PassageWay Church

On my desk is a wild assortment of documents, books, and important hand written notes scribbled on seemingly random pieces of paper. While some might view a messy desk as a net negative, it often signals high creativity, flexibility, and a focus on urgent, big-picture tasks. If you’re like me, perhaps you feel that bringing order to the chaos just crimps your style.  However, as we continue in the...

Confidence is an inner feeling or attitude of certainty. It’s an important quality that we seek to nurture in our children, a quality that we expect in professionals, like an attorney or a heart surgeon. A lack of confidence can be debilitating. No confidence will keep you from initiating conversation with that guy or girl you’re interested in. If you walk into a job interview shaking and stammeri...

The celebratory shouts of deliverance just days earlier had turned into derision. His body, beaten and bloodied by Roman executioners, now hung upon a cross between two common thieves as onlookers hurled insults. In unfathomable agony Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  It’s understandable why Judas the betrayer should be gone. He’d always been more interested in the mone...

There are certain moments when it's not only appropriate, but expected, to celebrate. Like Kool & the Gang we celebrate good times. We celebrate our favorite sports teams when they win a championship. Next Monday one college basketball team will be cutting down the nets while confetti falls from the rafters of the arena. It will be a celebration. We celebrate birthdays. You might throw a...

What is the public’s perception of the church? Recent research shows that overall favorability and trust has fallen compared with past decades. That could be due to the moral failure of high profile pastors. Some suggest it’s because of alignment with one political party, whether real or perceived. Media narratives might have something to do with it. People rate local pastors and congregations mor...

Are you whistling past the graveyard? Whistling past the graveyard is an idiom that suggests a conscious effort to ignore or downplay the seriousness of a threatening circumstance. It implies a false sense of security in situations where acknowledging reality would be more appropriate. Just outside of Jerusalem was a burial ground that contained the bodies of a husband and wife, Ananias and Sapphi...

A wallet chain is a fashion accessory with a clasp or hook on each end; one fastens to a wallet’s grommet and the other to a belt loop on your pants. It was originally used by bikers to keep wallets from falling out while riding. But did you know there is an invisible chain that attaches your wallet to your heart? Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” When a daughter...

Honey is an incredible substance, but it comes at a cost. And for good reason. It’s labor intensive, not only for the beekeeper, but for the bees. A single bee will only produce about 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime. A single pound of finished honey from a hive requires the bees to make about 2 million flower visits. Talk about labor intensive! But finished honey has anti-bacterial, an...

On October 30, 2001 President George W. Bush threw out the first pitch for game 3 of the World Series. This wasn’t just any ceremonial first pitch. The entire nation was still reeling from 9/11, New York City was at the epicenter of those devastating attacks, and remarkably, the Yankees had won the American League pennant.  The president declined to throw out the first pitch in game 1, which took...

How do they do that? Perhaps you’ve asked yourself this question while watching freestyle skiers at the winter Olympics. Freestyle skiing is considered the most dangerous of all the events, with injury rates reaching 28%. Competitors perform dangerous tricks, such as the switch triple cork 1980, which consists of three flips and 5½ rotations. How do they do that?  At the beginning of Acts 3, we re...

When my boys and I used to shoot around the basketball, we would play a game called Horse. Perhaps you’re familiar with the game. Each player takes a turn shooting the ball. If the person before you makes a basket, you must replicate that same shot. If you miss, you get a letter. When a player accumulates all the letters, he’s out. But we had a rule. If you missed your shot on the last letter, you...

What do you look for in a church? Do you know a good one when you see it? Many Christians look for a church that fits their preferences: their preferred style of preaching, their preferred style of music, or their preferred demographic (age, stage of life, ethnicity, or culture). You might look for a thriving youth group or engaging activities for the kids. Perhaps you prefer a church of a certain...

We live in a complicated era of human communication. On one hand, people will listen to an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience that lasts well over two hours. On the other hand, TikTok videos and Instagram reels typically run 30 to 60 seconds. And then there are preachers who’ve been presenting 3 points and a poem for centuries.  What makes for a good sermon? Is it the length? Choosing a topic of...

You’ve probably seen a business sign or logo with the abbreviation “Est.” followed by a date, indicating the year a business, organization, or location officially began operations. The date of establishment is often used to convey a sense of history, tradition, stability, and experience. These same signs are often hung in homes, indicating the year of a couple’s marriage, when the family was estab...

Have you ever had to wait? Perhaps you’ve been waiting a long time for a promotion or a pay increase at work. Maybe you’ve been waiting for Mr. Right to finally walk up and introduce himself. You might be desperately waiting until the kids are out of diapers, old enough to attend school, or get their license so they can drive themselves to activities. Maybe you’re waiting on the results from your...

The crowd excitedly counts down—ten, nine, eight—then as the final number is swallowed up in a roar of cheers, the first firework shoots up into the midnight sky. With a sharp crack, it blossoms into a colorful display. The golden embers begin their descent when, suddenly, a flurry of rockets screams upward. The sky, moments ago quiet and black, is now alive, full of light and sound. After several...

Perhaps you’ve recently done some holiday baking. Successful seasonal sweets require strict adherence to the recipe. One missing ingredient, applying incorrect proportions, or poor technique can result in a kitchen catastrophe. And so it is with the making of disciples. This Advent season, we reflected on an ancient Christmas hymn found in Galatians 4:4-5. These two verses form the objective basis...

For both the believer and non-believer alike, surely the most powerful part of the Christmas story is Jesus’ humble estate. Hollywood itself couldn’t invent a more mind-boggling script. The king of the universe leaves his heavenly throne room, counting as nothing all of his divine glory, the eternal majesty, and endless adulation to become a helpless little baby. He wasn’t born into royalty, but i...

Harry Houdini was a world-famous Hungarian-American magician, illusionist, and stunt performer. He specialized in escaping seemingly impossible situations. He was perhaps the most famous illusionist known for escaping straitjackets, even while suspended upside down from a crane. He would use flexibility, a specially designed jacket, and sometimes shoulder dislocation to free his arms and then undo...

Away in a Manger is one of the most beloved Christmas carols for children. Sung softly as a lullaby, the lyrics remind us of Jesus’ humble beginnings. You can imagine Mary rocking the newborn baby Jesus in her arms, then gently laying him in the hay. The second verse continues this peaceful scene of nativity, “The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, but little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes…” New...

"Don't settle for just any insurance when there's State Farm.” Perhaps you’ve seen this series of advertisements on television lately. One begins with QB Patrick Mahomes, sitting on a treatment table, nursing his sore muscles after the game, needing medical attention from an athletic trainer. Instead, in walks a different kind of trainer, the pop singer, Megan Trainor. The commercia...

During the Christmas season, we sing many traditional songs that tell of Jesus' birth. Perhaps the most well-known is Silent Night. Other popular hymns include: “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” “Joy to the World,” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”  But in the book of Galatians, we find a short passage of Scripture that is perhaps the oldest of all the Christmas hymns. Many scholars believe Galati...

The ending is important to any good story. It resolves the central conflict. It reveals consequences for the characters, whether good or bad, which provides closure. A good ending ties together themes and motifs, thus clarifying the story’s message. If the book is part of a series, the author will plant a hook to set up the sequel. And so it is as we conclude our salvation story. In this final epi...

“Circle of Life,” composed by Elton John, was the title track to the iconic Disney film, The Lion King. The song describes an interconnected, cyclical nature of existence, where birth, growth, death, and rebirth form a continuous loop. These concepts are common in Hinduism, Buddhism, and nature-based spirituality. It can make for heartwarming fiction. But the Bible contains a different explanation...

Can anything be certain in life? Benjamin Franklin famously wrote, “But, in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.” Yet we go throughout our day with varying degrees of certainty about many things. You’re probably pretty certain that your alarm clock will go off in the morning, so that you can make it to work on time. You’re probably reasonably certain that your car will start and...