Humble Streaming: Being a Servant to Your Viewers (Devos & Chill Ep. 3 – Phil 1:1-2)
What does it mean to be a “servant of all” when you are a Twitch Streamer, YouTuber, or social media star? What does humility look like as a Christian internet […]
Twitch: The Undiscovered Country (Video Version)
God is calling brand new, online, Hudson Taylor’s, David Livingstones, William Careys, and Jim and Elisabeth Elliots from around the world, to share the gospel of Jesus Christ on the […]
How to Use the “Bridge Illustration” to Share the Gospel (with Q&A)
*This was an outdoor service so the audio is a little off. Audio: Text: Leaving it to the Professionals You probably know the name Billy Graham, right? His evangelistic crusades are known around the world. He has preached to millions of people in more than 185 countries, started a radio program, magazine, and multiple mission organizations was a spiritual adviser […]
Audio: Text: Closedminded Prejudice It’s been a troubling week again this week as we read about the race riots and murder in Charlottesville, Virginia and the 17 people killed in Barcelona, Spain just this week. It is strange how these things come in waves. Before now I hadn’t really considered how vehicles could be used in a terrorist attack, but […]
What is a “Good Church”? (Part 4 – Spirit-Led Evangelism)
This is the last sermon of our mini-series-within-a-series where we’re answering the question “What is a Good Church?”. This series is inside of the “Burning Questions” series which came about after I asked you all to submit some questions that you’ve had that I could answer. I hope that this series has been helpful to you, because it’s been enjoyable […]
Eating With Sinners (Mark 2:13-17)
We’ve already talked about how Mark is introducing Jesus as the one answer to all the important questions in the world. If you recall, we said that the audience he is writing to are a group of persecuted, Roman Christians who aren’t looking for deep theology, long dissertations or genealogies, or a lot of teaching sections – they want proof […]
Own Your "Why?" – A Christian Response to Halloween
Own Your “Why?” Some time ago I came up with a phrase that I try to live by and give away as much as possible — “Own your ‘Why?’” What […]
The Speed-Dial Principle
While writing this article I was reminded about this song by Casting Crowns called “Does Anybody Hear Her” which seems to hit the nail on the head. Do Churches Still Help? I had a conversation recently where we were discussing the place of “para-church ministries” within the realm of global and local missions and it dawned on me that North […]
The Complexity of Christianity
I was invited for an “Ask The Pastor” night last week and brought along this handout I’d been working on. I sat in front of the white board and asked myself “If I am going to help the people in this church grow as Christians, then what does a fully functional disciple of Jesus look like?” And I started to […]
Common & Special Grace
I’ve seen some wonderful miracles throughout my life, and this past year has been even more amazing. Sometimes I get miracle and coincidence confused, but not this year — it’s been pretty obvious. I’ve been unemployed or underemployed for almost a whole year now, and even though it’s been financially tough, we have seen God show up and miraculously provide […]
Rethinking Facebook
I almost went back on Facebook this last week. I had left “the social network” quite some time ago for a myriad of reasons. It was taking up a lot of time, feeding my pride, and when a friend told me Facebook was a contributing factor to his adultery, it was the last straw and I deleted my account. It […]
Flame Wars in The Church
Did you know you can use salt to put out a fire? In fact, if you have a kitchen grease fire (and don’t have a fire-extinguisher) you shouldn’t use water, but instead cover it with salt. Why bring this up? Because there are some people out there reading this who need to use their salt (Col 4:5-6) to put out […]
By Request: “A Good Church”
I recently spoke at the 165th anniversary celebration for Beckwith Baptist, a church in the Ottawa area. I got a lot of comments and requests for the text, so I thought I’d post it here this week. It’s based on Acts 2:42-47. — A Good Church If you ask the question, “What is a church?” a lot of people will […]
Coffee & Outreach
So far so good this week, so let’s continue our experiment and see if we can connect Coffee and Outreach. Basic Outreach Outreach, in its most basic form, is simply sharing the love we have experienced through Jesus Christ with others through our words and deeds. We are grace, therefore we are gracious. We have been forgiven, therefore we forgive. […]
Should Christians Give to Panhandlers?
Today is Outreach Thursday, and this question comes up a lot, so let’s tackle it first. Should a Christian give money to panhandlers? This is a complex issue. On the one hand we have the divine compulsion and inward desire to help those who need our assistance (Matthew 25:31-46, Luke 6:27-36), while on the other we worry that our generosity will be […]
