Dreams Unlocked

Pastor Matt Chandler confessing his inappropriate online relationship with a woman in the congregation. He also announces the board of elders has asked him to not teach and preach for an indeterminate amount of time. A couple of days behind on this one. So, Matt Chandler, mega-church pastor, popular Christian author, and speaker has been asked by his elder board to not teach or preach for a while. And the very large and influential Acts 29 church planting organization he heads has also asked him not to do anything public. (If you want the full story just google his name and several dozen news articles will pop up. Sadly, Chandler's name and his church and ministry will forever be wedded to this moral stumble.) The reason for his very public censure? An inappropriate online relationship between himself and a woman who is not his wife. Apparently, nothing sexual or romantic - but "unguarded and unwise". So much so that his elder board chose to discipline him by asking him t...

Everybody knows there is a problem with our world. Our world is broken. We read about our broken world every day. Not only is the world broken, but we are also broken. We have been hurt by others and we have hurt others. The brokenness in this world is so deep that no human being can mend it. We need power from another, more powerful source. And that help has come to us. God reached down to this broken planet by becoming a man - Jesus Christ.  A man who never did anything wrong. Jesus kept all the laws of God. Jesus Christ died on a cross and when he died, an amazing transfer took place. For those who place their trust in him receive the credit of Jesus’ perfect life and Jesus receives the punishment we deserve for our disobedience of God. Jesus not only died in our place – but he rose from the dead on the third day.  Jesus’ resurrection shows us that the final enemy – death itself has been conquered. The mending of this broken world will not come about by our...

As we think of this day we need to ask – why? Why do we pray in this way? 2 reasons – we love God and we love people. Jesus – the greatest commandment love the Lord your god w. all your heart, soul, and mind. In prayer, we strengthen these ties of love that we have with God. Just like regular communication strengthens the human relationships we have. You and your spouse will not grow closer to one another if you never speak to one another – in fact, that’s how we punish others – I’m never speaking to her/him again! But, Because we love God, we want to speak to him, we want to hear him – we want to be in his presence. The second reason we gather is we love people – Jesus said the second is like the first – love your neighbor as yourself. We pray for America – because America is made up of people – people that God loves and longs to be in a relationship with. There is not a human being alive in this country that God does not love – that means there is not a human...

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Hi folks - I think I am going to be writing a lot more regularly on here - as I am under coronavirus incarceration with the rest of the world. I am still working full time as a pastor - but in ways seminary never trained me! Today I'd like to share some tips that we are doing as a family not just survive but THRIVE during this pandemic. Here are 6 simple but important tips: 1. SCHEDULE - If you haven't already work on a daily schedule with your kids. It should have variety, independent time and time together as a family. Our kid's schedule has study, screen time, family time and outdoor time to just name 4. 2. OUTSIDE - GO OUTSIDE!!!! This is super important. Your brain will thank you. Go outside AT LEAST twice a day if possible. Once in the morning and once in the afternoon. The fresh air is great. The movement is great. And the change of scenery is great. 3. SCHOOL WORK - Our children are in public school and are now finally getting some school work. I would encou...

First off - I want to be clear - I am in no way judging, condemning, looking down on or thinking less of anyone who has gone through a divorce. Your marital status does not change how I think of you. I said - I hate divorce - NOT divorced people. I have a special place of empathy and respect for those who have walked through that difficult valley - something I am unsure of how I would manage myself. What I hate is the pain divorce puts people through. (There might be ultimate liberation and freedom - but I've never met anyone who has had a joyful divorce). The painful comments left on my post show the lingering pain that wants sticks to us even if we are years down the road from our divorce. I quoted part of Malachi 2:16 which reads, "I hate divorce" The New International Version has a different interpretation: “The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the Lord Almighty. So be o...

I answered some questions that some smart kids in our church asked me. Here they are: 1. How did God come to be? 2. When do you think literally or symbolically about the Bible? 3. Why are there so many old fashioned or hard to read words? 4. Regarding translations and language- Why and how are there so many languages the Bible had to “get through” to get to us? 5. Where is heaven? How high above or far away, etc.? 1. God did not come to be. God was not created. God is eternal - meaning he has always existed. 2. You think literally or symbolically about the Bible by understanding the specific literary genre of what you are reading - this requires a little bit more studying by you - how to read the bible for all its worth by Gordon fee and Doug Stuart can help you do this. 3. This question depends on which translation you are using. A contemporary translation will not have old-sounding words - these include New Living or The Message...

 The gospel is the power of God for salvation. Therefore, all ministry must be gospel-centered. Any other focus will lead a church or ministry out of balance. This gospel-centered and gospel-driven ministry must rest completely and totally on the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. If we are not relying on the Spirit then we are laboring in vain and are only building human-powered programs or institutions.

Recently I've been involved in a number of conversations here in Ithaca between other faith leaders, the Department of Social Services and a family court judge. We are jointly seeking a way to better care for the children in foster care. Children who have been removed from their birth parents due to neglect or abuse. The stories the judge has shared are incredibly heartbreaking. I am glad churches and synagogues are seeking ways to partner with the State in caring for these children. One of the most powerful books I have ever read was about a pregnant woman who was told the child she was carrying had a very rare defect that would result in malformed lungs. If she chose to carry the child to term the child would be in a lot of pain during delivery and would die very soon after birth. She and her husband wrestled with the ethical implications. Both were Christians and felt abortion was a sin - but..... would a termination of the pregnancy actually be more loving in this case? Seei...

"What is this incomparable energy which appears first in one walking the earth like a living judgement and this energy which can die with a dying civilization and yet force it to a resurrection from the dead; this energy which at last of all can inflame a bankrupt peasantry with so fixed a faith in justice that they get what they ask while others go away empty; so that the most helpless island of the Empire can actually help itself?" - G.K. Chesterton in Orthodoxy.

I am a pastor. I traffic in a world of repentance and forgiveness. Both actions being central to my faith. This past week the world was treated to one of the most stunning acts of forgiveness ever caught on film. First, the background. On September 6, 2018, off duty police officer Amber Guyger entered what she thought was her own apartment in Dallas Texas. It was actually the apartment one floor above her own. Upon entering she saw someone sitting on what she thought was her couch. Alarmed, Guyger drew her weapon and asked to see the stranger’s hands. (This part is questionable as no neighbor recalls hearing any commands yelled out before the shots.) Botham Jean was in his own apartment eating ice-cream on his couch. He must have been startled by a strange woman with weapon drawn shouting commands at him. He did not respond fast enough and Guyger shot two rounds aimed at Jean’s torso. Her expertise in weaponry proved tragic as she aimed directly at the c...

I have sensed that I need to start writing again. I have written a lot in the past and am now starting to seek out magazines and journals that might want to hear what I have to say. Right now, I'll stick with the blog. For most of my life, I have been fascinated by the racial conversation in the United States. When I was in grade 8 in Canada, I wrote a bio on my hero - Jessie Jackson - my teacher didn't even know who he was. I have now lived in the States for almost 7 years. In that time I have come to see how deeply entrenched racism is in this country. It is simply in the air we breathe. You have to live here to truly understand the depth of it. And it is racism primarily against blacks and black men in particular. Over the past year, I have become a bit more outspoken in the pulpit about this issue. And the tragic thing is I have received more pushback on this issue than anything else controversial I have ever spoken on. It's incredibly depressing to see Christians...

A recent video reflecting on some wisdom from Henri Nouwen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsXq_lTsVfk&t=85s

National emergency? I’ve been living in the United States for almost 6 years and I feel completely removed from this emergency.  In the time I have lived here however there have been  300 000 opiod related deaths 400 000 gun related deaths (both homicide and suicide) And...... 3000 illegal alien related murder convictions - that is people illegally in America who were convicted of murder.  I know what I have written is simplistic - I am not accounting for other crimes committed by illegals - but if we look at death stats alone - it appears we have other emergencies that also need to be dealt with.  Note - I have used all government sources for data for the above stats.  

I've read 50 books in 2018 (so far). Here they are: 1.     Gray Mountain - John Grisham 2.     Joy Unspeakable - Martyn Lloyd Jones 3.     The Kingdom and the Cross - James Bryant Smith 4.     How to be Pentecostal without Speaking in Tongues - Tony Campolo 5.     The Great Giveaway - David Fitch 6.     Answering Jihad - Nabeel Qureshi 7.     Complete Book of Discipleship - Bill Hull 8.     A small Cup of Light - Ben Palpant 9.     Selection Day - Aravind Adiga 10.  The Great Evangelical Recession - John Dickerson 11.  The Following Plough - J. Neville Ward 12.  Between the World and Me - Ta-Nehisi Coates 13.  A Mind Awake - CS Lewis 14.  Gift From the Sea - Anne Morrow Lindbergh 15.  Experiencing the Trinity - Darrell w. Johnson 16.  Make Your Bed - Admiral William H. McRaven 17....