Pastor John’s Blog

Every day we have to decide what we’re going to do when faced with the truths of Scripture. Are we going to continue to believe things that we learned in this world that are lesser copies of a true reality, or will we renew our minds with the truth of God’s Word? This is why we memorize Scripture. We memorize verses like Romans 12:2 that talk about the importance of renewing our mind, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”

Proverbs 18:21 says “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” Every time we open our mouths we have a choice to either give or take life with what we say. Dr. York chose to give life that day, and though I’m guessing he forgot about that conversation before the day was over, I still think about it. How often do I do the opposite? Or not take an opportunity to give life to others and instead focus on myself?

In this age of shifting sands and half-truths, people are hungry for something to stand on. God’s Word is the truest truth one can ever encounter. God’s word gives us wisdom for life, as we are seeing in our study of the book of Proverbs. Be praying for our VBS efforts, especially for Lauren as these next few days are crunch time. Also pray for our kids, that they would come with hearts hungry to learn and grow. Lastly, pray for new kids to attend this year. Be praying for God to open the door for you to invite a child from your neighborhood to VBS. You never know how one summer can change the direction of a child’s life.

This week our staff team gathered to celebrate the 30th birthday of our Worship Pastor, Isaac Sanchez. I asked everyone to share something they would want to tell their 30-year-old-self (even if they weren’t quite there yet), a piece of wisdom to help Isaac transition into the next decade. Isaac commented that he was already feeling the age in his knees (the more ‘experienced’ staff rolled our eyes).

What I love about Mat’s story is how he didn’t let the identity he had created for himself hold him back. It was an important identity for sure, one that had helped him become a successful business owner and athlete, but one that was now limiting his growth. It’s easy to keep saying to yourself, “I’m a jock, not a nerd, I don’t read. I’m a businessman juggling a hundred things and don’t have time to sit still long enough to read.” But God has Mat in a new season of life with new opportunities to pour into others spiritually, especially his kids and grandkids. 

We shared about what we were reading and learning and eventually he said this, “John I’ve grown more as a Christian in the last year than I have in the previous ten years combined.” Whoa! That’s a bold statement and I wanted to hear more. He said, “I’ve found that I used to be overly critical with my wife. I would get testy about the smallest things. But now those little things don’t bother me like they used to.” That’s a big change. Especially for a guy who is 73 years old. I’m not saying that’s old, but I’ve heard it can be hard to teach an experienced canine new patterns. 

Our theme for the year is “Grow into Oaks of Righteousness.” We want to grow steady and strong like a mighty oak tree, which takes time and daily focus on God’s Word. We are studying the book of Proverbs to help us grow in wisdom. Colby recently wrote to the students about how he grew in God’s word as a new Christian.

This week Christian writer Jim Denison shared how “Americans haven’t found a satisfying alternative to religion.” Many prominent atheists (Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris), over the last twenty years, have claimed Christianity was dead and gone, “outdated, irrelevant, and even dangerous to society.” Yet people are “unhappier than they’ve ever been and the country is in an epidemic of loneliness.” And “those without religious affiliation in particular rank lower on key metrics of well-being. They feel less connected to others, less spiritually at peace, and they experience less awe and gratitude regularly.”

Here’s the point: Christianity is not dead and gone.

This Sunday is Easter, the day of the year we most intentionally celebrate and remember Christ’s resurrection. We will be taking a break from our series on Proverbs to focus on the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The word “gospel” means “good news”, and as Tim Keller has said, the story of Jesus is not good advice, but good news first and foremost. We talk about Christ’s death and resurrection all the time, even while studying a book of the Bible in the Old Testament. But when we focus on the message of the gospel, like at Easter, one of my favorite passages that most clearly expresses the essence of this good news (and also uses the word ‘gospel’ to do so) is in 1 Corinthians 15:1-10…

This past Sunday we studied Proverbs 4, focusing on verse 23, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” This verse illustrates an important reality: what you store, or ‘keep’ in your heart is what will come out. Now the reverse is also true, as we saw with the verses surrounding 4:23, that the way you use the rest of your body is what feeds the heart. The eyes and ears are the gateways to the heart. The feet determine the direction that your eyes and ears are pointed. We need to be wise with our body because it will shape our heart, our character, and ultimately our lives.