PassageWay Church

John Lennon and Paul McCartney. What a dynamic duo. The Beatles were one of the most successful bands ever, until personal tensions and creative differences led to their breakup. Think of all the music that could have been written. At the end of Acts 15 we read about an even more surprising separation. Paul and Barnabas were long-time friends and colleagues. Godly men who’d been in the trenches of...

It’s common to disparage doctrine and doctrinal debates. You might think doctrine is for theology nerds; a mere intellectual exercise. Perhaps you may think it's even more malignant than that; doctrine divides. Doctrines are beliefs that govern behavior. We all espouse doctrines. The only question is whether or not our doctrine is sound.  In last week’s episode, we read that church leaders ga...

In the history of the church, there have been some important councils, official gatherings of church leaders from all over the Christian world. There was the Council of Nicaea in AD 325, where they debated the deity of Christ. Then there was the First Council of Constantinople in AD 381, where they discussed the nature of the Holy Spirit. As important as those councils were, the first was perhaps...

The game of football consists of four 15-minute quarters. The winning team isn’t determined by who makes the most big plays or by who dominates in just one phase of the game. The winner is determined by which team has the most points when the final whistle blows. It’s quite plain to see when a football game has been completed. The coach gives a post-game press conference and can objectively assess...

Just before 8:00 am on January 12, 2007, a middle-aged man dressed in jeans, a long sleeved t-shirt, and a ball cap entered a subway station in Washington D.C. He opened his violin case, pulled out the instrument, and played for 45 minutes. Footage records only 7 people stopping for more than a minute to take in the music. Children appeared to be the ones most interested in lingering. When he fini...

Has there ever been a time in your life when you just felt like giving up? Maybe you applied to dozens of jobs without receiving any offers. Or perhaps you were struggling to get out of debt, scraping together just enough to make the minimum payments, when a health crisis hit, leaving you with a mountain of doctor bills. Perhaps you’ve felt like giving up on your marriage. How does a person overco...

Have you read the news lately? Debates are raging across the country over controversial issues from Flock cameras to data centers. While personal privacy concerns and responsible land management are certainly important civic matters, the Bible doesn’t contain explicit teaching about these things. Therefore, Christians might find themselves on different sides of the issue. But then there is the ong...

A campaign is a planned, coordinated series of actions designed to achieve a specific goal. There are military campaigns, ad campaigns, and political campaigns. Whatever the kind, success depends on clear goals, a well-defined audience, compelling messaging, disciplined execution, and continuous learning.  But as we continue in the Book of Acts, we read about a different kind of campaign: an evang...

Space missions are organized projects to send manned or robotic spacecraft into space for the purpose of exploration, scientific research, and technological advancement. According to the Planetary Society, the total cost of the Apollo program, which put a man on the moon, was $25.8 billion; that’s approximately $309 billion when adjusted for modern inflation. Space missions are complicated and cos...

Space missions are organized projects to send manned or robotic spacecraft into space for the purpose of exploration, scientific research, and technological advancement. Since the launch of Sputnik and the dawn of the space age in 1957, there have been over 7300 orbital rocket launch attempts and 415 human spaceflights. Launching rockets into space is complicated and costly. A single active space...

On the evening of September 11, 2012, a group of armed militants assaulted the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. Embassy personnel repeatedly requested urgent help from both local Libyan security assets and U.S. military forces. However, due to insufficient preparedness, lack of clarity in the approval chain, restrictive rules of engagement, and other factors, help never arrived. Four A...

For some time now, we've been in the book of Acts, and at least 3 times the author Luke has introduced us to a character by the name of Barnabas. Barnabas was a guy who was an encourager. That was what his name meant, son of encouragement. We saw how he invited and encouraged Saul into ministry. He went and found him in Tarsus and brought him to Antioch to partner with him in ministry.  Each...

The ripple effects from Cornelius’ conversion were felt throughout the entire church. The whole incident revealed not only that a Gentile could be saved just like a Jew, but that they also could enjoy full joint fellowship. The law of Moses, which created obstacles separating Jews from Gentiles, had been fulfilled by Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice. The Spirit now defined the boundaries and cha...

E Pluribus Unum is a Latin phrase that translates to “Out of many, one." It was the first unofficial motto of the United States and, by law, is still placed on all U.S. coins minted today. E Pluribus Unum symbolizes how thirteen separate colonies banded together to form a single, united nation. Two hundred and fifty years later, we are certainly many, a melting pot. But are we one? Unity is d...

Forty-eight nations are currently participating in the 2026 FIFA World Cup at stadiums throughout the United States, Mexico, and Canada. It’s an expanded field this year that includes first-time participants like Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan. In order to qualify, teams had to advance out of their respective regional tournaments across the 6 continental confederations. There’s a lot...

In Sicilian dialect, buddaci refers to the painted comber, a common fish species found in the Strait of Messina. It’s a type of sea bass with a small body and disproportionately large mouth. Buddaci is also a denigrating nickname used to describe the people of Messina. Like the fish with a small body but big mouth, it refers to someone who talks a lot, often making big claims but taking very littl...

John Newton was an overt atheist and slave trader. But after his dramatic conversion, he became a leader in the British abolitionist movement and penned the beloved hymn, Amazing Grace. Before his dramatic conversion, Augustine was a womanizer and an intellectually arrogant philosopher. Yet, he would go on to become the most influential theologian in the history of the church. But the most signifi...

John Newton was born in east London in 1725. As a young man, he joined the navy and worked on merchant ships. Like most sailors of his time, he was well-known to be given to blasphemy, gambling, and alcohol. Newton was an outspoken atheist and would often attempt to persuade others to abandon their faith in God.  For several years, he worked in the slave trade and commandeered his own slave ship....

A special message from a special guest this week. Passageway Church welcomed back Lincoln Murdoch of Step Up To Life (https://www.stepuptolife.com), a friend and mentor to many at Passageway Church. Though not a continuation of our walk through Acts, his message this week fits with the current To The Ends of the Earth series. Few understand both ends of the relationship between a Sending Church an...

Have you ever had a divine appointment? A divine appointment refers to an unexpected, meaningful encounter with another person specifically orchestrated by God. The timing, purpose, and outcome of the experience are more than simply random chance or coincidence.  One of the most well-known New Testament examples of a divine appointment is described in Acts 8. The Lord led Philip to an unlikely pla...

Jesus once compared the kingdom of God to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds also appeared. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?” He s...

Life is full of unexpected twists and turns. Perhaps you never intended to be in your current career field. Maybe you never envisioned yourself as the mother of 3 young children or living in a small midwestern town. Most often, life’s circumstances are the result of our own choices, both good and bad. However, you might find yourself in a certain situation because of someone else’s actions. How do...

According to the organization, Open Doors International, 315 million Christians worldwide are living right now under extreme or very high levels of persecution. This past year alone, 4849 Christians have been murdered for their faith. 4712 imprisoned. The most dangerous countries to be a Christian are North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, and Sudan. In North Korea, persecution is the result of dictatorial...

How confident are you in sharing your faith with others? Would you be able to explain the gospel to someone who asks? In a culture that pushes back against the exclusive claims of Christianity, are you prepared to respond? In Acts 7, we read that Stephen stood before the Sanhedrin and mounted a compelling defense in response to the charges of blasphemy leveled against him. Utilizing hellenistic rh...

What makes for a good pitchman? One of the most iconic in recent memory was the actor Dennis Haysbert, who advertised for Allstate Insurance. His most famous role was probably President Palmer on the television series, 24, which lended gravitas and authority to his persona. His distinctive looks and deep voice were calm and reassuring. A good pitchman should be knowledgeable, articulate, credible,...