A dog is not a person. We have a puppy called Blaze, so I know this. Blaze is a dog. However, he is a bit like a teenager at this point in his training. The problem is that, unlike a person, he does not have a moral conscience. So I...
The Tooth-to-Tail Ratio
Dear men of VBC, I want to invite you to the kick-off BBQ of our Men’s Leadership Initiative. This event is Friday, Sept. 29, at 6 pm. Please sign up at spokanevbc.org/events and RSVP under “Men’s Leadership Initiative Kick-Off.” We are inviting all men to the Leadership Initiative. You might think, “But I’m...
Did You Tell the Kids?
I have come to love Psalm 78. It is such a down-to-earth, painfully honest description of a great God doing what He inexplicably loves to do – being gracious to petty sinners. If you have also enjoyed the Psalm and are continuing to meditate on it, there are some impressive...
Under the Shelter
When we were back from Trieste, Italy, on a 6-month “Home Assignment” in 2011, we enrolled our older three children in school for a semester. I remember chatting with the secretary in the office about what we’d been doing as a family in Italy while filling out the necessary paperwork....
Grace and Love
Many years ago I had to confront my boss. I agonized over it because I had no experience confronting a brother in Christ. But this involved my family, and I knew I had to talk to him. So I prayed. I was a full-time seminary student working two jobs. Neither...
1,393 Kilometers
From the city of Ephesus to the port city of Troas was a journey, on foot, of 349km (about 217 miles). In the spring this would have taken about 12 days of hard walking. From Troas, a boat across the Thracian Sea to Neapolis in Macedonia would have only taken...
The Knowing Behind Our Sowing
The sowing of a seed is such a common thing that it sometimes escapes us how marvelous and counter-intuitive it is. Imagine being asked to sow seeds if you had never heard of the idea or seen it done before! With a field of nothing but lifeless dirt all scratched...
Christ Our Hope in Life and Death
I was in my final summer as a seminary student when I conducted my first funeral. The grandfather of a little boy Tara cared for had died, and his wife asked me if I would do his funeral. We had lived in a guest house for two years in exchange...
Heaven Bound
We were pleasantly surprised to see some old friends walk into church this past Sunday. They were a couple we knew in the first church Ben pastored; interestingly enough, that church’s name was Valley Bible Church. We had a great time reminiscing about those early years. It wasn’t long before...
A Few Observations
For this week’s afterthought, I want to share a few short observations that struck me about our passage this week which we didn’t have time to fully explore on Sunday. First, it is not only in baptism that we see a picture and symbol of death and resurrection. God has...
The Beauty of Baptism
One of the grand celebrations of the Christian faith is baptism. Several times a year, we perform baptisms in obedience to our Lord to “Make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:18). In so doing, we are graced to hear...
Reading the Word like a Ridiculous Wrestler
The circle is only 9 meters across. The two wrestlers who tensely shift about one another are not going to run away. They watch for an advantage: the slightest of missteps, a dropped shoulder, an unbalanced stance, a distracted gaze. There it is. An overextension and an exposed torso. The...
The Once and Future Truth
It is graduation season once again, and that means a busy schedule for elite universities and colleges. Not only do our nation’s top educational institutions have to double-check transcripts, rosters, and facility plans, but they must jostle and vie to secure the most prestigious commencement speakers. This year, Harvard garnered...
But Wait, There’s More!
The late '90s and early 2000s were the heyday of the infomercial. From deluxe CD compilations to car wash accessories, late-night cable TV was a hymn to the entrepreneurial spirit, and the refrain was that ubiquitous catchphrase, “But wait, there’s more!” It was the critical breadcrumb on the trail from,...
Why Hymns?
Music has been a subject of discussion in churches for ages. As the music director at Valley Bible Church, I wanted to share why I choose the music I do and why I include hymns in our weekly worship services. This article will specifically focus on the corporate side of worship, not...
The Truth about Self-Love
As a teenager, I had a page from Parade Magazine pinned to my bedroom wall. I was not a believer and had read an article by Erich Fromm about his principles for living. It was a list of thought-provoking quotes by Fromm that somehow resonated with me. God was drawing...
The Language of Prayer
What is the language of prayer? Is there a specific language to be used in prayer to ensure God hears us? Is it the flowery language of the King James Bible peppered with thees and thous? Is it a specific “prayer language” that is given just to you that no...
On Rainbows and the Resurrection
In our neck of the woods, we are most likely to see rainbows in the springtime after a long winter. The conditions are just right. The unsettled weather of spring brings intermittent showers and sunshine, often at the same time! One minute the sun is shining; the next, it's raining;...
The Fifth Cup of Passover
The night before His crucifixion Jesus gathered with His disciples to celebrate the Passover meal. For the disciples, this must have been quite the clash of the familiar and the confusing. They had grown up sharing Passover meals every year for their entire lives, but this meal was different. They...
Patience, Please!
Patience, as they say, is a virtue. It is a virtue that is spoken of often. The typical tropes of evangelicals are, "Lord, give me patience, and give it to me now." And, "Please be patient with me; God isn't finished with me yet." This bumper sticker theology illustrates how...