Asbury Church

What is the point of reading the Bible? What does it *do* for us? According to the Apostle Paul, the Bible makes us wise in a particularly important way: It teaches us of the inevitability of our deaths and the reality that Jesus saves. Paul calls this being "wise for salvation”. What could be more important than growing wise with regard to the most important facts of human existence, namely death...

It’s so easy to be a conduit for negativity to spread. To encounter frustration or anxiety or hatred and anger, and then to spread it further. What’s so moving about the account of Joseph, when he finds out that Mary is pregnant, is what he does NOT do. He doesn’t make things worse. Rather, he just quietly makes his decision, and that action allows God to continue to work. In other words, Joseph a...

"Are You Better Off Today Than You Were Four Years Ago?” That’s the question politicians like to ask us. But, when’s the last time you put that question to yourself, spiritually? As we see with Zechariah’s unbelief in Luke chapter 1, God has more for everyone, even good, moral people.

The Tenth Commandment is against “coveting.” That’s an old-fashioned concept that no one really seems to talk about any more. Which is a shame, because coveting is a sure way to be unhappy. This is because coveting is wanting something that isn’t yours to have. Including someone else’s life. And wanting something that isn't yours to have is a sure way to be miserable. It’s like when Peter asked Je...

How do you respond when the Holy Spirit prompts you to act, especially when the request feels unusual or unexpected? Do you obey? Do you hesitate? Do you try to reason your way out of it?   What if God is calling you to take the first step in love toward someone who isn’t like you, someone who may disagree with you, avoid you, or even hate you? When we realize obedience to the Lord is not ultimate...

The question I get the most whenever I talk about Love Goes First is this: What about when I go first and it doesn’t seem to make any difference? I love this question, because it means folks are actually putting these ideas into practice. The interaction of Jesus and the rich young ruler gives us an answer. Jesus loves the young man by telling him something he doesn’t want to hear. The result? The...

The only way we are going to reach the people that don’t think like us, vote like us, agree with us—maybe even hate us—is to go first toward. There is no other way. The problem is that going first comes with a cost. We can’t say that Jesus didn’t warn us.

How are we going to reach the people who don’t vote like us, think like us, agree with, maybe even hate us? The first step, surely, is to actually *see* them. Many people go a long time without ever truly being seen. Take Zacchaeus, for example: a radical change in his life starts when Jesus stops and sees him.

That’s what my mom used to say to me and my brothers when we were little boys and would complain about the snakes around our African house. I still don’t think she was right about the cobras we complained about. But with regard to other people: she’s dead on. Other people really are more scared of you than you are of them. In a world in which everyone is waiting to react to everyone else, the one...

One of the most overlooked aspects of Jesus’s ministry is how often he found himself in conflict—and with whom. Often it was not those who he was trying to reach, but members of his own tribe. If we're to reach across divides and love those who aren’t like us, we must accept and embody a particular trait of Jesus: the willingness to be misunderstood by our own side. If we choose not to, it will be...

We live in the most scientific and technologically advanced society in history. And people are more imprisoned by their feelings than ever. Isn’t that strange? The political commentator Ben Shapiro is known for his catchphrase: "Facts don’t care about your feelings." That is 100% true... and these days 100% irrelevant. Many people claim that what’s true is whatever they *feel* to be true. How do w...

There are three dead ends facing the church in our time. We could accommodate, let go of anything the culture finds offensive. We could double-down and shout judgement more shrilly. We could withdraw and try to remain pure and unpolluted by the world. But those three options are all dead ends for the church. There is only way forward. In week 02 of our “Love Goes First” series, we are asking, “How...

“What do we do now?” There is lots of talk about division and polarization these days, but what should we actually *do* about it? In a nation of 340 million people there are millions of people who don’t think like you, vote like you, look like you, maybe even people who hate you. For the church, reaching others is not an option: it is a command from Jesus. How are we going to reach the people that...

What if there were no more mercy? What if the Lord just turned off the tap that allows mercy to flow so that there were no mercy for *anyone*? In our series on Jonah, we’ve come to the last chapter, one of the most explosive and unsettling chapters in the entire Bible. In Jonah chapter 4, Jonah is so angry he would rather die than live. Why? Because he hates God for being a God of mercy. The Lord...

What If The Best Way to Defeat Your Enemies Is to Convert Them? God’s mission is this: to go to the greatest possible lengths, not to defeat his enemies–but to convert them. In Jonah chapter 3, for example, we see that Jonah is sent to Nineveh on a mission from God. Why God wants to save the people of Nineveh. In our day, the mission hasn’t changed—we are to pray and fight for the conversion of ou...

The only thing worse than being caught is NOT being caught. Here’s what I mean by that: As painful as it can be to be caught and confronted when we are doing something wrong, nevertheless being caught gives us the opportunity to repent and change direction. Otherwise, we might continue in sin until it’s too late to turn back. This is what we see in Jonah chapter 2. Jonah has been publicly identifi...

There is a Latin phrase that I like: “Esse quam videri.” Which means, “To be, rather than to seem.” In other words, it is about what’s really true and not what we pretend to be true. The little book of Jonah is a profoundly unsettling story, and one of the things it does is show us the gap between who Jonah says he is and who he actually is. It turns out that Jonah, despite what he says, is very f...

Are you on the Standard Plan or the Sunday Plus Plan? In our final installment of the What I Learned on Summer Vacation sermon series, we looked at a basic principle Jesus teaches the disciples: In the Kingdom of God, if you lean in you get more. This is a secret that all-too-few Christians know; it’s a life hack that will change your life

It’s one of the saddest things I can think of: What if God were ready to bless but we weren’t ready to receive? In this latest installment of our series What I Learned on Summer Vacation, we talked about the urgency of preparation. I love what the Apostle Peter told the early church: Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be b...

Ever seen that bumper sticker, “God is my co-pilot”? Heard that song, “Jesus, take the wheel”? I totally get the sentiments behind that kind of thing, but over the summer I’ve been really troubled by the underlying, unspoken ideas that go along with those sorts of sayings and sentiments. The reason why is because the Bible teaches that God created humanity to represent him and rule over the non-h...

Every year, I come back from summer vacation with lots of things on my mind to share with Asbury. This year, it’s one simple verb that has really got me thinking: the verb “learned.” As in “I learned to be content” (Philippians 4:11). Here’s why that word means so much to me.

There is something beautiful about the sweetness and simplicity of a child's prayer as they go to their Heavenly Father. Jesus emphasized the importance of childlike faith by taking the time to help His followers understand it. In doing so, a few traits stand out: humility, humbleness, and simplicity. Yet, there is also a persistent quality that seems relentless. Have you stopped praying because y...

Acts 4:23-31 is a remarkable prayer! Peter and John have just spent the night in prison after healing a man and proclaiming the good news of Jesus. Rather than praying for protection, they ask the Lord to give them the ability to "continue to speak your word with all boldness." They could have focused intently on their challenging circumstances. Instead, they turned their attention outward to the...

If the answer to every prayer were an immediate “Yes!” then prayer would be easy. Prayer warriors are forged in the furnace of adversity, grit, determination, and perseverance. Like most things that matter in life, prayer takes work. Breakthrough is possible. And so, keep going. One day at a time.

Have you ever realized that children are our reinforcements?   Building up and building for the next generation is the best way to push back against the darkness, to really make a difference.   Hence: "family is how we fight.”   But, it’s not easy.   Even to talk about it makes a lot of us uncomfortable.   On Father's Day 2025, we dived right into the discomfort and the controversies.   Yes, this...