This past Sunday, we wandered away from our passage for a few minutes to look at the words of Jesus from Matthew 25:41-46. It was the section about the final judgement, and in that section, Jesus compares those who will recieve eternal life with those who will receive eternal death:  Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a foreigner and you did not welcome me, Naked and you did not clothe me, Sick and in prison and you did not ..read more

CATHARSIS: "A purification that brings about spirtual renewal or release fron tension" (Merriam-Webster)   Right now, we are currently observing the fragility of the most powerful nation in the world.  With the arrival of an unknown virus that we are still very much in the early stages at understanding, and as our leaders are making the most educated responses possible, we have seen many stable institutions quickly crack and nearly crumble.  Some hospitals in congested areas are utterly flooded with the sick, many thousands across our nation have been laid off.  The stock m ..read more

    Everyone has family Christmas traditions.  I'm sure one of yours instantly was brought to mind.  After years of Alexandra and I trying to establish our own for our kids, we have finally discovered one that was an instant hit, and that is being repeated as we speak - hopefully to be repeated year after year: Using Handel's "Messiah" as a sort of Advent Devotional Guide for nightly family worship. You may be vageuly familair with the famous "Hallelujah!" chorus due to awful commercials trying to promote a new product of theirs for black Friday, or from this famous flash m ..read more

I've been slowly working my way through John's Gospel over the last month or so, and the other morning I found myself in chapter 4. Before opening up my Bible, I sat silently before God for a few minutes. I then asked Him to teach me, to guide me through the passage. I started to read. I was in v.v. 46-54. I read it once out loud to myself. I noticed that Jesus came back to Cana, "where he had made the water wine". I kept reading. There was a man who "heard that Jesus had come", and he needed help. His son was dying. I reflected for a minute; the last time Jesus was in Cana ..read more

On April 20, 1999, 15 people were killed in Littleton, Colorado at Columbine High School. I was 16 years old, and I remember sitting on the couch in my parents sun room for hours watching the footage unfold. I was terrified, angry, sad, and confused. It was all consuming for me. I had so many questions, and sadly there were few if any real answers. I don't believe I was a Christian yet, but at the same time, I was very much aware that God existed. Maybe I questioned why he would have allowed this to happen, or maybe I just sat there stunned. I honestly can't remember, but I do remember being g ..read more

It was the beginning of the pandemic, and we were still living up in Sayreville. We can all remember the fear, the anxiety, wiping down our groceries with sanitizer wipes. It was a stressful time, mostly because we didn't know what was going on. We watched the news, obsessing over the numbers. We were inundated with information about how many people were infected and how many people were dying. It was a scary time. Now, two years later, we are once again confronted with the reality of death, as our newsfeeds are filled with images from Ukraine, stories of young families fleeing to neighboring ..read more

I’m not too sure how to say what I want to say. It is January 7, 2021, and we are a day removed from the events that transpired in our nation’s capital. There are so many things I could say in this post. I could talk about the violence that occurred, as a protest turned riot found its way into the Capitol Building, how first responder’s lives were put at risk, how a woman lost her life, and how our president did little to put an end to what was occurring on his behalf. But there was something yesterday that cut deeper. This Sunday we will be unpacking the nature and content of what the New Tes ..read more

Jesus says in Matthew’s Gospel that “the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Matthew 13:44). In the world of Facebook Marketplace and eBay, selling isn’t as easy as it sounds. I know I personally have items that have been on eBay for months, without a single bite. But that’s not really the point. What Jesus is trying to demonstrate is that the kingdom of heaven is more valuable than anything we can ever dream of possessing. It is a treasure ..read more

On the eve of what many are calling, the most important election in recent history, I believe that we as Christians have an enormous opportunity to show the world what God is like. Before I unpack that, let me first explain what I don’t mean. There is an enormous amount of fear surrounding this election. What if we become a socialist country? What if we lose our religious liberties? Who is going to ensure that I have proper healthcare? Who is going to fight for the lives of the unborn? How will people of color ever be granted the dignity they deserve as image bearers of God? What will become ..read more

The Upside-Down Kingdom: An Introduction When I first became a Christian, I very quickly learned the acronym, WWJD? (What Would Jesus Do?). That was the question, and still is the question, followers of Jesus are trying to answer? How in the world are we to live this life as Christians? What are we supposed to do? Why are we supposed to do it? What are we allowed to do, and what are we not allowed to do? Where is the line? And so we made rules and lists for ourselves, “don’t drink, don’t chew, don’t go with girls that do”. Many traditions banned dancing and alcohol, while others focused on R r ..read more