“Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.” –James 5:16 Confession among evangelicals is a biblical practice rarely emphasized and hardly understood. For most, including myself growing up, it was a “Catholic” practice involving a priest as mediator between man and God who granted absolution [...]

SERMON: Grace and Peace to You – Galatians 1:1-10

I preached this sermon at Ryker’s Ridge Baptist Church on the morning of November, 13 2011. In this message, I speak of Paul’s gracious calling as an apostle, his gracious welcome to the churches at Galatia, and his gracious warning to those who are believing and teaching a false gospel. Grace is something that characterizes Paul’s ministry, and it should ours as well.

I sincerely hope you benefit from this message!

As Christians, we are called to understand culture, engage culture, and create culture.  We do a great job of the first two but we do a horrendous job at the final one.  Creating culture seems to be what the culture at large does for the rest of us.  The most popular of the arts (music, [...]

One month into my second semester at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, I’ve found my head continually in the books. This is of course, well-known and expected for any M.Div. student.  An elective course I’m enrolled in is a class titled classics in Christian Devotion. It has quickly become my favorite. The class involves reading [...]

As a relatively new pastor, I have come to realize to a greater degree the pervasiveness of sin–the tight grip it has on the world and even its influence over Christians. Quickly, I am coming to recognize the essentiality of being skilled in biblical counseling. Sin, with all of its evil, continues to give rise [...]

How many times do you start a project, never looking ahead to discover your end goal, only to find you’ve made a crucial mistake along the way? For you, maybe that doesn’t happen. For me, it happens most times I start a project. I suffer from overeager disorganizationalism. It is a workable condition; it just [...]

I wanted to make our readers aware of a fantastic discussion going on between Sam Storms and Michael Patton about the continuation of the gifts. To give you some background — Sam and Michael are good friends; Sam, as I understand it, was actually something of a mentor to Michael as they began in ministry. Today, [...]

I am frequently haunted by a black dog of despair and anxiety, and it strikes during times of disappointment and trial. When life is going well: Good health, good job, great church, awesome marriage, and nothing is currently annoying me, this black dog of despair seems small and harmless.  Like a toy poodle. But when [...]

One evening while I was spending time with my fiance’s family in their living room, her father turned on the television to ABC.  Usually I refrain from watching television but a show came on which instantly fixated my attention: “Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition.”    I had seen before, and others had told me about, [...]

So, many of us believe in Jesus, right? We do not hesitate to use that exact phrasing whenever someone asks are you a Christian, why will you get to go to heaven, or how do you become a Christian. We always use that phrase: believe in Jesus. I want to encourage you to think about [...]