Worship Jesus. Serve Jesus. Love others.

Morning Musings

What I’d like to try to do, is after Sunday’s sermon, write down a few different (random) thoughts about a variety of things. My hope is to expand your appreciation for the text & also to give a brief glimpse into the “cutting room floor” of sermon prep.

Family and cross silhouette at sunset.

Abram and Updates on Jacoby

I was provoked by Luis’ treatment of John 8 and the Jewish leaders’ interaction about being Abraham’s people.  It is not those who are physical descendants of Abraham who are his people, but spiritual descendants by faith.  But this also struck me as I raise my family and teach my church.

Revelation and Concern

On Sunday, after the second service, someone approached me and said, “that was the adult lesson for Noah’s Ark.”  I appreciated that.  That’s how I felt.  Sometimes we forget the wonder and awe of stories like Noah’s Ark and the Genesis flood.  There is simplicity and joy in just reading a text as if it’s the first time.

God’s Final Word

When we recognize that Jesus is God’s final revelation about His character and how to be right with Him, we can stop wrestling in our souls. Here’s what I mean: so often, we feel like we need to be in the “center” of God’s will. We need to have some clear, discernible, ‘word’ from God about our lives. And if we don’t, we’re missing out on “God’s best”.

Present Distress

The texts from 1 Corinthians 7 have been incredibly challenging to interpret and then make clear. Much of the dilemma is cultural, but the syntax, grammar, and language also made these sections really hard. So, my prayer is that throughout this chapter, it has been clear and hopefully, encouraging and helpful.

Marriage & Divorce

Marriages that represent Jesus and His church are desperately needed and the Lord has given us everything we need to serve Him faithfully in our marriages: the power to change; the grace to forgive; the church to mentor, counsel, & help; and His word to direct.

Train Yourslef

As I prepared for this week, I was very mindful of so many of the “ironic” cultural moments. I mentioned several of them in the sermon: abortion clinics being open and churches being closed; gathering to worship Jesus is deemed a public hazard, while gathering in a protest is deemed honorable…but to be honest, there’s so many of these ironic issues that it literally makes your head spin.

How Majestic is Your Name – Morning Musing

One of the challenges of doing multiple services is that it really doesn’t matter what you try, no 2 services are the same.  One feel rushed, the other feels too slow.  One feels forced, the other feels free-flowing.  One feels like there’s a time crunch, the other feels like there’s no clock.  However, this past Sunday was different…both services were the same.  They had the same pacing,…

A Contrite Heart – Morning Musings

This past Sunday was a unique one for me.  I was able to take the Sunday off, be a church member, and sit with my family.  It was amazing.  I really enjoyed being part of the crowd and not having any responsibilities, except to fellowship, sing, pray, listen and heed God’s word being preached, and pray for all involved.  It really was a joy.  Sitting with my…

Bought With A Price – Morning Musings

Well, Sunday with 90/service went off without a hitch.  Amazing Sunday!  I’m very grateful for the way you have navigated through this season.  CLF, you continue to amaze me with your gratitude, generosity, and eagerness.  Thank you.   Here are several things from Sunday’s sermon that I didn’t cover: Christian Freedoms with food/drink: One of the issues in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 that we didn’t cover was how…

Dealing with a Christian’s Sin

There’s quite a bit that I want to say about Sunday’s sermon, so let’s just get right to it.   Sunday’s sermon: Let’s start with things that need some clarification: In one point of my sermon, I mentioned that some believe this COVID-19 thing is a hoax.  That needs to be cleaned up a bit.  Here’s my concern and here’s what I meant to say…regardless…

Remove This One – Morning Musings

Sunday’s sermon was challenging on a few levels.  One, the text was challenging.  Two, not having people in the building to look at, to insure that the concepts were coming across clearly, was challenging.  Three, there is so much more to say on this text.  So, what I hope to do in this edition of ‘musings’ is to explain a little more.    Sunday’s sermon: One…

Acting Human – Morning Musings

There are times when I feel my weakness while preaching more than others.  Sunday was one of those and these are days that are like milestones or stand out days that remind me of God’s faithfulness to His people, over and over.  There were a couple of reasons for this:  1)  This was the longest manuscript I had taken to the pulpit in quite a long…

Much To Be Thankful For – Morning Musings

Sunday’s text is one of my favorites because of the leadership lessons it’s taught me through the years.  Further, it’s one of my favorites because of how much God and Jesus are mentioned, with regards to the Corinthian church’s gifts and abilities.  Studying that text and then teaching on it, was a lot of fun.  Convicting, challenging, and enjoyable.   From the cutting room floor:  For…

Shadows & Substance – Morning Musings

There are times when writing a sermon that questions pop up in my mind that I feel the urgency to answer.  Many times those questions are for me, personally.  But there are times when the questions I’m wrestling with are ones that the church needs answered as well.  Such was the case in Sunday’s sermon on Colossians 2:16-23.  The question that has been lingering in my…

Delivered & Transferred – Morning Musings

This past week, I had more extra-local phone calls that normal, but I thought one call would be one that you’d enjoy hearing about.  About once/month, I get to talk with Luis Castellanos, pastor at Taproot Church in Burien, WA.  Most of you know Luis, but for those that don’t:  Luis faithfully served at CLF for about 5 years as our administrator and youth pastor.  He…

Content In All Things – Morning Musings

From the amount of texts that I’ve received about yesterday’s sermon, it seems that it hit a chord with many of you.  I’m really glad to hear the encouragement, as well as the ways the Lord used the sermon to challenge you.  It’s another reason why I’m grateful for God’s work at CLF.  You are very sensitive to the Lord’s work and you’re passionate to…

Anxiety & Rest – Morning Musings

There are many things about Bill Heard that have amazed me through the years and one of them was on display as he preached.  Here’s a guy who has literally spent thousands of hours reading/studying God’s word.  He’s literally studied Philippians 4:1-9 more than anyone I know and has used that text in counseling people for years.  And yet…when it came time for him to…

Strained – Morning Musings

There are so many moments in public speaking that you just have no idea what happened.  One of those happened Sunday, when my voice began to leave me, during a section where I was straining my voice, and voila…sounded like I was going through puberty again.  All I can do in those moments is: 1) laugh at myself…believe me, I’ve done far more weird…

Boasting in Christ – Morning Musings

One challenge of preaching from texts like Philippians 3:1-11, is that it is so familiar to most, that it’s hard to look at it with a “fresh set of eyes.”  This text is by far my favorite in Philippians and it’s been one of those life-altering texts for me through the years.  I am grateful that the Lord gave us this passage, to look…

Honor – Morning Musings

Thoughts on Sunday’s sermon: Over the course of last week, our discussion around Sunday was how to handle a text like Philippians 2:19-30, which doesn’t seem to afford a ton of explanation (because it’s pretty clear) and it’s mainly about 2 guys:  Timothy and Epaphroditus.  My thought heading into this text was to look at the overall narrative of Philippians and also to see…

True Humility – Morning Musings

About the sermon: There are times when the Lord uses a particular text to preach to me.  For some reason, since we’ve been in Philippians, it has felt like the Lord has been preaching to me more than normal.  This past Sunday was no exception.  I received some unexpected news last weekend and the thought of counting others more significant than myself and looking out…

To Live – Morning Musings

This past week, as I was thinking through various things (kids starting school, the blitz of a summer, leadership meeting, Sunday gathering, Sovereign Grace Council of Elders, etc.), I was reminded of Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 4:7 when he wrote, “What do you have that you have not received?” A phrase like this causes you to pause of a moment and…

Walk in Love – Morning Musings

One of the challenges of preaching a text like Ephesians 5:1-14 is how straight-forward it is.  There is really no wiggle room and there is very little elaboration from Paul.  On the flip side, it’s a challenge because the text is so straight forward, there’s not a lot of examples that have to be given for explanation.  Some have asked me if it’s hard on…

The Way You Learned Jesus – Morning Musings

It’s always interesting to me the way that things ‘go’ during a sermon that I didn’t necessary expect.  For one, I was really uncertain how to close the sermon yesterday.  I had a few thoughts written down but nothing seemed to settle in my mind about it.  Then, when I was working through the prep all week, the sermon never seemed as somber as it…

Equipped for Service – Morning Musings

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned a sermon by Thomas Chalmers. I couldn’t remember the name of the sermon, until…the moment I walked off the stage:).  This sermon is about how a growing affection for Jesus, will expel sin from our hearts.  This is a sermon that’s great for people like us….who’s hearts are “a factory of idols.”  Here’s the link that will lead…

Morning Musings – May 15

It is so good to be back home in my home church. The Philippines trip was a good one and in the very near future, I will send out a report about that trip.  But it’s always good to be home.  I missed my family, dearly.  And I missed you.  There is nothing like worshipping Jesus with the church I love the most on earth.   Now,…

Morning Musings – Apr. 15

The tension in the room was palpable when I read through Ephesians 1:1-10 on Sunday.  I always find it interesting, when God’s word is read to a congregation, to “feel” the “gasps” or the “anticipation” about what is in the text.  Many people told me after Sunday…”I was wondering where you were going with that text!”  My sincerest hope on Sunday was for us to…

Morning Musing -Apr. 9

I was asked this question after church yesterday and I thought it would be a good way to start: “how do I boast in Christ, when I’ve got to bid on jobs and try to sell what my company does?” That’s a fantastic question. Here was my answer: boasting in Christ does not mean, “let go and let God”. Nor is it…

Morning Musing – Mar. 26

Let’s start this edition of musings off with a minor correction from Sunday (some of you might think this is major)…I know that I misstated which superhero tossed Loki around and called him “puny god”…it was Hulk…I had it written in my notes correctly, but got so excited that I said it was Thor who did that…oops…and yes, you know you’re a…

Morning Musings – Mar. 18

My daughter, Abi, who’s one of our most direct, honest communicators, said to me last night…”Dad, I have to admit, I can never tell a difference between your inside voice and your outside voice.”  My voice isn’t in “mid-season form” yet, as one of my coaches recently told me and luckily the Lord kept me from sounding like I had gone back to…

Morning Musings – Mar. 14

Well, two weeks in a row now, we have hit on topics in Galatians 4 that have inspired me and challenged me.  These texts really get my emotions flowing because of their content and depth.  Galatians 4:21-31 is definitely one of the most challenging texts to preach on and one of the most challenging to understand.  My prayer is that I was able to preach…

Morning Musings – Mar. 5

There are many passages of Scripture that are difficult to preach from because of interpretation challenges. Then there are passages that are hard to preach from because of the emotions those texts bring.  Our text from Sunday was one of those.  The reason this text had so many emotions in it is because of the pastoral emotions that Paul mentions.  As a pastor, I can…

Morning Musings – Feb. 27

On Saturday afternoon, prior to the Marriage Banquet, I texted the elders this:   “Hey guys, as you know Galatians 4:1-7 is one of the most dense, glorious texts on redemption in Paul’s writings. Would you pray for 2 things: 1) that I could do this text the justice it deserves. God has been really kind in my prep this week & my…

Morning Musings – Feb. 21

I’m still laughing this morning at one of the weirdest moments in preaching that happened yesterday in my 29 years of preaching…I forgot what I was talking about in the middle of my sermon! Those of you who know me best, were giving me that “you’ve literally just lost your mind” look.  It was so fun…and scary at the same time.  Weird.  I’m glad I got…

Morning Musings – Feb. 4

I received this fitting text from Bruce Wells, one of our faithful members, on Monday: Run John, run the law commands; But gives you neither feet nor hands.Far better news the gospel brings.It bids you fly and gives you wings” -John Bunyan What a fitting way to describe Sunday’s sermon. I love it when our people send those kinds of texts my way.…

Morning Musings – Jan. 29

One of the things about writing a weekly blog post that has been tough for me is getting it into my weekly routine. If I don’t do this thing on Mondays, more than likely it’s not going to get done. And Mondays are normally a short work day because I try to take at least 1/2 of the day for time off.…

Morning Musings – Jan. 14

Straight gospel…that’s the way I would describe the last two weeks of sermons. It’s fascinating because often as a preacher, I find this temptation to make the gospel “more exhilarating” or “more interesting”…and then I think about that again…slowly…and I realize how dumb that is. The gospel is “the power of God for salvation”. It’s the dynamite of God. It hits the…

Morning Musings – Jan. 7

Yesterday morning, as I prayed for our Sunday gathering, I was overwhelmed with gratitude as I thought about all the servants at CLF.  The joy that our people take in serving each other and making Sundays happen so that we can gather to worship Jesus together is simply remarkable to me.  As I quoted to the church on Sunday from Philippians 1, the people…

Morning Musings- Jan. 4

Well, last Sunday we finished up our Esther series.  With the holiday this week, I gladly took a couple of days off and so I’m a tad behind in my writing musings.  So, maybe this week’s addition should be Weekend Wonderings (or Wanderings, depending on where I end up).  So here it goes: From the cutting room floor: One of the things that really stood…

Morning Musings – Dec. 24

Preaching from narratives are a lot of fun for me. One of my favorite series that we’ve done at CLF was our series through Judges. I loved it because of all the strange characters, twists and turns, and seeing God’s hand in all of it. That’s why I have loved preaching through Esther. The genius of the book is that God’s name…

Morning Musings – Dec. 18

Often in my sermon prep, I come to the end of each week and I think, “I have no idea how the Lord is going to use this awful manuscript.” There are very few times when I finish writing that I am completely at rest about what I wrote and what I think the Lord wants me to say to our church.…

Monday Morning Musings (Tuesday Edition)

Personal thoughts: The last couple of weeks have had all sorts of emotions for me. As most of you know, my dad passed away on December 1. This was not necessarily unexpected, but his Parkinson’s did hit him harder in the last 9 months than anytime in the previous 3 years. It was so good to be in Texas with my family…

Esther 4 – Monday Morning Musings

Here are some random thoughts from this past week & Sunday, in particular.  Hope you enjoy! With a heavy heart Many of you have asked how my dad is doing.  Well, today I received word that Parkinson’s is in its final stages with my dad.  He’s no longer swallowing and hospice has been called in.  It’s with a heavy heart that I…

Monday Morning Musings – After the Retreat

Hey CLF, This edition of musings is a bit different. Since I didn’t preach yesterday, I thought I’d just shoot some random thoughts your direction. I hope this is fun for you. It’s been helpful to me to get a few thoughts off my mind. Where were you guys? This past weekend (Wednesday-Sunday) our elders and wives were gone to Brookings for…

Monday Morning Musings – Esther 2:1-18

Here are some rambling thoughts from Sunday’s sermon (and really from the weekend)… Men’s Breakfast I am still thinking about the thought provoking time from our men’s breakfast on Saturday when James Ellis, Todd Crouse and Mike Keller shared. The highlights for me were that these guys are dear friends who are trying to live their lives for Jesus as best as…

Esther 1

Monday Morning Musings What I’d like to try to do, is after Sunday’s sermon, write down a few different (random) thoughts about a variety of things. My hope is to expand your appreciation for the text & also to give a brief glimpse into the “cutting room floor” of sermon prep. So, let me start…

SIGN UP NOW!

YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS OUT ON THE FELLOWSHIP.

REGISTER BY CLICKING HERE

SIGN UP NOW!

YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS OUT ON THE FELLOWSHIP.

REGISTER BY CLICKING HERE