June 10, 2019
Gospel Rooted | Day by Day
MONDAY Who is God? God is a Good Shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads…
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June 3, 2019
Gospel Rooted | Day by Day
MONDAY Who is God? God is gracious. The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God…
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May 30, 2019
How Do I Grieve?
This post is a part of a two-part series on Grief and the Gospel. In case you'd like to go back, here's part one: Not Alone in Our Grief. Evidently, it matters how we grieve. Paul mentions a godly grief…
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May 27, 2019
Gospel Rooted | Day by Day
MONDAY Who is God? God is light. Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” - John 8:12 …
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May 23, 2019
Not Alone in Our Grief
A Gospel Guide Our theology does more than an adequate job of explaining the reality of the broken world in which we find ourselves. We know that God didn’t design the world to work this way, that sin has devastated…
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May 20, 2019
Gospel Rooted | Day by Day
MONDAY Who is God? God is our perfect Father. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we…
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May 13, 2019
Gospel Rooted | Day by Day
MONDAY Who is God? Jesus is the way, truth, and life. “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have…
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May 9, 2019
Preaching the Gospel to One Another
Regular encouragement from our brothers and sister is a vital weapon against the onslaught of lies and unbelief with which we are assaulted. A Timely Question in a Tough Moment I can’t remember exactly why I was so angry, but I…
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May 6, 2019
Gospel Rooted | Day by Day
MONDAY Who is God? God is holy. Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the…
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April 29, 2019
Gospel Rooted | Day by Day
MONDAY Who is God? God is love. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God,…
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April 22, 2019
Gospel Rooted | Day by Day
We want to grow in gospel fluency and have it deeply planted into our thoughts, words, and actions. Where do we start? God Himself; growing in our intimacy with Him, letting the roots of His love grow deeper and deeper…
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March 19, 2019
Power for Salvation
When people say they are saved, what do they mean? Think of this blog post as a vocabulary lesson. To become fluent in any language, you must develop your vocabulary. So let’s delve into the aspects of the gospel…
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January 15, 2019
He is Always Calling Us Back
Read Part One Here. In no way is this meant to be a voice of condemnation, for I am the worst of us! However, I have personally come to a place of seeing my deep need for Jesus through…
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January 8, 2019
Enduring Trials Well
Measuring Suffering The aching desire for a spouse, the pain of losing a friend, the uncertainty of finding a job...these things all produce pain. Why is it, though, that we tend to compare our suffering to the next person,…
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December 25, 2018
Arrival of Enough
A few years ago, I ran a 5K on Thanksgiving with my whole family - three kids and two strollers. As we crossed the finish line the announcer said, “Welcome the stroller team!” The race was through the…
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December 24, 2018
Gospel Feast
Our Advent traditions have become numerous: we cut down our tree at the Beck family farm in the shadow of Mt. Hood; we make cinnamon rolls for our neighbors; we go ice skating at the mall; I take…
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December 23, 2018
Lasting Redeeming Love
On these last days of Advent, we turn our gaze to the love embodied in the crib. The incarnation carries into our world not just hope, peace, and joy, but Christ brings with Him a love of…
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December 22, 2018
Loved from the Beginning
One of my favorite Christmas memories came five years ago when Mirela told me she was pregnant with our second child. I was overjoyed, amazed, and humbled. When that daughter was born we named her “Maitê,” which means…
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December 21, 2018
Future Victory and Present Joy
We find ourselves between two arrivals - the first in Jesus in Bethlehem and the second as He comes again. We stand between resurrection and restoration. That’s precisely why this season is so important; it locates our hope,…
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December 20, 2018
The True Light
I haven’t found a suburban light show, a boat parade light show, or the lights in a fancy mall in Los Angeles to compare the Christmas lights of Lisbon, Portugal. My home city truly rises to the occasion…
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December 19, 2018
Emmanuel
Christmas is one of those strange times you sing a lot. It’s also a time when you oddly sing words in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and all sorts of languages. A favorite, I think, is the song “O Come,…
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December 18, 2018
From Jaded to Jeweled
A guy who has hung around on the outskirts of our missional community sent a message asking for gas money this week. He said he missed us, but he has been going to another local church. My gut reaction…
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December 18, 2018
Good Times Have Come, So Go Tell it On the Mountain
We tell the stories that matter most to us and our world. The stories you tell at parties, over dinner, and even in small talk have two overlapping qualities: you like them and you think the people around…
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December 17, 2018
Joy to the World, Good News!
I’ll never forget where I was when I first heard the news: LeBron James was coming to Los Angeles to play for our Lakers. King James was going to come! After years of trying to read between…
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December 16, 2018
The Meaning of Joy
This Advent season has been a delight for me as we’ve walked through hope and peace. Now we turn our gaze toward joy. Our modern dictionaries define joy as a feeling of great happiness. It’s essentially pleasure plus,…
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December 15, 2018
When the Soul Feels Its Worth
This past week, each reflection has focused on the theme of Peace and the Kingdom Jesus’ birth brings. It all seems so wonderful. The birth of the saving king, so glorious. The highest glory has come to us!…
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December 14, 2018
The End of War — Healing of the Nations
My favorite Christmas movie is Joyeux Noel. It tells the true story of a Christmas Day Truce in the trenches of World War I between the Germans, French, and British. The cost of World War I was a…
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December 13, 2018
We’ve Been Brought Near
We all have a complicated relationship with the Church. It’s a ruckus communion of saints. It’s for many a place of quarreling, a place of scheming, a place of power, and even for those same people, a place…
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December 12, 2018
The Kingdom that Divides
Growing up, my family spent each night of the holidays sitting beneath the glow of the Christmas tree and watching Christmas movies. We watched the original Miracle on 34th Street and the “new” Miracle on 34th Street (which…
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December 11, 2018
How the Long Expected Jesus Came
How does the king come? We know He comes to change the world. We know He was born into our world. But how does Jesus come? What is the manner, the posture, the practice of Jesus’ incarnation? Returning to…
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December 10, 2018
A Child and Big Government
Wherever he reigns, His thriving and flourishing will be there, too! His law is peace. On May 19, 2018, Prince Harry of England married Meghan Markle in Windsor, England. The event was marked by the usual fanfare of such…
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December 9, 2018
Peace on Earth
At the center of the angel’s announcement on the first Christmas night is this phrase found in Luke 2:14; it’s what Linus quotes at the end of A Charlie Brown Christmas: “Glory to God in the Highest, and peace…
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December 8, 2018
Mourning with Hope in a Tragic World
Christmas can be a time of lights, trees, parties, and decadent food, but it is definitely a season of grief and sadness. For some, it’s the grief of a lost childhood; the holidays remind us of all the…
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December 7, 2018
A Humble Baby?
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” Therefore Israel…
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December 6, 2018
Responding to the King’s Arrival
Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” Behold,…
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December 5, 2018
Life from a Stump
As I mentioned previously, our family always cuts down a Christmas tree. Each year, we leave a stump in the ground—something that was once growing is now dead. Stumps in Oregon are a part of life. In fact…
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