Three services.

I don’t know what kind of magical congregation we’re dealing with, but we just went to three services at Living Streams Church. We were a bit nervous about having a couple of full services and one super empty. We thought the middle service would be overcrowded and stressful. All of our worries ended up being a waste of time. Somehow our congregation split themselves equally into our 8:30, 10:00, and 11:30 a.m. services all by themselves.

September 23 was the autumnal equinox. For us Phoenicians, the change from summer to fall usually feels like summer to more summer. September is supposed to bring a change in the weather, but usually the weather change is only felt by those who are awake at 3:00 a.m..

Last Sunday was my birthday. I completed my 42nd trip around the sun and began my 43rd. Woohoo. After 42 years my overall feeling is one of contentment and peace; but at the same time I can never shake an undercurrent of heaviness and sobriety about what the future holds. 

August tricked us. We were in summer mode, having time and space to fill with adventure, opportunities and boredom. Then, August 1st our kids started school. All of our time and space filled quickly, but we weren’t ready for summer to end. Without intending to we tried to do summer mode and school mode at the same time. It was exhausting.

The sensation is somewhere toward the top of my brain. It is more of a dull, shallow pain, as opposed to the deep, sharp pain of a headache. I imagine it would be the same feeling that an engine straining at high rpm’s would feel, if an engine could feel.

Woohoo! Men’s Retreat was amazing once again. Raw authenticity, relentless encouragement, biblical authenticity, and genuine friendship all over the place. It was also fun to get shot with arrows, skid on the top of water after zip-lining down a mountain, and playing basketball at midnight! (I guess you had to be there.)

With society’s rhetoric getting more extreme and divisive, it is easy to simply agree with the loudest voice. But the truth is - there are no easy answers. But just because there are no easy answers, doesn’t mean there are no answers. 

When our eyes have been blinded by the searing pain of deadly shootings, the heavy burden of poverty's ramifications, and the crippling curse that sin has brought upon humanity—we need a vision. 

This week I heard a John Adams quote on a podcast.

The quote was not about how to be a good president, or how to win a revolution, or how to form a nation. The quote was about how to be a good son, dad, grandfather, great grandfather, etc.

The New Testament begins in an unexpected way. You would think, with all the miraculous and powerful works of Jesus, that it would start with more pizazz.

As many of you know, this weekend David kicked off the new sermon series called Generational Blessing. We dove into the desire to hear wisdom from scripture about the blessing and wisdom that generations can pass down.

In 1 Corinthians 12, a preeminent framer of the Christian Church wrote about something called the manifestations of God’s Spirit. Most people refer to these manifestations of God’s Spirit as spiritual gifts.

Yesterday afternoon I arrived home from work and everything seemed calm. When everything seems calm at my house, someone is usually about to get hurt, or someone is trying to sneak something…

There's a fire coming that we all will go through
You possess your possessions or they possess you
And if the house burns down tonight
I got everything I need when I got You by my side 
– Jon Foreman

The dictionary defines the word shrewd as “having sharp powers of judgment.” In the Greek language, which is what the New Testament was written in, the word is phronimōs. This Greek word translates into English as “wise.” 

It is almost Father’s Day, and I find myself compelled to write about femininity. 
(I know. I’m weird.)
 
I think I am being compelled by of a combination of things:

In my early years, when I would try to describe what faith in Jesus is, I would fumble over vague, ethereal-feeling words. I would say things like, “You just feel it,” or “It’s like hoping or trusting in something,” or even “Faith is believing in something.” The responses this would invoke were usually a wrinkled forehead, raised eyebrows, and confused eyes. If the listener was really nice, they would…

Oh no! It's time for us to teach on sexuality! Why in the world did we pick sexuality as a topic for our “Other Hours” sermon series? Does anyone reading this want to take my place this Sunday and preach on Sexuality? I know that we are sexual beings. I know that…

Last night I was in a nice back yard, on a nice, warm evening, standing with a bunch of nice people by a nice swimming pool. My wife, Brittany Stockton stood up in front of all the people and explained to us that there were thirteen kids in her 3rd through 5th grade youth group that wanted to be baptized.

In society, we hear a lot about the damning effects of an absentee dad on his children. In Christian circles, we talk about the importance of “the father’s blessing” in his children’s lives. Sociological studies show us that a child without a good, strong father figure in their life will have a decreased self-concept, feel more insecurities, and be more prone to truancy.