MyJournal - 7/21/05 8:21 pm Yesterday, God met me during my evening prayer time. I was over at the church at 7:30 like I had said for prayer, and a couple of other people showed up---Paul and Leah Witte came, and Eric Wilson (a new fellow) also was there. It was a really good time for me. I …
Talking with God
Some time ago, I was asked to do an exercise where I would write out a letter to God and then imagine he would write a letter back to me. The letters below are the result of that experience. You know, I just read it all again, and I can't believe how true I think it is. The exercise was back in …
The Problem with Cotton Balls
I shared this story with my congregation yesterday to encourage them to think about how to hear God's voice... Once upon a time there was a little girl who loved her mother very much. She and her mom used to pick flowers together when they would visit the park. They would roll around in the grass …
2005-07-19
MyJournal --- 7/19/05 9:36 pm Today has been a good day. This morning, we woke up pretty early to take the kids to go see Bob and Larry from the Veggie Tales show. They were making a guest appearance at the NBC news show downtown. So, not only did we get to see the two characters, but Jen, …
028-01 — When Times are Bad, Rebuild
Time to Rebuild: Nehemiah 1 Download now: When Times are Bad, Rebuild Four years ago, I was teaching through a series of messages that I entitled, Under Construction. It was a series that covered my vision for what a church really should be. We discussed the core values that should be present in …
Homosexuality and the Bible
I just completed my series of messages on the Bible (see sermon series Shhhh! God's Talking) and during the series I spent a good amount of time dealing with tough questions of the Bible and tough questions about the faith, but one of the toughest questions that I had to deal with is God's take on …
FBFI and Piper
I noticed at this fellow's blog that there is some awareness among Christians that the BGC is "endorsing" open theism. Here's a quick link to the blog that clued me in. ... centuri0n: FBFI and Piper I just have to quickly respond to that. First of all, if you don't know what open theism is, you …
My Most Controversial Message
For the last two hours, I have been sitting here in my office pondering an issue that will form the basis for what I feel is going to be my most controversial message to date that I've given in my current church. That's right, I plan on Sunday to deal with the issue of women in ministry and the …
The Bible Can Be Trusted
NWBC-027-03 The Bible is the single most accurate ancient document in existence today! Now that's a big claim! Nevertheless, it's true. The Bible is spiritually reliable, historically reliable, textually reliable, and reliable in many other ways too. In this message, I try to explain exactly why we …
God Wants You to Hear Him
NWBC-027-02 It's true. God really wants you to hear him. The Bible isn't an esoteric , spiritually difficult book like many have sometimes thought. Sure, there are some editions that have ancient Shakespeare-like language, but God doesn't speak King James English. God speaks to our hearts by …
Jesus is like a box of chocolates
For the past week, I've been here in Green Lake, Wisconsin, at a conference with many different pastors from all over the midwest. Now, this is a perfect opportunity for me because my son's school is currently doing a fundraiser where he (really his mother and I) is supposed to sell a box of …
There are no unplanned pregnancies
Yesterday was Mother's Day 2005, and I preached a message on three women in the beginning of the gospel of Luke---Elizabeth, Mary, and Anna. While I was preparing for the message; though, God helped me to understand something that I had never really seen before. There are no unplanned …
Leave the church?
I'm not even done with this article yet, but I can already sense that it's worth putting up here. You won't regret taking the time to read it. Detoxing from Church …
026-04 — Love Is What Binds Us Together
NWBC-026-04 This message was preached at Northwest Baptist Church in Chicago by my friend Andy Tucker. It's a part of the larger series I've been doing on the body of Christ and it's an excellent message, so I'm including it here too. Download Listen Online …
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026-03 — Body Building Attitudes
NWBC-026-03 There are four attitudes we can take to improve our relationships... Ok, really, there are four attitudes we have to take as part of the body of Christ. In this message I exploree the mystical reality of what it means to be part of the body of Christ and tie it into four practical …
A decision has been made!
Well, it’s not the BIG decision, but it is a little decision. Jen and I will be telling our congregation this Sunday that God is leading us into church planting. We don’t have a definite location, and we don’t have a definite timeframe, but the indications all point to the fact …