Reckoned Righteous

My LBC sermons are now online!

…well, the text of the last two sermons, anyway. Check them out at http://littlebrownchapel.com!

Moody Man Day 2011

My son Nate (age 7) and I have an annual tradition. Each summer, I take a day off work and the two of us spend the day together doing "man stuff." Last year, for instance, we went to the Museum of Flight in Seattle, and the year before that we went fishing. My wife christened [...]

How I Became a Pastor (Part 1)

Yes, I’m now a pastor. I still shake my head at how the whole thing came about. For a couple of years now, a group of men (myself included) have met at Emmanuel Baptist Church on Wednesday mornings for prayer. Last April, one of the elders told us of an interesting development from the previous [...]

TGC Travelogue, Day 0 (or, How Half a Shoe Shine Got Me to Blog Again)

This morning at 8:30 AM, four intrepid souls set out from the parking lot of Emmanuel Baptist Church. Christian Smith – elder statesman and Starbucks addict Eric Abisror – extrovert extraordinaire and tour guide Caleb Brown – wide-eyed “newbie” and pizza vacuum John Moody – your humble narrator and uber-geek Our destination: Chicago, Illinois, for [...]

16 Reflections on 16 Years of Marriage

Today, Naomi and I celebrate sixteen years of married life. In honor of the occasion, here are sixteen reflections on our life together. 16 years is a long time to be married. Many of my friends from high school and college didn’t make it that long before succumbing to divorce. One friend from college lost [...]

A Summer Reading List for my (Pre)Teenager

This summer, my wife and I wanted to challenge our oldest daughter with some challenging reading material that would both stretch her mind and strengthen her faith. A few books immediately came to mind, and I solicited suggestions from Facebook friends to get more ideas. After some collating, I’ve put together the final list of [...]

“God” vs. “King” (a rant)

Quick quiz: Which of the following two statements is more awe-inspiring?

A king dies in the place of one of his subjects
The eternal God of the universe take on humanity and dies in the place of one of his creatures

A place to stand in 2010

As 2009 winds down, I’ve had these lyrics running through my head: This work of God, no work of man My only hope, my only life Has given me a place to stand Has made me love what I despised - Jeremy Casella, “Cast Away Stones” My “place to stand” is the righteousness of Jesus [...]

Video: D.A. Carson using logic to smack down an exegetical fallacy

Check out this video from D. A. Carson, courtesy of CBMW. I absolutely love how Carson uses an obvious bit of logic to dismantle an exegetical fallacy. DA Carson on “permit” in 1 Timothy 2

My theme song

If these lyrics don’t accurately reflect my life, I don’t know what does: Oh, I’m into everything I hate My spirit is not fooled My members take the bait Oh, I’m into everything I hate Still not dead enough To stifle this debate Smalltown Poets, “Everything I Hate” Or, as someone else put it: Who [...]