The Christian is not promised an easy life in this world. To assume that following Christ will lead a trouble-free life is not something that the Bible supports, it is really a soft version of the prosperity gospel. The Christian—even the Christian in the affluent, comfortable, safe, suburbs of the West—will face trials, hardships, and […]
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A Blog Post on DEATH
I remember hearing D.A. Carson state that the taboo topic in our culture is DEATH. People are comfortable talking about all sorts of other things (sex, politics, etc.), but things get awkward when death is brought up. We recently talked about death together at our meetup discussion group. The first question we thought about was […]
I’m the pastor a small church plant in downtown Naperville (Cross of Christ Fellowship). On a big Sunday, we have 40 people—nearly half of which are children. We have been worshipping together for 3 years and have seen God grow us in many wonderful ways: we are a close church community that loves and cares […]
Here’s a video with some highlights from the past year of Cross of Christ Fellowship: If you are looking to be part of a church in naperville, join us on Sunday morning at 10!
A reflection on Matthew 25:1-30 Matt 25:1-30 Reflection: The Wisdom and Goodness of Living for Jesus Christ In Matthew 25:1-30 Jesus gives two parables which help his disciples pursue faithful obedience while they wait for his return. Jesus really is coming back one day, and this will be a glorious day where the kingdom of […]
“Christians Get Depressed Too” by David Murray Review Since entering into pastoral ministry, I have realized how common depression and mental health issues are in the church and outside the church. Everywhere you go, someone is likely struggling with a mental health concern. Sadly, there is a misconception out there that Christians do not struggle […]
Some thoughts from today’s Scripture reading in 1 Chronicles 1-9… These first chapters are genealogies recording some important names and histories of God’s people. The author starts with Adam and brings the reader to post-exile times. It is interesting to note how some tribes and individuals are given much space in this section (David gets […]
If agnosticism is true, life is also a tragedy. Agnosticism is the view that God might exist, but is impossible for us or anyone to know what God is like or what ultimate reality consists (questions like ‘why is there something rather than nothing?’ ‘what happens after we die?’ ‘what is morally right or wrong […]
If naturalism (atheism) is how reality actually is, then life is a tragedy. We are the accidents of an impersonal universe. Our lives have no meaning or purpose—except for the arbitrary purposes we create—and everything we do will be ultimately forgotten and inconsequential. We’ll be forgotten—along with everything we every do—and we will not continue […]
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Humor and the Gospel
As a Christian I recognize that humor is a gift from God, a God who Himself laughs (Ps 2:4). Humor is meant to be enjoyed and to build others up: it can be used to bring a person into the truth and bring joy and delight and healing. But there is something desperately, wrong with […]
