What’s a show or two you really enjoy that you think would help people understand who you are?
I can think of two, Ted Lasso and The Good Place.
I don’t know about your social feeds but most of mine are simply filled with people posting mis- and dis-information. Most of it is AI or other versions of edits.
I am so excited to invite to something our community is hosting in October in Ann Arbor!
🌿 Join us for The Art of Being: Living Through Love 🌿
Slow down. Reflect. Connect. Renew.
🗓️ Saturday, October 18, 2025 • 8 AM – 12 PM 📍 912 N Main St, Ann Arbor, MI 🎟️ $20 | Learn more & register
Featuring Erin Kracjik & Dr. Michele White—insights on love, emotional wisdom, and living with presence. 💫
I was pointed to this speech by Fredrick Douglass in a podcast I was listening to today. It was delivered on December 9, 1860. It is as timely today, as it was then. I would encourage each of us to take the few minutes that is required to read it.
Lives Hidden With Christ - The Fullness of God
If you would like to listen to the full audio of this message you can do so here: Lives Hidden With Christ - The Fullness of God
We are continuing our study of Colossians, and today we come to one of the most stunning passages in all of Scripture: Colossians 1:15–20. This short paragraph is overflowing with Christology—that $10 word that simply means “the study of Christ.” In just a few lines, the Apostle Paul gives us a breathtaking portrait of who Jesus is.
I am really digging Apple’s OS26. The unified feel between laptop and phone is fantastic. I really like the way everything looks. It feels very Apple, if that makes sense.
Every time my Session (the leadership of the Presbyterian church) gathers, I am always left amazed by what God has built here. This group of people is something special. I am grateful.
Another phenomenal football Saturday with Libby and the rest of the 236 Fab Five in East Lansing today. #GoGreen 🏈
A Pastor's Reflection on Political Violence
Yesterday, September 10, 2025, we once again witnessed horrendous acts of violence in our country. There was a school shooting in Colorado. There was also what appears to be a politically motivated assassination. Earlier this year, our country saw a representative from Minnesota assassinated, apparently for political reasons. There was also the assassination of a CEO of a large health insurance company. In all three cases, people from across the political spectrum condemned the violence. Yet there were also voices, from both sides, arguing in the most appalling ways that those assassinated “got what they deserved.”
I wish any of this were surprising or shocking. None of it is.
Lives Hidden With Christ - The Spiral
You can listen to the full audio of this message here: Lives Hidden With Christ - The Spiral
When was the last time you learned something new? Maybe it was a skill, a hobby, or simply a new piece of knowledge. Whatever it was, you probably started with the basics—the fundamentals.
My son grew up playing baseball, and I quickly learned how important fundamentals are. Even as he advanced, practice always included hitting off a tee, fielding ground balls, and playing catch. What struck me is that professional athletes—the best in the world—still return to the fundamentals. They never move past them, but they also don’t stop there. The fundamentals are the foundation upon which the rest of the game is built.
That truth applies not only to sports, but to every area of life, including our spiritual lives.
Lives Hidden With Christ - Faith, Love, and Hope
You can listen to the full message here: Lives Hidden With Christ - Faith, Love, and Hope We continue our study of Colossians, Lives Hidden with Christ, focusing on chapter 1, verses 3–8.
Before diving in, it’s important to recognize that verses 3–23 form one big thought from Paul. It’s a single opening salvo—one long, flowing section. Even though our Bibles break it up with headings and even though we’re studying it in smaller chunks, it’s all part of one whole. Today, we’re taking verses 3–8.
Paul writes:
“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people—the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.”
—Colossians 1:3–8
The Triad of the Gospel
Did you catch it? Three words stand out: faith, hope, and love.
Paul’s letters return to this triad again and again, echoing 1 Corinthians 13: “These three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
In Colossians, Paul flips the order slightly:
- He has heard of their faith in Christ.
- He has heard of their love for all God’s people.
- Both are rooted in their hope, the treasure stored up for them in heaven.
For Paul, hope is not a wish or a dream. It’s a certainty rooted in God’s grace through the gospel. This hope is the assurance of full reconciliation with God—the undoing of the fall, the restoration of walking with Him “in the cool of the day.” It’s the confident trust that one day everything will be made right.
Hope That Produces Faith and Love
Paul reminds the Colossians: you already have this hope. It’s certain. It’s secure. It’s stored in heaven.
That hope produces two things:
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Faith – The trust that God is sovereign and good, even in hardship. Faith gives us spiritual stamina to keep moving forward through grief, pain, and struggle. It’s what enables us to take the next step when we don’t know what comes next.
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Love – The kind of love that drives out fear. When we live in hope, we no longer need to fear those who are different from us. Instead, we move toward neighbors—and even enemies—with love. This love identifies the church. It marks God’s people as a community shaped not by fear but by grace.
Do We Understand the Gospel?
Paul commends the Colossians for truly understanding God’s grace. This isn’t mere head knowledge, like knowing that 2+2=4 or reciting the ABCs. It’s intimate, heart-level knowledge. It’s the kind of understanding that produces awe, gratitude, and transformation.
The question for us is this:
- Do we truly understand the gospel?
- Do we live as people whose certain hope in Christ produces faith and love?
- Or are we still shaped by fear, distrust, and division?
When we grasp the certainty of our hope—our reconciliation, redemption, and restoration in Christ—it changes everything. Faith and love spring up naturally from that soil.
May it be said of us, as it was of the church in Colossae: their hope in Christ gave rise to faith and love.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, may we be a people whose faith and love spring from the sure hope stored up for us in heaven. May our neighbors and even our enemies see in us a reflection of Christ’s love. And may the testimony of our lives echo that of the Colossians: they were a people of faith and love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Lives Hidden With Christ - Intro
Check out the full audio of the message here: Lives Hidden With Christ - Intro
Today we begin a new series, walking together through the little letter of Colossians. At only four chapters long, you might think it would take just four Sundays. But this book is so rich, so full of Christ, that it will take us much longer.
Colossians is one of my favorite writings in the New Testament. It is absolutely saturated with Jesus. Everywhere you turn, you encounter Him. You can’t hide from Christ in this letter—He is the central figure on every page.
Bearing Witness to the Way of Love
The fully audio version of the message can be found here: Whispers of Grace - Witness (Revelation)
We’ve come to the end of our summer series, Whispers of Grace: 15 New Testament Words of Life. Week by week, we’ve traced these “words of life” across the New Testament. Today we arrive at the last book of the Bible—Revelation—and with it, our final word: witness.
The Greek word behind “witness” is martis. If that sounds familiar, it should: it’s the root of our word “martyr.” In the New Testament, martyrs are witnesses. Nowhere is this clearer than in Revelation, a book that is, at its core, about bearing witness.
I am excited to begin taking the communities I serve through the letter to the Colossians this Sunday.
If you live in the Flint area you can join me at 10:45 am for a service of worship at Peace Presbyterian Church.
If you live in the Ypsilanti area join us at 5:30 for dinner followed by singing, Scripture, communion, and prayer at 6:30 in our home.
Today was spent in East Lansing getting Libby set up for Year 4 at Michigan State! Ths Spring she will be graduating with her degree in Public Relations.
We are so proud of her and all she has already accomplished at MSU!
