During my 3-month sabbatical I began reading the letters commonly referred to as the Pastoral Epistles (Thessalonians, Timothy, and Titus). What struck me in a fresh way was the importance of being grounded in solid doctrine. Of course, good doctrine has always been important to me but perhaps this familiar truth took on greater weightiness because of our current cultural moment where there are so...  Read More

I haven’t been a pastor for very long (just under 2 years), and it’s been during some of the strangest times we will ever go through.  The challenges we’ve faced with not being able to be face to face with much of our congregation for a long span of time have led to some of the hardest discussions I’ve had to be a part of.  How do we connect with people?  Is watching a live stream really being par...  Read More

Picture this: you are a newly licensed teenager. You have completed all your household chores, finished your schoolwork, and would like to get some Boba with your friends. You check in with your parents and ask if you can head out, and they respond with a resounding, "No." As confusion sweeps across your face, you begin to perform a mental check of all your responsibilities and conclude that you h...  Read More

    Fireworks, BBQ’s, block parties, friends and family…Independence Day is one of my favorite Holidays. Some of my favorite and scariest memories are from the 4th. I’ll never forget the time I decided to make my own firecracker and ended up burning my eyebrows, eyelashes and most of the front of my hair off. My parents were so amused at my appearance they didn’t even punish me for doing something...  Read More

1 Oh sing to the Lord a new song;    sing to the Lord, all the earth!2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name;    tell of his salvation from day to day.3 Declare his glory among the nations,    his marvelous works among all the peoples!4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;    he is to be feared above all gods.        Psalm 96:1-4Have you wondered why we sing the particular songs we sing du...  Read More

The book of Acts is one of my favorite books in the Bible. This book chronicles the birth of the church after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension and the spread of the gospel throughout the Roman Empire. The book is formally called The Acts of the Apostles, but many have noted that it should more accurately be called The Acts of the Holy Spirit since it is the Holy Spirit who used the Apostles to ac...  Read More

When my wife Lisa went back to work a couple months ago, we started taking our son to daycare.  It was a hard decision and process, as we’d been with him every moment of his life and now somebody else would be caring for him part time.  But what reassured me and continues to, is every morning, I take him to the front door and one of the managers recognizes me, greets us, and is so excited to see u...  Read More

It seems each week brings another troubling verse to the disturbing chorus being played out in our fractured society – another senseless attack on a person of Asian descent. The restraining ropes of human decency have frayed, giving people a sense of license to attack others, simply because of their race. It can be particularly infuriating when these attacks target those perceived to be most vulne...  Read More

Do you remember your first day of high school? I know I do. I was so excited I picked out my outfit a week before school: oversized pants and a button-up shirt with some clean Nikes. I wanted to give the impression that I belonged in high school. I wanted everyone to know that Micah had arrived. I remember every class I had that day and every teacher. If you put me back at Canyon Springs High Scho...  Read More

Acts 1:21-2621 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” 23 And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “Y...  Read More

      It still surprises me that, with how big and verbose the Bible is, it has relatively little to say about how Godly parents are called to raise kids. Sure, there’s a great verse on dealing with rebellious children that’s helpful, (Deut 21:18), if you want to go to jail that is. Seriously though, there are some solid general statements about conduct in the home in Ephesians 6 like “don’t provo...  Read More

February has been designated as Black History month where we honor and recognize the achievements of Black Americans throughout our history. I took it as an opportunity to refresh, educate, and relearn the stories of men and women who have contributed to and shaped our society. I was amazed to read about inventors like Marie Van Brittan Brown, who received a patent in 1969 for a closed-circuit TV ...  Read More