Bivocational; a term the IRS might call “two-jobs” but one the church uses to refer to a person who works in a paid ministry role as well as any other job simultaneously. For those of you who do not know, I am a full-time Licensed Physical Therapist Assistant while also being on staff here at Grace part-time as the Middle School Youth Director. This makes me bivocational.Serving in these two roles...  Read More

In Ephesians 1:14 we’re told that the Holy Spirit is “the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.” In this rendering, we are told that those whose faith is in Christ will receive their full spiritual inheritance in God’s presence in eternity. Another equally valid rendering of this phrase is that the Holy Spirit is “the guarantee of our inheritance until God redeems his pos...  Read More

We recently had to take our car to a mechanic. The repair was supposed to be pretty simple and quick, taking only a couple of hours one morning. Of course it turned into two full days of work over the course of a week. While it was terribly inconvenient, there was a silver lining: Johnny the marvelous mechanic. Not only was he overly apologetic about the process taking so long, he also stuck with ...  Read More

Ephesians 1:7-8 tells us that one of the greatest blessings that comes through Christ is the forgiveness of sins. Below are four verses from the Old Testament that provide us some additional pictures to help us understand this great gift of forgiveness that the Father offers through Christ:1. “As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). Th...  Read More

Below is a link to the Bible Project visual overview of the book of Ephesians. It’s a fun and creative way to see a summary of this letter. Enjoy!...  Read More

Last month I officiated a funeral for the father of my childhood best friend. As my friend and his siblings were cleaning out his dad’s house, they came across a number of old videos and pictures. One of the videos contained footage of a joint birthday party that me and my friend had when we turned 5 years old. As I watched the video, one prevailing thought hit me: wow I was a bad kid!The video sh...  Read More