vassal of the King

I’m preaching tonight on Revelation 19:11–21 on the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to earth. He came 2,000 years ago as a baby but in the near-future He’s coming back, not as a baby, but as a Sovereign and vengeful Judge. It is at this Second Coming when, as John says in Revelation 19, that the beast (=the Antichrist) and the false prophet (=the side-kick of the Antichrist who performs many miracles and deceives many into believing the cunning lies of the Satanic Antichrist) will be thrown alive into the Lake of Fire. How fitting it is for these two human beings to be the first to populate the eternal Lake of Fire. At the present, when humans die who have not received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior die, they are immediately cast into Hell (=Hades)—a place of torment, but NOT the Lake of Fire (this is, the Second death according to Rev 20:11–15). Note how one commentator speaks of this casting of the Antichrist and the false prophet into the eternal Lake of Fire: “Two men, be it noted,

“The gospel, in brief, is the good news about the person and finished work of Jesus Christ. Consider for a moment that the eternal Son of God relinquished the glories of heaven to become a man, a human being like you and me. He lived a perfect and sinless life (unlike you and me), fulfilling every requirement of God’s holy law in a way we could never hope to accomplish. And then in a glorious display of God’s love for sinners like us, he willingly received the full fury of God’s righteous wrath against sin by dying for our sins on a cruel Roman cross. Because God’s absolute and perfect holiness demands an equivalent holiness from all who come before him, in ourselves we are hopelessly lost and condemned. But Jesus, who had no sin of his won to pay for, took our place, paid our penalty, and suffered our punishment. Because his death as our substitute was perfectly sufficient to pay for our sin, God vindicated him by raising him from the dead. So now all who place their trust in Jesus’ w

The sermons are now up and available if you weren't able to make it to the camp with us. Session 1 - "God—The Creator and Encourager of Sex " - Gen 2:18-25 Session 2 - " Purity—God's Demand of Your Life " - 1 Thess 4:1-8 Session 3 - " Pornography—God's Hatred of It " - Hebrews 13:4 and Selected Scriptures Session 4 - " Dating—Maintaining Purity Throughout " - Song of Solomon 8:4 Session 5 - " Resolved—Determining to Live a Pure Life " - Proverbs 5:1-23 Session 6 - Q&A with Pastor Geoff - Selected Scriptures

"What we do in life echoes through eternity" --I wonder if he knew the veracity of his own statement...

Bauckham and Hart fittingly remind us... Because Jesus Christ is returning soon, we should "live expectantly" and "live a life oriented by hope." Great food for thought today.

I'm preaching on Evangelism and the Great Commission this Sunday at Church and here are a few quotes that I have mused over today... "'Not called!' did you say? 'Not heard the call,' I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters, and servants and masters not to come there. And then look Christ in the face, whose mercy you have professed to obey, and tell him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish his mercy to the world." --William Booth "Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell." --C.T. Studd "If sinners be dammed, at l

Just got home last night from our youth and college winter retreat. We were supposed to go to Big Bear to ski and board but all the freeways going up to Big Bear were closed. So we resorted to plan B—a local hotel. We had a blast as we studied the Word of God in the Executive Room at the Residence Inn. We also traveled up to Frazier Park and had a great day of sledding down some of the hills and played a great game of football in about 6 inches of snow. God truly blessed us with a great weekend. No injuries. No problems. No stoning the preacher. It all worked out well. Our theme for the weekend was God, Sex, and Purity. One of the things I was reminded of was how high (and necessary!) the calling is to preach and live out what you preach. God truly is good and I am thankful, yet again, for the clarity and power of God’s Word. The sermons are up and available to listen and/or download.

Hope for the Depressed by Ed Welch Never has so much been crammed into one word. Depression feels terrifying—your world is dark, heavy, painful. Some days you think that physical pain might be easier to endure; at least the pain would be localized. Instead, depression goes to your very soul, corrupting everything in its path. Dead but walking is one way to describe it. You feel numb, but you still remember when you actually felt something. Somehow that makes it harder to bear. So many things about your life are difficult right now. Things you used to take for granted—a good night’s sleep, having goals, looking forward to the future—now seem beyond your reach. Your relationships are also affected. The people who love you are looking for some emotional response from you, but you feel empty. Sometimes you are cranky and doubt their love, and then relationships are even more strained. You aren’t alone, of course. Depression affects as much as 25% of the population. Bu

Bonnie Ribune of the Chicago Tribune writes: The amount of time young people spend consuming media has ballooned with around-the-clock access and mobile devices that function practically as appendages, according to a new report. A few years ago, the same researchers thought that teens and tweens were consuming about as much media as humanly possible in the hours available. But somehow, young people have found a way to pack in even more. In the last five years, the time that America's 8- to 18-year-olds spend watching TV, playing video games and using a computer for entertainment has risen by 1 hour, 17 minutes a day, the Kaiser Family Foundation said. Young people now devote an average of 7 hours, 38 minutes to daily media use, or about 53 hours a week — more than a full-time job. "What surprised me the most is the sheer amount of media content coming into their lives each day," said Kaiser's Vicky Rideout, who directed the study. "When you step back and look at

I am utterly convinced that the responsibility to preach and teach God’s Word is the highest calling God could have placed upon feeble man. Last night I had the privilege of preaching at church and I delivered a sermon on why you should believe in the gospel. It was a gospel message. I had seven reasons: It reconciles you with a holy God It transforms you from the inside out It rescues you from eternal torment It promises you eternal life at the moment of death It gives you perspective in this world It compels you to evangelize the unsaved It instills in you a God-glorifying desire These truths are just a few of the myriad of reasons Scripture gives for us to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ! It is only in the gospel of Christ where sins may be forgiven, we may be washed and cleansed, and made right with Almighty God. Listen here .

Nearly all OT scholars affirm that the superscriptions (the titles) in the book of Psalms are not inspired. I differ, however. I am absolutely convinced they’re inspired and written by the author to enhance the historical setting and meaning of the psalm. For example, I’m preaching Psalm 51 tomorrow and the superscription (=title) says: בְּֽבֹוא־אֵ֭לָיו נָתָ֣ן הַנָּבִ֑יא כַּֽאֲשֶׁר־בָּ֝֗א אֶל־בַּת־שָֽׁבַע׃ When Nathan the prophet came to him when he went into Bathsheba. (Title in the English psalms) One reason why I believe the superscriptions are part of the inspired text is because of verse four (v.6 in Heb). לְךָ֤ לְבַדְּךָ֨ חָטָאתִי֮ וְהָרַ֥ע בְּעֵינֶ֗יךָ עָ֫שִׂ֥יתִי  Against you and you alone have I sinned and the evil in your eyes I have done. The amazing note is when David says: I have committed the evil. Virtually no commentators make reference to this but the only referent to this article on “evil” is the superscription speaking of Dav

I am currently preaching through the book of Psalms. Tomorrow night we are blessed to study Psalm 51. In studying this psalm, I came across this hymn that I’d never heard of before. I am going to close by reading a few of these verses. Written by Samuel Stone in 1866, Weary of Earth and Laden with My Sin contains marvelous theology: Weary of earth, and laden with my sin, I look at Heav’n and long to enter in, But there no evil thing may find a home: And yet I hear a voice that bids me “Come.” So vile I am, how dare I hope to stand In the pure glory of that holy land? Before the whiteness of that throne appear? Yet there are hands stretched out to draw me near. The while I fain would tread the heav’nly way Evil is ever with me day by day; Yet on mine ears the gracious tidings fall: “Repent, confess, thou shalt be loosed from all.” It is the voice of Jesus that I hear; His are the hands stretched out to draw me near, And His the blood that can for all ato

Now this is cool.

This is probably one of my most favorite videos for some reason. I always get a kick out of it and I always laugh--even though I've watched it many times!

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU… How would you finish this statement? What would you say? What is the most important thing you…? In our culture today, some think that the most important thing you can do is make a lot of money and support a family. Others suppose that the most important thing to be done is to better society and make our world “greener.” Still others, perhaps, think that we need to help others and make our world a “better place to live.” There may be a few others who think that the most important thing is to please—or appease—God by living a morally good life. Yet according to the Bible none of these are the most important thing. According to God—whose opinion alone ultimately matters—the most important thing you need is to be reconciled to God. Very bluntly, you were born into this world as an enemy of God. If you are not a Christian you are God’s enemy and none of God’s enemies enter heaven—ever. Souls are at stake, eternally. Eternal hell is at stake. E

One of the greatest blessings in a preacher’s ministry is when he raises up Godly men, teaches them the rules and methods of hermeneutics (biblical interpretation), educates them on how to prepare and preach a sermon while instructing them in godly living. This is one blessing that has become mine recently. A young man in our church was saved this past summer and as he has been delving into church ministry, church involvement, weekly men’s discipleship times, I’ve had the privilege of raising him up as a leader in our youth/college group. This week I am not preaching Tuesday night. The reason is because this man is going to preach his first sermon. I have met with him numerous times. We’ve gone over the rules of biblical interpretation, how to prepare a sermon, and how to preach a sermon. He preached his sermon for me this past week and I have him a sermon evaluation form completely filled out with encouraging remarks and helpful tips for improvement. What a joy to se

Just got home yesterday from an 11 day tour in Israel. Here are a few lessons God taught me this trip. First, God Guides . I knew this already. I have experienced this before in my life. But this trip reminded me and showed me that God truly is the One sovereignly orchestrating every single step of our lives. In Israel as I led our group of six around the land, I prayed daily for God to guide us and lead us to the perfect sites, that I would find them if they were tucked away in a corner somewhere. And God totally answered that prayer--daily. Second, God Guards . I also knew this. But God protected us. We had people that were nearly 70 years of age on the trip and that God protected them and guarded their bodies as we walked all around the Old City the final few days is remarkable. Additionally, God guarded us in a land that is very different than our own and a culture that is very different than our own. God truly is a wonderful shield. Third, God Convicts . I pray just as every Chri