Reflections on Twenty Years of Ministry: God’s Glory

This is the eleventh and final of a series of reflections of gratitude on 20 years of ministry at GBC. I hope you knew I would have to conclude my reflections with the truth of God’s glory. I don’t think I came to GBC with the priority of God’s glory as preeminently clear in my […]

Reflections on Twenty Years of Ministry: the Adequate Word

This is the tenth of a series of reflections of gratitude on 20 years of ministry at GBC. To say that the Scriptures are adequate is something like saying that a bazooka is adequate to kill a mosquito or that a Lamborghini is adequate to defeat a bicycle in a ten-mile race. When we say […]

Reflections on Twenty Years of Ministry: Godly Suffering and Godly Examples

This is the ninth of a series of reflections of gratitude on 20 years of ministry at GBC. Twenty years ago, I did not have this category for gratitude in my life. I couldn’t conceive it. I hadn’t lived life long enough to experience any significant pain and sorrow. Nor had I been exposed to […]

Reflections on Twenty Years of Ministry: Repentance

This is the eighth of a series of reflections of gratitude on 20 years of ministry at GBC. If there is nothing that makes a pastor’s heart more glad than people growing in Christ, then there is nothing that makes him more sad than people rejecting Christ. In a cabinet drawer in my office, I […]

Reflections on Twenty Years of Ministry: Remembering Christ

This is the seventh of a series of reflections of gratitude on 20 years of ministry at GBC. For many years I have been collecting books about the cross of Christ. I am captivated by the cross and find my heart to a love of Christ by these deep reflections on what was accomplished at […]

Reflections on Twenty Years of Ministry: Faithful Co-Laborers

This is the sixth of a series of reflections of gratitude on 20 years of ministry at GBC. We are part of a lineage that reaches back to Christ and reaches ahead into eternity. But we also are part of each other’s stories. We share life together. So in our church body there are two […]

Reflections on Twenty Years of Ministry: Godly Heritage

This is the fifth of a series of reflections of gratitude on 20 years of ministry at GBC. I am grateful for a godly heritage. I can go back many generations in my genealogy, and all are believers. I grew up in a home where my parents loved each other and loved Christ. I was […]

Reflections on Twenty Years of Ministry: Hearing People

This is the fourth of a series of reflections of gratitude on 20 years of ministry at GBC. One thing I particularly prayed for when coming to GBC was peace and unity. We have it. The question is, why? Obviously, such a gift is due to the grace and kindness of God. But there is […]

Reflections on Twenty Years of Ministry: Church

This is the third of a series of reflections of gratitude on 20 years of ministry at GBC. I am thankful for the church. But it wasn’t always that way. When I started seminary, I wanted to teach. Somewhere along the way that changed, though I would be hard-pressed to identify when and where. But […]

Reflections on Twenty Years of Ministry: Family

This is the second of a series of reflections of gratitude on 20 years of ministry at GBC. As I think about ministry at GBC, I am thankful for family. Specifically, I am thankful for my family. Paul tells the Corinthians that it is better to remain single because the interests of a married man […]

Reflections on Twenty Years of Ministry: Grace

This is the first of a series of reflections of gratitude on 20 years of ministry at GBC. When I think about ministry and about 20 years of ministry at GBC, I am thankful for grace. The word “grace” comes quickly to the lips of most believers, but are we genuinely convinced of our need […]

Sunday Leftovers (8/15/10)

While I came to GBC with no intention of leaving, I never thought 20 years would come so quickly and I would still be here! What happy and satisfying years these have been for me, Raye Jeanne, and our daughters, Elizabeth and Emily. The Lord has been gracious to mature us in our marriage and […]