When God Calls His People Home

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” Psalm 116:15 Over the past few days our church family has suffered the loss of two dear brothers in the Lord, Glen Ott and Bob Kauffman. In some ways, their deaths were not entirely a surprise. Glen was suffering from kidney failure […]

Joy Unspeakable!

Last week I was privileged to be featured on the William Tennent School of Theology blog. Tennent is a start-up seminary based out of Colorado led by my friend Michael Morgan. Michael and I were part of the same cohort for our Doctor of Ministry program and have stayed in touch ever since we graduated. […]

Helping One Another Follow Jesus

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19) In the Great Commission, we find our marching orders. The mission of the church is to make disciples who make disciples who…..make disciples. Jesus did not simply say this to the apostles. He did not simply say this to pastors and church leaders. He gave […]

Forward Ever, Backward Never

When I was in Africa last month, I learned a lot about the history of Ghana. One of the most fascinating aspects was learning about Ghana’s first President Kwame Nkrumah. His presidency ended suddenly in 1966 when he was overthrown by a military coup when he was out of the country. It has even been […]

True Glory

You have probably heard by now that Tiger Woods won the Masters on Sunday, his first major championship in 11 years. Like many, I was happy to see Tiger back on top. From 1997-2008, Tiger dominated the sport of golf and won 14 majors, but in the 11 years since then (and in the prime […]

The Right Perspective on Evangelism

Early on in my ministry, I served as pastor of a small country church in Ohio. One Sunday morning in the middle of June about 15 minutes before church started, the neighbor started mowing his lawn. For most churches, this would not be a big deal, but our little church sat right next to the […]

Let Your Life Shine For Jesus!

I once read the story of a pastor who was invited to debate an atheist. The pastor agreed to debate on one condition – that the atheist would bring 50 people who had been transformed by being atheists. The pastor in turn would bring 50 people who had been transformed by the power of Jesus […]

The Day I Almost Drowned

I will never forget the day I thought I was going to die. It was summer of 2006 and my friend Christopher Berera and I were swimming in the South Saskatchewan river near Saskatoon. Neither one of us were very good swimmers but we were having a great time and somehow managed to cross the […]

10 Facts About Jesus From John 1:1-18

As we move into the Christmas season, it is critically important to remember what Christmas is all about. Many people would acknowledge that this season is about celebrating the birth of Christ, but how many of those same people truly know the Christ of Christmas? The prologue to John’s gospel is an excellent place to […]

No Room For Jesus

A sermon from Luke 2:1-7 Two thousand years ago, the most powerful man in the world was Caesar Augustus and Caesar made a decree that everyone within the Roman Empire had to be registered. In order to register, however, you had to return to your hometown. Joseph, the man engaged to Mary, lived in the […]