One Year later
One year ago today, I was installed as Pastor of Evergreen PCA. It was an absolutely beautiful summer night.
Pastor’s Blog
The Giving of Offerings as an Element of Worship
As the Pastor, I felt this would be a golden teaching opportunity for us to remember why the offering is included in our service to begin with, and why we don’t just continue to have the offering bag in the back of the sanctuary. While I suspect many of us like the “low pressure” approach to giving that this encourages, I also believe that this method of giving obscures the fact that giving really is a means of worshiping God and giving thanks to Him.
Pastor’s Book Recommendations
During Sunday School it is my custom to recommend books to those in class. Someone today recommended that I put all of my book recommendations together in one place so that those interested could find all of them easily. What follows is the recommendations I’ve made in the course of this year’s Sunday School class … Read More
Does God Intend Us to be United On Masks and Vaccines?
When the pandemic first began I think a lot of elders out there sensed that the unity of their churches would be tested by 2020 and 2021. I’m starting to believe that we are entering a new phase that is equally challenging.
Book Review: The Israel of God: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow by O. Palmer Robertson
O. Palmer Robertson’s book The Israel of God is helpful for precisely this reason: he forces the reader to go deep on the question of Israel, what it was before, what it is today, and whether there is a future for Israel, and if so, what that future looks like.
Living as “Elect Exiles”
Christian, will you let God, not the news or pundits, remind you of who you are in this world? We do not live in an age of triumph and conquest; we live in an age where we are called to humble and persistent faithfulness.
Fencing the Table in the PCA and Church Membership
I have received numerous questions from members who are curious about our practice of what is called fencing the table. In the wording that I use, I say that if someone is a member of our church “or a member in good standing of another evangelical church” they are invited to the table. To some this may seem overly restrictive or judgmental – especially if they aren’t used to the practice of fencing the table.
On ‘Selfish’ church attendance
One of the current charges leveled against Christians (largely on social media, of course) is that Christians are being selfish by insisting on worshiping even in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. My argument here is simply that for churches to meet during a time of pandemic is not necessarily selfish.
Lessons learned in 2020
In the course of 2020 my family and I learned a few lessons – some silly, some serious.
Remember Lot’s Wife: Go to Church
I have a confession to make, and it may not be very surprising: it’s hard to pastor people when the government has declared a pandemic. It’s hard for a few reasons: for one, there really is a virus going around. A very small percentage of people really are having complications and dying. It’s hard to … Read More