When Isaiah prophesies about John the Baptist, he predicts that every valley shall be filled in and every mountain and hill made low. Is this a metaphor for social justice? Watch the entire Advent message here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCLNiEtinOY

It has been a while since I have posted to this blog. A lot has changed in my life. I am now the Lead Pastor at the church where I have served for the last ten years. It has been an amazing process and transition and I feel like I am still getting my feet under me. I also finally switched to an iPhone after being a loyal Bl

I am preaching again on August 21. The passage I'm covering is Acts 4 where Peter and John are called before the Sanhedrin for "teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead." Recently Jon Stewart discussed the issue of religiously motivated terrorism, highlighting the difference between how Christi

My Easter message on the Resurrection of the Body. Going to heaven is not our hope. 1 Corinthians 15.

My most recent message on Acts 2. Speaking in Tongues: Cessationism vs Continuationism. Enjoy the mullet!

Is premarital sex damaging? A recent study from BYU seems to suggest so, at least with regard to marital satisfaction. I am a big fan of The Young Turks news program on YouTube. And several months ago they posted a video (actually a pair of videos) on the BYU study. Ana, one of the hosts of the show, seemed to not like the

I am preaching John 21 this Sunday and have gone around and around with this… here are my thoughts on the distinction between agape and phileo. This discussion has been around for quite a while, but has been renewed by changes in the recent updates to the 2011 NIV translation. Here is the passage in John 21 from the 1984

As a worship leader, I struggle quite a bit choosing new music at Christmas time. It's hard to avoid getting into a rut and doing the same songs year after year. So I thought I would share this song that I arranged a while back.It's my rendition of O Come All Ye Faithful. My goal was to take a traditional Christ

"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."Luke 6:27-28Therefore, according to 1 Corinthians 13:4-8,Be patient with your enemies. Be kind to your enemies. Do not envy your enemies. Do no

Jonathan Brink has a new book out. Check out the promo videos below: 

Here is my latest message, from John 8, the story of the woman caught in adultery.

Just downloaded this album tonight. What a surprising offering. One Sonic Society is the new project of Stu G and John Thatcher, formerly of Delirious? The EP contains five tracks, as listed below:1. Our God Will Come2. Forever Reign

OK, here's a few pics for those of you who are interested. Again, cosmetically she's not the prettiest, but the tone is all I could ask for.Here's a close up of the head. Obviously a "brownface". Notice the Presence knob to the far right and the Pre-CBS

Just came in the mail this week. Finished two chapters so far...If you are not already familiar with the book, it is by Len Sweet and Frank Viola. It just came out this month, but was actually preceded by a wordpress blog post entitled "A Jesus Manifesto." In its original form it was much shorter, and the old p

What is this idea of "singability" in worship music? I've heard so many different points of view on this that I thought I would share my thoughts on the issue.As far as music style, it is marginally true that some songs are easier to sing than others. The most significant variable that affects singability is fam

OK, time for some more guitar gear stuff.I just picked up an old Fender piggyback Bassman for $200. It was broken when I bought it, so I had it looked at by Bryan Sours at Soursound her

Here is my message from last Sunday, about Community Missions. Ministry to the poor is not an option, it is an obligation. It is not a calling, it is a command...

Here's a thought. If I were forced to choose between orthodoxy and orthopraxy, I think I might choose on this basis:I would rather act like Jesus and know nothing of Him, than know of Jesus and act nothing like Him.I'm not going to delve too deeply into this right now. But I wonder what God would pre

What do you think? Is there some truth to what he is saying? With whom do you identify? The powerful or the powerless? Through whose eyes do you read scriptures? Through whose eyes do you see the cross?

Here is the message I gave last week on Maundy Thursday.

I had a strange realization a while back about coffee. I was sitting in Starbucks looking around at the decor, the artistic black and white photography of coffee beans... the milieu of stainless steel and ceramic cups and mugs, some for home, some for travel, some large, some small... the machines for sale, the grinders, t

I just finished reading the first section of Book 2, The Church Question: What Do We Do About The Church. At this point I am entirely fed up with much of the criticism that Brian has received over this book.For one, this idea that Brian is trying to minimize the writings of Paul in favor of the Gospels is just r

I just finished watching an hour long panel discussion on Brian McLaren's new book, A New Kind of Christianity. The moderator was R. Albert Mohler, Jr., and the panel was composed of Jim Hamilton, Bruce Ware, Stephen Wellum, and Gregory Wills. I found much of their criticism of the book to be pretty high level, and I would

...By loving people. I began this with a post and discussion about this idea. I gave a message to our church on it. Here it is:

You know the ones. They're usually poorly dressed, with a backpack at their feet. The sign says "Will work for food", or "Homeless. Please Help". Maybe you see them on your way to work? Or while running errands? You pretend not to notice them. You avoid their glance. Yeah, those people.Have you found yourself an

Now at 35% read, I have just finished the question "Is God violent?" In it, Brian continues his idea that the Bible should not be read as a constitution, but as a library. He goes on to propose that we view the books of the Bible chronologically, and in so doing discover a progressing evolution of and improvement in our und