“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” -Mark Twain … More Quotables: Mark Twain on the Right Words
Are our hearts open and receptive to God? Jonnie explores this question in the Gospel of Mark. … More WATCH: Postures of the Heart (Jonnie)
Her life was forever changed the night the Living Waters came looking for her in a lonely laundromat on the wrong side of the tracks in the pouring rain at midnight. … More The Woman at the Laundromat
Pastor Bill Johnson gives a fresh take on Jesus’ confrontation with the man with an evil spirit in Mark 1:21-28. … More WATCH: Jesus Induced Panic Attack
In this MainStreet Soul Care Seminar, Pastor Bill Johnson helps us learn how to “take our thoughts captive” using the skills of Cognitive Behavior Therapy and 11 common “Cognitive Distortions” we all struggle with. Watch, grow, and share!
I’m in the final laps of my doctoral dissertation. Here’s a piece I wrote along the way reflecting on Fred Rogers in relation to my thesis on recovering wisdom culture and the place of the “sage” in ministry today. … More Mister Rogers Among the Sages
God’s Word to us doesn’t always have shiny wrapping and a big red bow attached. God’s Word isn’t always warm and fuzzy. God’s Word sometimes needs to hit us like a ton of bricks. When we open our Bibles we stumble into an old library full of stories of holy confrontations and sacred summons. … More The Word is Dynamite
In this clip, Jeremy offers 3 postures Christians can have toward the culture, and 3 ways of engaging people we disagree with, urging us to resist the first two and embrace the third. … More WATCH: 3 Postures Toward Culture & Disagreement
Jesus invites us into his boat, and sends us onto the seas of culture to be wise and winsome, gathering others into his boat. In this message, Jeremy offers 3 different postures Christians can have toward the culture (Reflect, Reject, or Redeem), urging us to resist the first two and embrace the third. … More WATCH: Sailing the Cultural Seas with Jesus
In the year 44 BC, Cicero was in his sixties — an old man by Roman standards — living on his farm outside of Rome removed from political power by the dictatorship of Julius Caesar. He turned to writing to ease the pain of exile and the recent loss of his beloved daughter. Among these works was a short essay on friendship dedicated to Atticus. … More Cicero on How To Be A Friend
In the midst of all the “alternative facts” and “fake news” and outrageous conspiracy theories being proffered, I wanted to cut through all the crap and simplify things for those who claim to follow Jesus. … More Truth is a Slippery Thing
While 2020 has been declared the “lost year,” the worst thing of all is to feel like you’ve lost sight of God or that God has lost touch with you. Pastor Mike has good news for us from Psalm 139. … More WATCH: The Inescapable God
Awhile back I shared my kids’ custom bedtime prayers about dinosaurs roaring and monsters tickling feet. We grown-ups are watching living monsters lurk and nightmare scenarios discussed on the nightly news. Here’s my bedtime prayer. … More My Bedtime Prayer These Days
I found some timely insights into our current political climate in Letter 7 of The Screwtape Letters, a fictional correspondence between a senior level Demon (Uncle Screwtape) and his lower-level demon in training (Wormwood). C.S. Lewis wrote these in Great Britain during or just following World War II. … More Uncle Screwtape on Political Extremism
by Matt Erickson Let us join together in praying this prayer today. Lord, we lament the state of our nation.Lord, we lament the divisions between us as people in our nation that we cannot seem to resolve. Lord, we lament the pain, confusion, hatred, and violence that seems to reign in our personal and national … More A Prayer for Our Nation
In light of the past week, and the uncertain days ahead, where do we go from here? Matt Erickson offers some wise words. … More Where do we Go from Here?
Dear Church, It pains and sickens me to post this photo, but this is where we find our nation at this moment. The worst part of Wednesday, in my opinion, was all the people carrying Jesus signs and crosses and dragging Jesus’ name into this display of hatred and evil. Last Wednesday morning, I headed … More Correct, Rebuke and Encourage
This week we observe Epiphany and commemorate the Baptism of the Lord with a message on the song God placed in our heart at our own baptism, and the need for “godparent” figures in our lives (friends, mentors, pastors, parents) who will remind us of the song when we forget or lose our way. … More WATCH: God’s Song in Your Heart
The story of the wise men on camels bringing their gifts is intertwined with the story of an insecure, paranoid, narcissistic tyrant orchestrating terror and chaos from his palatial office. Listen to the familiar story again, this time with your eyes glued on the pathetic sociopath spinning lies and plotting peril in the Christmas story. … More Tyranny & the Wise Way Out
When radicalized Trump supporters, incited by the Presidents ongoing lies and toxic twitter, stormed the capitol yesterday and desecrated the temple of our democracy, many churches called an emergency prayer meeting last night. We called a parking lot prayer meeting as well, and I issued a pastoral letter in response to the day’s disturbing events. … More Trumpism and the Failure of Discipleship
Today we are watching our nation’s Capitol, the great symbol and center of our democracy, be stormed by protestors, while our Congressional leaders hide behind locked doors, and the sitting president hides behind his twitter account. These are unnerving sights to behold and a frightening moment for our democracy. As Christians, what are we to … More A Call to Prayer & Repentance for the Soul of our Nation
This weekend I stumbled upon a fun faith-building project as I sat down with each kid and wrote a custom bedtime prayer together. Check it out! … More Homemade Bedtime Prayers
Psalm 147:12-20 invites us to sing a new song in 2021 celebrating God’s protection, God’s peace, God’s provision, God’s presence and God’s promises to pave our paths in the New Year. … More WATCH: Sermon: New Year, New Song
If you’re like me, this New Year’s Eve you can’t decide if you feel like singing for joy as we put 2020 in the rearview, or whether you feel like crying alone in a corner, sucking your thumb, and loading up on comfort food to numb the pain and trauma of 2020. The wisdom of the Scriptures would suggest we probably need to sing most when we mostly feel like crying. … More A New Year, A New Song
Tonight we watch the clock tick-tock until we turn, turn, turn the page to a New Year and lay to rest a difficult one! I was inspired to adapt Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 made memorable by the 60’s hippy band “The Byrds.” Here’s my remix for Kingdom disciples. … More ‘Turn, Turn, Turn’ – A Kingdom Remix
Kingdom Harbor 