I had the privilege of baptizing Mason Smith yesterday. Naturally, for Presbyterian purposes, I wanted to work the word “sprinkle” into the baptism schpeel, and so I quoted from Hebrews 12:24 where it says, “Jesus, the Mediator of a New Covenant, and His sprinkled blood which speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” […]
Over the past 6 years ECPC has many times wondered, debated, and wrestled with the question, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” And Christ’s prophetic and pastoral response has consistently been, “Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child […]
Imagine your sibling needs medicine for a chronic medical condition. Your family struggles to make ends-meet, and the needed medication is expensive. Through creative budgeting tactics your family is barely able to afford the daily doses. The average pressure of this predicament is stressful, but to make matters worse there is a brutal chief tax […]
One of my favorite words is “subversive.” Ask Justin …he’ll back me up on that. So you can imagine my excitement when I read this excerpt from Eugene Peterson’s book, “Subversive Spirituality.” The emphasis of ECPC has always been on SAVORING the King of kings, and of course slowness and savoring are inextricably linked; but […]
From time to time I tune into the APJ podcast. THIS ONE from September 25, 2020 is a must listen. And in addition to listening, here is an excerpt especially worth reading and retaining – – – > God’s presentation of these violent things in writing in the inspired Scripture is no mistake. He presents […]
I just learned that there are 10,080 minutes in a week. I learned this while eavesdropping on THIS conversation between Andy & Tim Timmons. …Tim points out that Jesus’ wife invests approx 80 minutes per/week singing Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, confessing sins and faith, receiving assurance of forgiveness, and attending to the supernatural revelation […]
It’s truly a dilemma. You feast on real food with your true siblings on Sundays, and then Monday rolls around and you’re hungry for more. What if told you that there was a guy named Brian who could hook you up with some Monday soul food? Check it out (skip to the 42 minute mark).
@ some point in 2021 (perhaps February) ECPC will host a simple, yet substantive, marriage retreat. Here’s a little PREVIEW. “Normalizing the fact that triggers are going to be there, everyone is going to experience them and you can’t avoid them, they happen, I think can also help mitigate a little bit of shame that […]
A few weeks ago I visited a friend. It was an enjoyable visit. A few hours after the visit I suddenly found myself inexplicably wondering if I had said anything offensive. I analyzed the conversation and quickly determined that nothing was out of the ordinary. However, I couldn’t quite shake the feeling that perhaps my […]
I was chatting with Noah Schnee yesterday, and I asked him if he’d read anything good recently. He said that he just finished a book called “Exodus.” He said that Act One was thrilling, but the Second Act was tediously crammed with technical minutiae. For instance, here’s an excerpt from chapter XXVII, “You shall make […]