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The Gospel
For my second sermon, I decided to tackle a big topic: the Gospel. In retrospect, this was a bad idea. The passion I had to talk about it was reflective of the passion my church family had to talk as well. Such an important topic deserves extra attention, and I remember walking away knowing I made more than a few rookie mistakes. As tempting as it is to serve up only the “greatest hits,” I think it’s better to be real in this line of work. So in that spirit, here is the manuscript for my sermon on 1 Corinthians 15, delivered at First Baptist Church of Mt. Pleasant, MI,…
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The Stolen Blessing
My very first invitation to preach was at the church where I grew up, First Baptist Church of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. Since it was my first, I decided to start with my best sermon from preaching class and polish it up. You can also read the manuscript below: Preface & Prayer Before I begin I just want to thank you all for the privilege of opening God’s Word with you this morning. Jenny and I have been gone for six years now, but I’ve never stopped calling this my home church. I was baptized here, married here, and I learned to serve here. Many of you were my teachers in…
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5 Ways to Improve Your Christian Podcast
I love listening to podcasts. In fact, I’ve listened to them since the mid-2000s, when they were still in their infancy. Normally I stick to my favorites, but every now and then I give a new one a try. And occasionally I find podcasts that are incredibly promising in their title and lackluster in their content and execution. As tempting as it sometimes is to vent my frustrations online, I’m working to push past this and reframe it as an opportunity to create something helpful. So I would like to turn a recent example of a podcast gone bad into an opportunity to build up and encourage. Here are five…
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Just Do Something (Book Review)
I never changed my major in college and I’m proud of that. But that’s only because nobody forced me to sign papers any sooner in the process. I had a hard time choosing a major. I expected it to be romantic: our eyes would meet across a crowded hallway and I would just know this was my destiny. This is where I belong. Like so many people, I grew up with a sense that my career mattered to God. But in college I figured it was up to me to make it work. It wasn’t until seminary that my views shifted. After all, I felt like seminary was a calling,…
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Is There a Doctor in the House? (Book Review)
There are few decisions I regret more than the desire to be “normal” again. After seminary, I dove right into a year of doctoral studies before realizing I needed a break. The break was glorious. I read all kinds of things, worked through personal issues, thought great thoughts, did “practical” things. And all the while, I was driven by this need to keep going, one that had been instilled at Dallas. And then a few years later, with a full-time job, a growing family, a mortgage, and some heartbreak in ministry, I wanted out. I wanted the book monkey off my back. I wanted to be “free.” I decided to…