Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the ri...

A couple weeks ago, my wife and I went out to eat on a date. On a whim, we decided to go see a movie as well. Just like that. No preparation, we just decided and went. The lack of preparation had absolutely no bearing on how much we enjoyed the movie. After all, we just wanted to be entertained. Unfortunately, we can often approach the Sunday meeting in a similar way....

In this season of True Life Church, we are regularly (at least 4 time per year) offering folks the chance to be baptized in front of the rest of the church - either during a Sunday service or at a summer pool party. The below excerpts from another church's blog are a great reminder of how powerful a public baptism can be for those watching. November 14, 2014 W...

November 26, 2014 The below was written by Mandy to the worship team in an email. She graciously allowed us to post it on the blog as an encouragement for everyone. ____ Hey everyone! Hope your week is coming along awesome! :) I have the whole week off from work, so I am enjoying some wonderful rest :) Here comes that busy time of year... Thanksgiving is only a couple ...

In the wake of the shootings at Umpqua Community College in Oregon yesterday, we all know that we should pray. We just struggle to know what exactly to pray for. I mean, as I think about the parents who must have stayed up all night weeping for the loss of their children, prayer doesn't seem all that helpful. Nevertheless, here are some thoughts: We should pray for...

The most dangerous thing about tomorrow is the temptation to forget God, to live and talk and act as if God doesn't exist. It's the greatest danger any day: to live our daily lives our daily habits, daily work, daily relationships overestimating ourselves and overlooking God. We know God exists, but we just lose track of him sometimes for a day, or a month, or longer...

December 09, 2014 Innumerable Christmas devotionals point out the humble circumstances of Jesus' birthamong shepherds, in a crude stable, with a feed trough for a bassinet. When Jesus himself tried to summarize why people should take up the yoke of following him, he said it was because he was meek and humble (Matt. 11:29). Seldom, however, do we explore the full implicati...

December 12, 2014 Then Pilate said to him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the worldto bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice." John 18:37 This is a great Christmas text even though it comes from the end of Jesus's life on earth, not the ...

Feburary 26, 2015 This past week in our series on Philippians we looked at verses 1-16 in chapter 2 we talked about finding Joy through humility. I just had a follow-up thought about the relationship between having humility before God and having humility before other people. It can often appear like we have one while lacking the other, but really I believe they go hand ...

Feb 13, 2015 One of our 7 Big Prayers for 2015 is as follows: "That God would give us love for those whose sins offend us.and also the boldness to have awkward conversations to help each other grow." I've been praying this one a lot lately - particularly the 2nd part of it -- because I've been hearing about the need for quite a bit of these awkward conversations to be in...