Pastor Dan (Page 8)

I was pretty awkward in Middle School. I played hockey, nobody else did. I didn’t play football or basketball. I was in the band. I was really insecure. The worst part of my day was lunch. I felt like I was on the outside looking in. I felt far away. By the beginning of my junior year things had changed. I had a group of friends where I was on the inside. It felt like I had been brought near. When it comes to the people of God, we all start off like awkward middle schoolers. We are far off. Part of the beauty ofRead More →

As I look back on my early days of following Jesus I am a bit ashamed. I was arrogant.  I was mean.  I was prideful.  I was rude.  I was always right.  I was judge and jury.  Yes, this is me shortly after my conversion to Christianity. That doesn’t seem to line up well with what Jesus is like. I can only imagine the people who I hurt through my mean arrogance. I grew up going to church. I was taught the way of love and kindness. It was modeled for me in my family and at church. But, as a young man I wasRead More →

There’s a story I’ve heard, I don’t remember where or who told it to me first, but it’s beautiful. I found a retelling of it and I want to share it with you, A woman met with her pastor to discuss her final wishes, as she only had a very short time to live. After they discussed the plans for the funeral, she remembered one final request that was very important to her. She said, “I want to be buried holding a spoon in my right hand.” The pastor gazed at the woman, at a loss for words. “That surprises you, doesn’t it?” the womanRead More →

Many us think about eternity. Is it real? What will happen after I die? Am I worm food? Is there more to come? As we wrestle with our mortality often we come face to face with our inadequacies. We realize that we are not the people that we want to be or even hope to be. Sometimes we ease our concerns through comparison. We look at others and see how bad a person they are and realize, we’re really probably OK. The thing is that the standard that nags at us, when we’re honest, is perfection. None of us are perfect. We are failed inRead More →

I truly love the way that Eugene Peterson translates certain passages from the Scriptures. Ephesians 2:7-10 in particular: Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both theRead More →

When you think of your life do you think it matters? I don’t just mean relationally, in the sense that you matter to someone. Do you think that the things that you do every day matter? When you go to work does it matter? When you care for your children, does it matter? When you play, does it matter? When you go to school, does it matter? A significant aspect of the gospel is that it brings meaning to everything that we do. It brings this meaning as a result of grace. Consider what Paul writes in Ephesians 2, For we are his workmanship, createdRead More →

While Paul calls us to remember he doesn’t leave us wallowing in self-pity. No, the gospel is better than that. We are embraced by the Father who loves us. I love how Eugene Peterson says this in the Message: It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company withRead More →

Paul writes this about the “saints” in Ephesus, And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Ephesians 2:1-3 ESV) As he sought to shape the church in Ephesus, Paul took a moment to remind them who they were beforeRead More →

Why do Christians need to learn how to practice resurrection? Simple: We have been resurrected and it changes everything. Ephesians 2 opens this way, And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— (Ephesians 2:1-2 ESV) We were dead in our sin. We were following the enemy. We were following the “course of this world.” We were spiritually dead. We were separated from God. Being dead meant that we could do nothing. WeRead More →

“Christians!” When you read that did the voice in your head sound like? My hunch is that it sounded a bit disgusted or sarcastic. Because when most Americans think about “Christians” it is not a very good image. “You’re a saint!” When you read that, I bet a different image comes to mind. For me, it’s my Mimi. She was amazing, kind, tough, and loving. When we think of saints, the image is typically positive. To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: (Ephesians 1:1 ESV) In Ephesians, Paul addresses the letter to “the saints”. This address was inclusive toRead More →