Have you ever experienced exceptional customer service from a business? If so, why was it exceptional? Was it because your problem was solved, your question was answered, or your appliance was fixed? I suggest that there's more to "exceptional" customer service than just having your problem or complaint solved. For...
Have you ever felt the shame of missing an opportunity to speak on behalf of Jesus? Perhaps you were in a situation when someone said something derogatory about the Christian faith, or something that was wholly inaccurate about salvation, or denigrated those who follow Christ. At that moment, though troubled...
“Now judgment is upon this world,” declared Jesus in our passage this Sunday. It isn’t a new theme in the Gospel of John. Nineteen verses in this short book take up the theme of judgment on the world. Such a pattern indicates that it is an important topic, and one...
“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies,” taught Jesus, “it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24) Few ideas are as provocative and widely applicable as this one. To live in a fallen world is to live with the reality that...
Many years ago, I was working as a substitute teacher. One of my favorite classes was a junior high special education class. There was a particular young man by the name of Steven in the class. He was 15 years old but looked more like an 8-year-old. Steven was not...
Hope is built into this Christmas season of gift-giving. We take on the role of Santa when we ask our family members, “What do you want for Christmas?” It’s a common question. We are looking for answers for what we might give to others. Why do we need to ask?...
As I type this I am sitting in the Portico at VBC. There are wreaths on the walls, garland across long tables, and a small forest of Christmas trees scattered about. Out in the field to the north, final preparations are underway for our annual Lighting the Path event. The...
We have much for which to be thankful on this Thanksgiving weekend. Our Thanksgiving dinner is a mere token of all the good things in life that God has given us. And the most essential gift for which we must give thanks is our salvation, for in this all other...
When preparing for a message there is so often much left on the cutting room floor. Sometimes it’s additional aspects to the historical context, other times it’s the play on words or choice of language that are just so cool to explore but often lead down rabbit holes and bunny...
On Sunday we followed along as the Holy Spirit, through the pen of John, revealed the unfolding faith of a man born blind. It was a humorous series of exchanges between the man, his parents, and the Pharisees, but it was also a serious confrontation with real consequences. By the...
On Sunday we had the pleasure to study more of Christ’s great self-revelation. He turned the key in the lock of heavenly glories and let us peer within. The plainly dressed, plainly appearind carpenter from Nazareth declared that He is no less than God. He is the Lord over life and...
Some years back, I was on an overseas trip and staying at a hotel in China. This hotel was quite different from most hotels in America. There weren't a lot of people, and certainly no foreigners like myself. I got up early in the morning and went down to find...
I’m a bit of a moon watcher. I’m not sure why, but I’ve always been fascinated by the light of the moon. I will often step outside and sit on our porch and watch in silence as a full moon rises over the horizon in the East. It is really...
We like to have favorites. We have favorite socks, favorite flavors of ice cream, favorite pets, favorite colors, and more. Once we have identified our “favorites,” we usually change our behavior to favor those things. For this reason, God often does things that we have a hard time understanding. God...
On Sunday we looked at the rainbow of reactions the crowds in Jerusalem had to Christ after His teaching during the Feast of Booths. The responses ranged from acceptance to cynical mockery. They revealed a truth about human nature, a truth that reminds us of how a prism works. When...
This week I approached a locked and darkened nursery to pray. As I entered the room, I had to clear cobwebs from my face that struck me as I walked in. Beloved, these things ought not to be. Several weeks ago, I spoke to you about the importance of the...
In our world today, we see the power of the crowd. We watch the nightly news in horror at the rioting, looting, destruction, and killing in many major cities. It is no different today than what we see in John 7:19-21. Jesus says to the crowd, "Why do you seek...
Several weeks into the lockdown, we ran out of flour. We went to the grocery store with a short list of items, and flour was at the top. We found that in addition to toilet paper, paper towels, and hand sanitizer, the stores were also out of flour, rice, and...
If you clicked through to read this article, add a checkmark to your list of decisions made today. Careful though, if you choose to add that checkmark, that decision itself deserves yet another mark. And so on. We make so many decisions every day that it is impossible to be...
In John 6:15-21, we see Jesus walking on water in the midst of a storm while his disciples are frantically rowing. Storms or trials in our life can be totally consuming. They sap our physical and emotional strength, and we become singularly focused on the storm in our lives. Sometimes...