persons of the trinity. Second, we lack power, in ourselves, to see and enjoy the majesty of God’s love. Third, when we cry out in desperation to to see God’s love for us in Christ again, we are asking the one who is actually able to answer our prayers “abundantly more than we ask or think.” ...
As Christians, we are often uncertain how to grieve. Oftentimes, when death or other tragedy strikes, we often feel we are going “off the map” into unrecognized territory. Part of this is the way it should be. Death and sin are against the way God created the world. Grief disorients us because we are perceiving a tear in God’s good created design. But as a child, I remember being very undone by a young boy who was a member of our church who suddenly died. I was used to my world being predictable and death didn’t make any sense....
At the heart of biblical change is a relational transaction: the real you engages the real God in the midst of real trouble. When someone seeks my pastoral counsel, this is one key principle that I try to help the person understand in the early stages of the counseling process. Of course, grasping this concept is one thing; putting it into practice is another. Inevitably, a counselee will ask me, “How do I do this?” Great question! I think the answer is more easily “caught” than “taught,” which is why I love taking people to the Book of Psalms to eavesdrop on the prayers of God’s troubled people. When we slow down and watch closely, we see this relational, heart-to-heart transaction happening before our eyes. ...
George Whitefield (1714-1770) was converted at 20 years old while a student at Oxford. It was there—along with John and Charles Wesley—that Whitefield discovered the life-giving, soul-saving, comfort-supplying truth of justification by faith alone in Christ alone. Through a series of circumstances, God led Whitefield to see religious devotion, though important, could never remedy what was broken between sinful man and holy God. Only Jesus could do that because of what he had done for his people in his death and resurrection. This message so captured Whitefield’s heart that he made it his life’s message to invite sinners to find forgiveness and reconciliation with God in Christ Jesus....
Judgment is an appropriate theme for the end of one year and beginning of the next, because we often put ourselves on scales (both physical and metaphorical!) at this time and figure out how we are measuring up. How is my marriage? How am I doing at my job? Where is my relationship with my children? The year end is often a time of measuring ourselves. But we also should ask ourselves, how do I measure up by God’s standard? Am I ready for Christ’s last day judgment?...
One of the great gifts that Christians celebrate at Christmastime is the gift of a high priest. To modern ears, receiving a high priest for Christmas sounds like it might be in the former category. A high priest? What am I supposed to do with that? But when we stop to consider what the priestly implications of Jesus’ ministry for us are we realize that a high priest is a far more beneficial gift than we first imagined. ...
Well, the holidays are here again! Thanksgiving Day kicks it all off with the familiar pattern of too much food, catching up with family, and watching the Lions lose another football game. All in all, a good day....
Keep ReadingAs we seek to grow as a body here at Harvest, one of the opportunities we have been afforded is the small group ministry. Over the five months we’ve been back, Ruthie and I have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the Connect Bible Studies. These low-key, low-time commitment, 5-week studies provide the occasion to delve into the Word and share a meal with new faces as we ...
Keep ReadingI think the congregation is making a great investment—and I want to congratulate you for it! The investment I’m talking about is pastoral study breaks; and, at the risk of sounding self-serving, on behalf of my fellow pastors, I want to express how helpful it is that the congregation give their pastors regular study breaks. ...
Keep Reading“I like Jesus. He was a good teacher. I appreciate the sacrifice he made and that the Father gave his Son for me. But I also like my culture. I follow the seven traditions of the fathers.” This was the tail end of a conversation that I recently had during an Anchored youth outing with a gentleman (I’ll call Mark). Twenty of us went down to Moline to invite people to ...
Keep ReadingI love the Bible because it is truth spoken in love by the Wonderful Counselor. Every day, otherworldly voices—other “counselors”—intrude and compete, beckon and beguile, sound plausible and pleasing. But wonder of wonders, God inserts himself into the conversation. He is not silent. He does not leave us guessing as to who we are and what life is really about. He s...
Keep ReadingMy reading diet has not been healthy. Too much meat, not enough dessert. Too much reading for knowledge and not enough reading for the sheer joy of well-crafted sentences and a compelling story. This past month I was able to read two such books (they are hard to find)....
Keep ReadingWe’re a presbyterian church. Central to being presbyterian is our conviction that Christ, who is the head of the church, exercises his rule over his church through ordained elders. Christ has also established the office of deacon in the church. Deacons are to lead the congregation in demonstrating the mercy and compassion of Christ to those inside the church and outside ...
Keep ReadingOne of the very best things in life - like good wine, coffee on a cold morning and fall colors – is a word of encouragement. In her song, “Legacy”, Nichole Nordeman begins with the line, “I don’t mind if you’ve got something nice to say about me.” And further on, “We all need ‘atta boy’, or ‘atta girl’.” ...
Keep ReadingThe apostle Paul was always talking about Jesus. Since Jesus had graciously turned Paul into one of his disciples, Paul made it his aim to speak about Jesus with everyone he met—those who followed Jesus and those who did not—so that he might see people trust in Christ and grow mature in Him (Colossians 1:28)....
Keep ReadingOn Sunday morning, Pastor Dale preached a sermon on Leviticus 18 entitled "Holy Sexuality". In modern Western culture, there are all kinds of questions that this text provokes. Among the topics that this text addresses, and the one that probably elicits the strongest reactions, is how we should think about homosexuality....
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