I have been studying through the book of Isaiah recently, and in chapter 50:4-9 is the third of four “Servant Songs” that specifically refer to the Messiah. All of these verses struck me as profound in different ways, but I simply want to direct our attention to verse 4: “The Lord God has given me…

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.Matthew 6:21 One thing God has been teaching me recently is the value of slowing down. Resisting the busy, hustle-and-bustle of life. Putting up safeguards against a frenzied, frantic lifestyle that is summarized by the word hurry. When I look at the life of Jesus, I…

I have recently begun working on my Doctorate of Ministry in Disciple-Making, and one of the first things I have been learning is that the call to ministry is a dangerous calling. It is dangerous because we are not only fighting the spiritual battle against sin around us (in the culture, in the lives of…

Heart of the Staff April, 2023 I recently went to a missions conference that challenged my perspective of missions, and in a broader way our church’s perspective of missions. When we think about missions, one of the first things that comes to mind is the great commission given to us by Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20.…

HEART OF THE STAFF October 15, 2022 I’ve recently been reading through 2 Chronicles and was impacted by the life of a priest named Jehoiada. When we are introduced to him at the beginning of chapter 23, an evil woman named Athaliah is reigning over the southern kingdom of Judah. Jehoiada takes courage and leads…

I was reading in 1 Samuel 12 the other day and came across this passage: And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” And Samuel said…

Our youth are currently working through the book of Daniel together on Wednesday nights, and this is one book I continually find myself coming back to time and time again because of the uniqueness of this book, but also the plethora of valuable lessons we can take from this book. One that has recently stood…

As I am preparing for our upcoming youth camp in which we look at the beauty of the upside-down kingdom that Jesus presents, I am drawn to the passage in Matthew 21:1-11 where we see this picture of Jesus entering the city of Jerusalem. Many bibles label this section of scripture as “The Triumphal Entry”,…

In the garden of Eden there are two trees that stand out in the midst of all the other trees, two trees that have special significance: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the tree of life. Our college group has been doing a study on these trees and their significance throughout…

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” Psalm 133:1 While I was in seminary at The Southern Baptist Theological Institute, I had the opportunity to serve over in Portugal for 4 months with the IMB through a program called “Hands On”. This program was designed to give college-aged students an…