Posts from 2024
Bind Satan?
We all tend to repeat things we see others do. Sometimes we are copycats just because. Other times, we copy someone because we are doing something for the first time. When I was a new believer in Christ, one of the things I didn’t know how to do was pray to God. What I meant to say was I didn’t know what I should say when I prayed. I didn’t know what was right, and what was not right to…
Who Do You Say that I Am? – From Desperation to Disciple
When I was 15 years old my grandmother bought a plane ticket for my cousin and I from Texas to Fairbanks, Alaska. It was a dream trip for a 9th grade kid, and it was my first ever commercial airplane ride. I have an uncle who lived there then and still lives there today. To top all this off, he was at that time a bush pilot taking frequent flights all over central and north slope Alaska. Unbelievably fun flying…
Who Do You Say that I Am? – Mark 5:1–20
I’ve heard the term ‘The Total Depravity of Man’ much of my life, especially when I have studied books and classes on theology. It sort of rolls off my tongue these days and makes us feel so theologically intelligent. I know that most of you have heard me use that term a great deal in my preaching over the years. Last year this was a major theme when I taught through the book of Romans. The term “Depravity” sounds so…
Jesus Heals AND Forgives!
When I was a child growing up in Sunday School, of course we focused on Bible Stories. I loved my children’s Bible because not only were the stories pretty cool, but the illustrations and paintings that helped tell the story were memorable and wonderfully visual. My Bible would take a great story and help create an image in my mind that made aided in making it real. Interestingly enough, as a teenager when I began to make a real concerted…
The “Word” (Part II)
Read Part I If the Word does not refer to God’s spoken words out of his mouth, then what does it mean? To rephrase the question, what was the Logos to John’s audience in the 1st century? If I remember anything from high school world history, it is that by the 1st century, the Greek absolutely loved philosophy. They were philosophers. If they were not philosophers, they were philosopher-wannabes. This explains why you and I still remember there were those…
GIC 2024 Followup
We have just completed our GIC week at LifeWay. This was our 13th year to take not only a week, but several weeks leading up to it. As I have said many times recently, this GIC that we began so many years ago has truly shaped the DNA of our church. I am proud of this of course as it was by design, but I feel that the job is in no way finished… it is now just stretched into…
This is Why I Have Come
If you grew up with either a little bit or a lot of a “Churchy” background, then invoking the name of Jesus at least in some way is not that abnormal. You or your family may not have believed deeply or trusted Jesus with the day to day of life, but at least if there was some kind of acknowledgement of Him at Christmas time or Easter, then you were not out of line. And absolutely when there is a…
The “Word” (Part I)
If you didn’t know this yet, one of Billy’s favorite verses, if not his favorite verse in the entire Bible, is John 1.1. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Billy loves to preach on this verse especially during Christmas time, and if I were to take a guess, he is about to do it again in a few months. I love John 1.1 too. I think it is one…
At the Heart of Why God Put Us Here on this Earth
This is our week… our Missions Focus week… that we call GIC (Global Impact Celebration). As a Pastor of LifeWay it is my privilege to help guide this congregation in the many aspects of our ministry and endeavors. I love the Christmas season and its services. I love summer camps and the connections. I love Easter and its glorious celebration. But I love this GIC week the most. Why? Because I believe it hits at the heart of why God…
Principle of the Harvest
Did you know that one six out of every ten apples that are eaten in the USA comes from the State of Washington? Even though the population of our state makes up only 2% of the national population, our apples make up 60% of the consumption in the USA! Apples are easily the largest crop that is produced in our state, and Wenatchee happens to be the hub of it all. But what makes it even more interesting is that…
What Must I Do to Prioritize as a Farmer?
Living in the 21st century, you and I don’t usually speak in parables to each other. But in the 1st century, I sense it was a bit more common to hear people speak in parables. Jesus spoke parables. Some counted he spoke about 50 parables in the Bible. But I think the number is closer to 30. It is possible to me he spoke even more than that, but they were not recorded in the Bible. Do you like parables?…
What does it take to be Farmer?
When we go to the annual state fair (which just occurred this month) many of us like to pretend we are farmers or ranchers. As we go and visit the horse barn at the fair or go to the rodeo arena, we love to watch the riders and pretend to know the differences between horse breeds. When we take our kids to the pig barn and watch the momma pig with 13 little piglets, we pretend to know all about…
Prayers for Impossible Things
You and I have a most useful tool in our toolbox. It sits in our toolbox. It’s right there. But we seldom go into our toolbox to retrieve it. Why is that? If this is a useful tool, why do we use it only sometimes? This tool, of course, is prayer. Not just any prayer, but prayer for “impossible” things. One day, I began to think about the prayers I prayed to God each day, and I noticed that they…
Who Do You Say That I Am? – Who’s the 3rd batter in the line up?
I was never really much of a baseball player, but I know that if I were I would hate the pressure of being the 3rd out when your team was up to bat. For most of you I likely don’t need to explain the basics of how a baseball game is played; how that your team is only allowed three outs in each of the 9 innings. But in the little that I personally played baseball (football was my game!)…
History of LifeWay (Part 10)
Today is part 10 of my ongoing series of reflections of 40 years here at the Church. This has been fun for me personally and there is much more that I might write out for the sake of missions history, but I have decided to put some conclusions on this series today. Learning to work with Crisis: In the life of a church, if I have learned anything that is inevitable, it is that crisis and conflict is essentially unavoidable.…
Who Do You Say That I Am? – My Soul Thirst for You
I have been blessed with the opportunity to see some amazing places in the world. Out of all the unique places I’ve seen and experienced in the world such as the North Slope Brooks range of Alaska, the Grand Canyon, the summit of Mt Rainier to name a few, the starkest place I’ve been to was the North African Desert in Egypt! It was on one of our many trips to Russia that we chose to do an inexpensive detour…
Who Do You Say That I Am? – Mark 1.1–11
We have officially begun our academic year teaching out of the Gospel of Mark. Last Sunday Alvin laid out a bit of an overview and some background to better get a grasp of this book. It is of course the 2nd of the four Gospels that we find in the Bible. It is often the least read of the four as well. But we are jumping in and I can’t wait. This Sunday I have the privilege of focusing on…
History of LifeWay (Part 9)
This is my 9th ‘chapter’ or installment of the 40 years of history that we have been blessed with at this church. From 1984 when Patty and I moved here, until now. Thank you for reading along and indulging with me in this reflective journey. In the last couple of articles I have already spoken of our work in Bryansk, Russia a few times and how that international missions had already made such a huge impact in our personal lives…
An Introduction to Mark
To those few among you who still write old-fashioned paper letters, how do you begin? Will you begin with a salutation or greeting? Will you ask about their health? Will you follow with a little chit-chat, or small talk? Will you complain about the economy or the Mariners? Well, the Gospel of Mark doesn’t do any of those things (I know, I know, it is not really a letter). The writer of Mark offers no pleasantries. He wastes no time.…
The Promises of God: Proverbs 3:5–6
If you’ve been around awhile you might recall that frequently have told the story of how I came to memorize Proverbs 3:5-6. As I was pledging a college fraternity at Baylor in 1976 one of the members of the fraternity was a Christian and forced me to memorize this verse before he would vote for me to be in the club! It might seem strange to you and not match your view of fraternity life, but I will tell you…
The Promises of God: Matthew 28:19–20
This coming Sunday morning August 18 I am honored to have a relatively new friend with us, Brad Schneeflock. Brad is relatively new to the Northwest as he moved here with his family over a year ago from Arizona to lead a collegiate outreach ministry in the Puget Sound Region. He led a great collegiate ministry outreach in Arizona for years, but now brings his expertise and experience to our area. This is of special interest to us at LifeWay…
History of LifeWay (Part 8)
I am continuing to write out some personal reflections and the missions’ history that my wife and I have experienced over these 4 decades of ministry. Today is part 8 of this story. After the merger of Palisades and Calvary and the significant partnership with Don Turner that I wrote about last week, there were in the days to follow some adjustments for sure. From 2003 at the merger until around 2008/2009 there were some wonderful victories, but we…
When Is It Acceptable To Lie? (Part II)
Read Part I When I think about why the Bible teaches us to always tell the truth, my mind goes to two places. The first place is that our God is a God of truth. He always tells the truth. There is zero untruth in him. Every part of his being is truth. For this reason, we can take it to the bank every word he says in the Bible. It makes no sense for us to say God is…
History of LifeWay (Part 7)
LifeWay Church honored Patty and I this summer for our 40 years of history here. It has inspired me to write out some meaningful moments and people over these four decades. Today I write part 7. Don Turner and the “Merger” that became LifeWay Church: It’s been more than two decades now, but for the most of the early 2000’s here in our church people would often ask about the merger of churches that occurred in the year 2003. Yes,…
When Is It Acceptable To Lie? (Part I)
Parents from hundreds of years ago, and from every part of the planet, knew one thing they must teach to their children. They all knew that teaching their own children to tell the truth, and to always tell the truth, was the right thing to do. Or do you know anyone who taught their children to tell the truth only some of the time? I hope you will say none. No parents bring home their newborn baby from the hospital,…