Posts from 2025
The Prophet Who Didn’t Die (Part I)
I don’t remember very much what things I did in children’s Sunday School as a little boy. But very bizarrely, I do remember one thing. I remember coloring a drawing one Sunday what looked to me like an old man feeding birds. (Keep in mind this is years before I became a reader of the Old Testament.) I had no clue what was the story behind the picture. I didn’t know why there was a drawing of an old man…
“As for me and my house we will serve the Lord!”
This is a common phrase used on wall hangings for many of us at the front door or in the kitchen. Some of you may have it in your home. It is found in the Old Testament book of Joshua, chapter 24:15. Many of us might be familiar with the quote, but we often don’t know the context of when and why it was written, and we might miss the deeper meaning. Let me give you a simple background to…
Graduating to the Next Chapter of Life
Right now, all over America there are graduation exercises in the months of May and June. We see signs in yards in our community that highlight a High School or college graduates that lives there. There are parties, there are graduation trips, and there are graduation ceremonies. At those ceremonies proud family members and friends watch a loved one as their name is announced, they walk across the stage, get a handshake from the Principal or University president, then are…
The Gospel in every chapter of life
I remember when I was young, I was finally introduced to what we call ‘chapter books.’ Do you remember that? Like most children, I loved being read to by my parents or a teacher. But in those early days all my books had one basic story, one main point, and were loaded with pictures to keep me interested. I couldn’t read the words anyway, but I began connecting the words that were read to me with the pictures I was…
Welcome Tim & Cassie Kim and daughter Joanna
This coming Sunday May 18 is a unique day in our church family. We have invited in some guests that we all need to meet and get to know them. We have talked of this for weeks now, but just in case you didn’t get it, they are coming for a visit to LifeWay and the NW with the possibility that Tim would join our Sr Pastor team in a few months, and eventually take the role of the next Sr…
Mother’s Day 2025
This coming Sunday, May 11, is Mother’s Day. Happy Mother’s Day to all of you. At church this Sunday I’m using this day to begin a new series of messages that somebody might even consider Christian counseling. I would really consider it to be Christian discipleship in all of the different phases of life. Let me explain. I’ve been in some form of ministry either as a youth director for the first few years or as a pastor here now…
Anyone Knows What Happened to Peter?
Two Sundays ago, we completed our study of the Gospel of Mark when Billy gave us a message on the Resurrection. If you recall my message on the introduction to the Gospel of Mark back in September 2024, I said that the whole gospel was likely based on Mark’s conversations with the Apostle Peter. Peter and Mark were close friends, and Peter was likely a mentor to Mark. Peter comes up a lot in the gospel. Peter was the first…
What do we do with the ending of Mark?
As a missions pastor, naturally I am always willing to speak about the Great Commission. So, when Billy asked me to finish up our series in the book of Mark by preaching the Great Commission, it was kind of a no-brainer…at least until I started really working on it. In my head, the Great Commission was a natural follow-up to the resurrection: Jesus is alive, our sins are forgiven, he is victorious—therefore, we should go tell everyone! However, unlike Matthew’s…
The Resurrection
Are you familiar with this old children’s prayer? Now I lay me down to sleep,I pray the Lord my soul to keep. And if I die before I wake I pray the Lord my soul to take. Amen. The first appearance of this poetic prayer was in Thomas Fleet’s New England Primer in 1737. It soon became widespread in its use in Christian households, and was referred to as one of the “Common Prayers” that can be used by families to teach…
God on the Cross
This Sunday we are studying the story and the message of the Cross that Jesus died on. The Christian Cross might be the most recognizable physical symbol in all the world. You will find in virtually every cemetery in the westernized Christian background world rows and rows of crosses over the burial site of the dead. On our first ever trip to Europe Patty and I took our young kids to plenty of memorable historical sites. The most striking…
God on Trial
While preparing for this Sunday’s story, it made me think of famous trials in history and the sentencing the followed. There is no shortage of interesting ones in history. Here’s some examples: As I have been studying the story out of the Gospel of Mark for this coming Sunday’s message, it led me think about accusations, judgements, evidence and ultimate verdicts from historically famous trials. I then looked up a list of ‘famous trials’ of the past, and believe…
Take this Cup from me!
My dad was an extrovert extraordinaire and often the life of social events. He was deeply dedicated to the cause of Christ, the work of the Church, and had a tremendous love for community at large where he lived. He was my dad first, and the Pastor of the church I grew up in second. Certainly, he had his flaws like the rest of us, but was a really good dad, a well-respected Pastor, and a well-known community figure. He…
“What are you bringing to the Church Potluck Dinner?”
In the early days of our planting this Church, somewhere around 1986, we had several people who had recently come to faith in Christ and had never attended or been engaged with a Church of any kind. Everything we did as a congregational practice was new to them. I have wonderful memories during these years of explaining why we did what we did, but it was the first time I had ever been around people that knew nothing about Church…
New Covenant in Christ’s Blood
Here at LifeWay, we come together and have communion as a body of Christ, once a month. We do this in remembrance of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. During communion, we firstly eat the bread. Then secondly, we drink from the cup. When we take the cup each month, however, have you noticed that Billy, more often than not, recites from Luke 22.20? He says, “Jesus took a cup and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my…
Jesus’ ‘Bloody Parable’ – leading to Jesus’ ‘Bloody week’ ahead
I titled this article in a way to hopefully force you to do a double take – “A Bloody and Violent Parable!” One of the preachers from the past that I enjoy reading used this title for the story that we are focusing on this week. When I saw it, it certainly captured my attention, and I hope it does the same for you. Parables are one of the most popular and wonderful tools of teaching that Jesus used during…
ESL at Park 16
“Reaching unreached peoples is not just about going overseas anymore, and reaching your local context is no longer about reaching people just like you. We have to change our understanding of both in order to understand today’s mission equation.” – IMB News From Our Neighborhood Often, when we discuss local missions, our version of the “Jerusalem” in Acts 1:8, we think of the Federal Way neighborhoods we’re most familiar with. However, a quick study of Federal Way and South King County…
Jesus’ Victory Parade
In 2014 when the Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl by beating the Denver Broncos (with a blow out score of 43-8 by the way!), Patty and had I international students who were living with us at the time — 2 young men from China and 1 young man from Thailand. We decided to treat them to a fun American and NW experience by going to downtown Seattle for the Seahawks Super Bowl Victory Parade. It was indeed a cultural…
From the Mountain Top
It seems that one of the most common illustrations that I use when writing or speaking is the illustration of Mountain Top experiences. Well, I’m using it again. But as I help prepare us for our Sunday morning teaching time, it’s hard not to use the same “Mountain Top” experience story because the story itself is an experience from a true, physical mountain top. Here’s are some of what I’ve learned from being on mountains in my life… These are…
Who He is, changes who I am!
One of the silly love songs that my wife and I laugh about occasionally when we lift listen to the oldies station is the song, ”I will follow you.” You may or may not be familiar with it but it is a 1963 song written by Ricky Nelson. Some of the lyrics are… I will follow youFollow you wherever you may goThere isn’t an ocean too deepA mountain so high it can keep me away Away from my love! My…
Introducing Tim and Cassi Kim and family
Two Sunday’s ago, February 2, we had an all-Church update meeting. There was a sizable group of our people in attendance as I gave a winter time update on multiple topics. The most important of these was an introduction of a young man and his family, Tim and Cassi Kim and their four year old daughter Joanna (Jo Jo). As I write this to you our church family, let me explain who they are and why we brought this up. …
Who do you say that I am?
Have you ever met someone famous? I love the game at parties… “Two truths and a lie.” When I play this game I love to put famous names out there; two of them being a truth, and one being a lie. Patty and I have run across in random ways many people that were quite well known; politicians, film stars, musicians, sports stars, and even a US President (before he was the president). These would be recognizable people to you,…
Are There Angels in Our Midst? (Part II)
Read Part I So, the question is how has God used angels in the past? Firstly, angels are God’s message carriers. Did you know that the Greek word, angel, means “messenger”? Angels are God’s spokespersons, so to speak. In the Old Testament, an angel carried God’s message to direct Abraham’s maidservant, Hagar, to return to her mistress, Sarai. Two angels carried God’s message to Abraham and told him about God’s plan to wipe out Sodom and Gomorrah. An angel carried…
Are There Angels in Our Midst? (Part I)
Ahh, angels. Beings from heaven with an angelic face, white robes, wings extending over the shoulders, complete with a halo above the head. Some play a harp, or trumpet. When they sing, they sing with, you guessed it, angelic voices. We are obsessed with angels. We talk about them. We draw them, with a pencil and with snow. We name a MLB baseball team, a motorcycle club, a Navy acrobatic squadron, not to mention a large metropolis, after them. Would…
The Great Spiritual Exam
Boy Oh Boy do I remember exams at school. Some of you reading this are still taking exams at school. But for others, like me, you might remember well what exam time meant, especially those dreaded ‘final exams!’ Maybe you enjoyed exams at school, but I did not. Taking a final exam was much like a trip to the dentist office for me when they drill on your teeth. You know you have to go through it, and there is…
Can you do that in church???
As I have told you many times, I am a ‘Church Kid’ from the earliest of times. My father was a Baptist Pastor in Texas and that is the home and environment I grew up in. I have absolutely NO complaints about this; I was NOT scared by this; and I have positive memories from this kind of background. (I only say this because sometimes we hear those kinds of background stories in negative ways — and mine was very…
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