PassageWay Church

As little 5-year-old Johnny scoots himself away from the dinner table he digs down deep into his trouser pocket, pulls out a crumpled ten-dollar bill, slaps it on the table, and exclaims, “Thanks Mom for the delicious meal!”  His father looks at him quite puzzled and little Johnny, sensing his father’s confusion says, “Don’t worry Dad, I paid my portion of the monthly mortgage yesterday by direct...

Perhaps you’re familiar with those TV courtroom dramas like Hot Bench or Judge Judy. Maybe you remember The People’s Court that started it all. Real-life litigants would agree to have their small claims disputes settled by the Honorable Judge Joseph Wapner. Each party pleaded its case, insisting on the rightness of their cause before a binding judgment was rendered. As we continue reading in our s...

A study has revealed that 48% of Americans pray at least once a day. Most people pray for their own needs and even more pray for friends and family. Some people say they’ve prayed for a parking spot (7 percent), others for their favorite sports team to win a game (13 percent). Perhaps surprisingly, 21 percent of respondents in this study admitted they’ve prayed to win the lottery. Most people beli...

"Fake it till you make it” means to project confidence and competence, even if you don't feel it, to achieve a goal or become someone you aspire to be. It's the idea that by acting as though you have the skills or qualities you desire, you can eventually acquire them through experience and practice. Yet this can be a tiring, even dangerous game to play. In his letter to the Christia...

In the summer of 2017 Amee and I took what we anticipated would be our last family vacation with all the kids. Our oldest child was in college, the next was entering his senior year of high school and we were headed back to the mission field. We wanted to make it memorable. So, we decided to take a road trip to Washington, DC. That’s 1603 miles of family bonding; site-seeing and picnicking along t...

In our salvation story we’ve read that Jesus was on a journey. He had left the northern region of Galilee and was headed south toward Jerusalem. He was determined to go to Jerusalem because he knew that it was there where he would suffer and die according to the predetermined plan of God in order to offer himself up as a substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of the world.  In his letter to the Ph...

Who are some of the most famous monarchs to have ever lived? Alexander the Great, the Grecian ruler was renowned for his military exploits. Louis XIV, known as the Sun King, oversaw the golden age of French art and culture. Cleopatra was the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, maybe most famous for her love affair with Julius Caesar and later Mark Anthony. There was the British monarch, King George III...

Perhaps you’ve taken a job just for the benefits. Maybe you’re a new mom who’d prefer to stay home with the baby but you get health coverage through your work. So, you put in part-time hours to keep that benefit. Maybe you're ready to retire but you keep working until fully vested in the company’s pension plan. You hang on for the benefits. Sometimes we maintain personal relationships just fo...

To be vigilant means to be carefully observant and attentive, especially to potential danger or trouble. Like a mom watching her kids play at the city pool, she remains vigilant. She's vigilant about protecting them from the harmful rays of the sun, applying generous amounts of sun screen on all their exposed skin. She's vigilant about their safety while playing in and around the water....

Recent Pew Research indicates that 71% of Americans believe in the existence of heaven. 64% of those who believe in heaven think they’ll go there. On the other hand, 61% of Americans believe in hell. Only 1% think they’ll end up there. Evidently, most people believe that hell is for other people. As we continue reading in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus tells a disturbing story. The parable of the rich man a...

Playing basketball in eighth grade PE there was always that one kid who would stay down on the offensive end of the court positioned under his own goal just waiting for the ball so he could easily score. We had a name for that guy. He was a cherry picker. He wouldn’t do the hard work of hustling back on defense, yet he’d get all the fun of scoring baskets.  Cherry picking is choosing and taking on...

In 1985, Steve Jobs was ousted from the company he had cofounded, Apple Computer. 11 years later he was invited back to rescue the struggling business. If you had invested $1,000 in Apple stock on Feb. 4, 1997, the day that Jobs returned as CEO, today, you would have over $1.3 million. Just for perspective, a similar $1,000 investment in an index fund that replicates the S&P 500 would be worth...

A scandal is a circumstance or action that offends propriety or established moral norms. In 1919, members of the Chicago White Sox accepted money from professional gamblers to effectively throw the World Series. This was the infamous Black Sox scandal. In 1995, President Bill Clinton, began an illicit sexual relationship with a 22 year old intern inside the oval office. It was all so scandalous. O...

What makes you happy? Perhaps you enjoy a quiet evening sitting in front of a fire, reading a book, while sipping hot cocoa. Or maybe the idea of going out with friends, talking and laughing sounds like a real party. If you’re married, what makes your spouse happy? What makes your kids happy?  As we continue on in our salvation story we read what makes God happy. All of heaven rejoices when even o...

In this year’s Super Bowl the Kansas City Chiefs will attempt to make history by winning their 3rd straight NFL title. Under head coach Coach Andy Reid and QB Patrick Mahomes the Chiefs have amassed a considerable following. Chiefs kingdom is huge. Of course another reason for their popularity doesn’t have anything to do with exploits on the football field. It’s because TE Travis Kelce is dating t...

Our son and his fiancé recently sent out invitations to their wedding, which is set to take place this coming June. As parents of the groom, we helped create the guest list. The wedding party was at the top of the list followed by our immediate family, then grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and life-long family friends. Of course we had to make some difficult choices. There’s limited space...

At 8:33 am on April 24, 1990, the three main engines of Space Shuttle Discovery roared to life. Almost immediately, the massive 17-story tall twin solid rocket boosters ignited, each capable of burning 12,000 pounds of propellant per second. 6 seconds later, STS-31 left the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center. In her cargo bay was an incredible feat of human engineering, the joint product of NASA a...

In his classic apologetic work, Mere Christianity , C.S. Lewis describes the core beliefs of historic Christian faith. In chapter 8, entitled “The Great Sin,” Lewis writes,  “I now come to the part of Christian morals where they differ most sharply from all other morals. There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which everyone in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else and...

If you’re like most Americans you’ve already abandoned your New Year’s resolutions. This year, Friday, January 10th was officially Quitter’s Day. The term originated from research done in 2019, which found that 80% of people who make resolutions have already given up by the second Friday in January. Maybe you purposed to save more money, eat healthier, exercise more, lose weight, or spend more tim...

Perhaps you’re familiar with the 2019 college admissions scandal. William Singer was an independent college admissions counselor in California who worked with wealthy families hoping to get their kids into top schools. In addition to his college counseling business, Singer operated The Key Foundation, a charitable organization, which Singer established to “unlock the door to academic, social, pers...

Around 700 BC the Old Testament prophet Isaiah wrote about a coming king. He wouldn’t be just any ordinary king. He would sit on the throne of his father David, and of his kingdom there would be no end. His name would be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. This Advent season we’re considering each of these five names ascribed to the most conseq...

Have you ever felt stuck? As if you were made for something more? Something bigger? One Christian author described this feeling when he wrote, "We are big dreamers hemmed in, behind and before, by a small job, small church, small town, small life.” We are, generally speaking, aspirational people. We have a strong desire for success and achievement. Yet this longing for more can cause us to ov...

Around 700 BC the Old Testament prophet Isaiah wrote about a coming king. He wouldn’t be just any ordinary king. He would sit on the throne of his father David, and of his kingdom there would be no end. His name would be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. This Advent season we’re considering each of these five names ascribed to the most conseq...

Some time ago one of our adult children experienced a sudden and tragic loss. As this news was shared with us their emotional pain was plain to see. My heart ached for them. I’d never seen one of my children suffer like that. When they were little they’d scrape a knee and come running. Oh the tears. I’d scoop them up, hold them tight, and clean the wound. Later on the coach would stick them in the...

Napoleon was a brilliant military leader who enjoyed many successes on the battlefield. As Emperor, he made France the dominant power in Europe but all of this went to his head and led him to make one of history’s most notorious military blunders. He decided to invade Russia which turned into a colossal defeat and marked a turning point for the French Empire. Not only was Napoleon’s reputation sev...