It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out. Proverbs 25:2 Back in the early 90’s, I was a new Christian. I read all the theology books I could get my hands on and listened to a ton of sermons on cassette tapes while driving up and down I-75 between Tennessee and Georgia. During that time, one of my friends turned me on to a guy named Tim Keller, who was starting a new church called Redeemer in New York City. He had me at “Hello”. Not only did I love Keller’s preaching, but I also ...

Loneliness needs to be considered a justice issue. Let me clarify a few things. As Psychologist Keith Sonnanburg points out, being alone and being lonely are not the same thing. Seattle is filled with people who chose the former and are quite content; whereas loneliness is a sense of disconnection, a lack of genuine community. Loneliness knows no bounds. It affects those who are married, single, rich, poor, male and female. In the depths of loneliness, we desperately long to be known by someone and to know them. Why is loneliness a justice ...

Last week, Linn and I spent several days at Spanish River Church in Boca Raton, Florida. Spanish River Church has a long history of being very generous and mission-minded. Over the past 30 years, they have given away over ten million dollars to see the gospel spread all over the world. Their generosity has also impacted us personally. The last three churches Linn and I have been a part of—Grace Church Seattle, City Church of San Francisco, and Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City—have all been started through the generosity of ...

This Eastertide, our congregation is focusing on the mission that Jesus has given the church. As N.T. Wright so aptly put it, the task of the church is to “plant the flags of resurrection—new life, new communities, new churches, new faith, new hope, new practical love—in amongst the tired slogans of idolatrous modernity and destructive postmodernity.” So here’s the question: How do we know when we’re doing a good job? How can an individual Christian or a congregation figure out if they are succeeding at the task God has given ...

So, is it? Is Facebook making us lonely? That’s the question Stephen Marche sought to answer in his conversation-generating article published by The Atlantic. Noting the fact that we are more networked but also more lonely than ever, Marche seeks to understand how social media is affecting our relationships. Our experience of loneliness has reached epidemic proportions. As a pastor, I hear more people say they struggle with loneliness than anything else. It is by far the biggest struggle in our community and, in my opinion, in Seattle. We ...

I closed my Easter sermon with a quote from NT Wright about the significance of the resurrection. Here is an extended excerpt from an another really great article he wrote several years ago. The message of the Resurrection is that this present world matters; that the problems and pains of this present world matter; that the living God has made a decisive bridgehead into this present world with his healing and all-conquering love; and that, in the name of this strong love, all the evils, all the injustices, and all the pains of the present ...

Did Jesus really die on the cross? It’s an important question. If Jesus didn’t die on the cross then he didn’t resurrect from the grave. And if Jesus didn’t resurrect from the grave, there is no sacrificial death that ends in victory. No forgiveness. No atonement. Nothing. As Paul said, if Jesus has not been raised, our faith is futile and we are still in our sins. So, did Jesus really die on the cross? According to Jewish custom, a hanged criminal was cursed by God and, therefore, should not remain hanging overnight lest he ...

One of the great things about the Bible is that it shows us many of the failures of God's people. In the pages of Scripture, we get to see Moses' sinful anger, Abraham's failure to protect Sarah (twice!), Peter's denial of Jesus, and David's abuse of power, just to name a few. This is encouraging because we know we are far from perfect. Seeing story after story of God's imperfect people inspires us to believe that God could use us in the world, even with our significant sins and struggles. But there is a danger here we must recognize. Very ...

It was Tuesday, late afternoon. I had just come back from a meeting and I was walking to my office to “do some pastoring” when I was told that our Internet was down. What? The Internet, down? How can I pastor without the Internet? I sat in my chair and felt helpless. I really needed to send some emails. My Inbox was like an untended garden and needed some love. But, of course, I couldn’t do what I needed to do. So, I considered some options. Maybe I should read the Bible. That’s always a good idea but wait, can’t. My Bible is ...

God uses the regular practices and habits of our lives to change us. Some of our life habits and patterns are so deeply intertwined with our identity that it is more helpful to see them as liturgies. For our purposes, I want to define liturgy as a set of deeply formative practices that mold and shape us. In other words, the liturgies of our lives are things that do not leave us unchanged. We see this fairly clearly with the liturgy we use in our Sunday worship. Each week, we engage in a collection of regular practices like confessing our ...

Living in Seattle, it’s hard to ignore the problem of homelessness. On January 27, 2012, approximately 2,600[1] people were sleeping outside in King County, ranking Seattle’s metro area as 6th in the nation in homeless population. Driving, walking, or out for jog, you will see the effects of this societal problem. Though it’s hard to ignore the problem of homelessness, we find a way. Some of us ignore it because we don’t know how to respond or because we are apathetic. Whether we are overwhelmed by the complicated nature and bigness ...

Like many of you, I am not satisfied with my prayer life. It’s not just that I don’t pray as much as I think I should. This is undoubtedly true. I also I don’t pray as much as I would like. I want to pray more, but often have trouble knowing where to start. So a couple of weeks ago I picked up Jerram Barrs’ book on prayer called The Heart of Prayer—What Jesus Teaches Us. For a long time, I have valued Jerram’s teaching because it is straightforward, clear and faithful to Scripture. This book is no exception. I have also found ...

When you think of what the Church is and what it should aspire to be, what image comes to mind? A fortress? In the midst of a hostile environment, the church should be a place were people feel safe. Certainly, it should protect its occupants from harm. Jesus taught us to pray, “Protect us from evil” and it seems that the church can and should respond to this prayer. How about a hospital? Jesus said that he didn’t come for the righteous but for the sick. The church should not expect to be a group of moral, intellectual, or social rock ...

I agree with Oscar Wilde when he said that a sentimentalist is “one who desires to have the luxury of an emotion without paying for it.” I think this is particularly true of love. Whether you consider love a decision or an emotion or a mixture of both, we cannot truly offer and experience it without cost. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” To truly love feels like death. Sentimentality is self-centered whereas love is other-centered. Sentimentality only receives whereas ...

One of the driving forces in Seattle is the desire to not “sell out”. Different cities have different strengths and weaknesses. In my opinion, one of the strengths of Seattle is its ability to question certain cultural norms like success, consumption and climbing the company ladder. This is a good and healthy kind of questioning, because it is indeed possible to sell out. Jesus said quite famously, “For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself.” I think it is a manifestation of God’s ...

Lent is about so many things. It’s about seeing God’s love afresh. It’s about coming to terms with your own mortality. It’s about implementing certain practices and habits that will in turn clear our vision to better see and experience the Gospel. Lent is about so many things. I was reminded at our Ash Wednesday’s service last night that Lent is also about mission. In fact, one might say Lent is all about mission. For years, I’ve taken a Jesus n’ me, pietistic view of Lent. It is the time of the year that I intentionally put ...

Ash Wednesday Service | February 22, 7pm | 1300 E Aloha St. Come join us in observing the beginning of the Lenten season (Childcare available through age 5) Ash Wednesday—the beginning of the season of Lent—is all about authenticity. Traditionally, Christians have allowed ashes to be spread upon their foreheads on Ash Wednesday. What results is an absurd looking community of people all with dark smudges on their faces. What is the point? (Note: Anyone who is uncomfortable with this practice can freely choose not to participate in this ...

On Sunday, Grace hosted a panel discussion on justice. Five individuals, who love and pursue justice in a variety of areas, talked about their motivation to serve, the difference between doing Gospel-centered justice and social activism, and the Church’s failings. Though there was so much to consider, one point stood out. It is clear that God of the Bible is a God of justice. He loves justice and he wants his people to do the same. Our love is not abstract but practical, moving us to action. As His image bearers, we are to cultivate eyes ...

The church can easily make an idol out of marriage. As Tim Keller helpfully puts it, idolatry happens when we take a good thing is made into an ultimate thing. Is marriage a good thing? Absolutely. I just did premarital counseling yesterday for a couple that has been engaged all of a week. I heard their story and happily agreed to perform their wedding. When we finished our time together, I prayed and thanked God for bringing the two of them together. Marriage is a good gift from God, and I am thankful he has given this gift to my friends....

I struggle to give others the benefit of the doubt. I regularly interpret someone’s words or actions in the worst possible way. I do this to my wife, friends, colleagues, whoever. There are number of reasons for this – inability to trust people and God, cynicism, self-protection. I’m sure I missing a few but you get the point. I am not alone in my struggle. Beginning with Adam and Eve, humans have always struggled to give God and each other the benefit of the doubt. For the purposes of this post, I don’t want to consider why we ...