In his wise providence, the Lord has used Christian authors to be among my good friends and trusted counselors over the years. Most of these authors I have not and will never meet until we get to heaven. But reading them has often been the important conversation that I really need to have at a critical time in my life and ministry. Such is the case with the book that I finished on a plane yesterday: Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor: The Life and Reflections of Tom Carson by D.A. Carson. D.A. Carson's books are often formidable reading. But I...

Summer is a much needed time of rest and relaxation for many people. And this break from the various responsibilities of home, work, or school is a good thing. However, there is no such thing as a vacation, leave-of-absence, or sabbatical from your responsibilities as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Mark 6:31, Jesus told his disciples, "Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while" (ESV).This call also applies to present-day disciples. Even though your life in Christ is supernatural; it's not superhuman. And if you don't ever come apart, you'll fall apart. All...

When I was introduced to the expository method of preaching, I was quickly and totally convinced that it is the most faithful way to preach the word of God. I was also surprised by how novel it was. Not many preachers that I heard were doing expository preaching. Some proudly rejected it. But fast forward a few years. Now, it seems that everyone claims to be an expository preacher. Respectfully, I think so many of us are comfortable calling ourselves expositors because we don't really understand the hard work of Bible exposition - which includes both faithful explanation and clear...

Sorry that I have been missing-in-action over the past several days. I have been hanging out with Crystal. I have been holding my baby daughter. I have been unpacking my books. I have been adjusting to my new office. I have been wrestling through the Sermon on the Mount. I have been doing some pastoral care work. I have been in quite a few meetings. I have been... Well, you get the picture. It was a sweltering, mid-May day here in Los Angeles. I felt like I was going to melt today. I continued our study of the Beatitudes with...

Last week, Bob Franquiz wrote a brief, but insightful post about so-called "deep" and "shallow" preaching. Click here to read it.

Last night we resumed our Tuesday night services. When the church that bought our old building moved in, we switched the time and location for this midweek service. And we started meeting at our new location on Wednesday nights. But we have not met since Easter, as the move has been in full swing since then. So last night, we began again on Tuesday nights. And I picked up my study of Ephesians, which I have been away from since the end of last year. Did you get all of that? Me neither. Bottom-line, we resumed our Tuesday night services...

Baptism and the Lord's Supper are symbols of salvation. No, they cannot produce salvation. We are saved from our sins by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. But baptism and Communion are meaningful illustrations and reminders of how God gives sinners new life in Christ. They are not mere memorials. They are fundamental statements of faith, essential acts of obedience, Christ-ordained expressions of devotion, true acts of fellowship, and biblical elements of worship.Unfortunately, many Christians do not take baptism and the Lord’s Supper seriously. Some churches do not even have Communion. Others share the Lord’s Table infrequently. Still...

Happy Mother's Day!!! I spent most of the weekend setting up my study in our administration building. H.B. and Natalie helped me to put up books Saturday afternoon. Cool. I talked to my mom early this morning. I called her to wish her a happy Mother's Day, and she ordered me to wish the mothers of MSMBC a happy Mother's Day on her behalf, since she could not be here today. I continued my study of the Sermon on the Mount with the second Beatitude (5:4). I called it, simply, "Those Who Mourn." I have only preached a Mother's Day...

As long as Jesus is one of many options, he is no option. As long as you can carry your burdens alone, you don’t need a burden bearer. As long as your situation brings you no grief, you will receive no comfort. And as long as you can take him or leave him, you might as well leave him, because he won’t be taken half-heartedly. – Max Lucado, The Applause of Heaven, p. 56 Here is my sermon skeleton from Sunday's messageTitle: "Those Who Mourn"Text: Matthew 5:4Sermon Series: The Beatitudes: The Life God BlessesTheme: The blessed paradox of godly sorrow.Point:...

There are several books I consult when I am studying Christian worship (besides the Bible, of course). These books have been trusted friends and advisors to me over the years. But when I turned to them to research “praise dancing” or “liturgical dance,” they were silent. I searched the table of contents, skimmed the pages, and scanned the indexes. Nothing. So I Googled the subject. And I found a lot of websites that offer praise-dance training. I also found many links that sell liturgical dancewear. But the few articles my searched produced were not very beneficial. Some dismissed the practice...

"The first of the eight Beatitudes is one of the strongest statements in the Bible of the great doctrine of justification by faith in Jesus Christ alone, for it is a statement of a person's complete inability to please God by any human effort. - James Montgomery Boice, The Sermon on the Mount, p. 23This past Sunday, I began a series on the Sermon on the Mount. I began with the first beatitude. Here is the sermon skeleton from Sunday's message. Title: "The Poor in Spirit"Text: Matthew 5:3 Series: The Beatitudes: The Life God Blesses Theme: The blessed paradox of...

We met at our new location for the first time yesterday. The congregation's joy and enthusiasm was very encouraging. I praise the Lord for all that he is doing in and through Mt. Sinai Church. I am blessed to serve such a wonderful congregation. Thank you to all of you who serve in our church in any way. You are the ones that make it happen! God bless you. I began my series on the Sermon on the Mount. I started with the first beatitude on the poor in spirit (Matt. 5:3). I called it, "The Poor in Spirit." (Sorry,...