Pastor Matthew shared the following remarks with the New Hope Church community during the time of lament in the worship gathering on Sunday, May 31, 2020, less than a week after George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis. These past several days I’ve been in Tennessee because, as many of you know by now, my mom READ MORE
For a couple of days I have watched, admittedly from the comfortable confines of my home, the unfolding drama in Mexico because of the earthquake, and the unfolding events in Puerto Rico because of Hurricane Maria. Of course, both of these horrid disasters come on the heels of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Harvey; and all READ MORE
Today in the Twin Cities a jury determined that Officer Jeronimo Yanez was not culpable in the death of Philando Castile when the officer shot him in the summer of 2016 during a traffic stop. For most of my African-American friends this is a verdict that is consistent with their expectations. It is no surprise. READ MORE
I was asked recently to share about the way spiritual warfare works in my own life. What a tough thing to tackle! Dare I be brutally honest, conveying the depths that I can go in my own struggle against the “cosmic powers over this present darkness” (Ephesians 6:12)? Generally speaking I shared along two lines. READ MORE
While visiting with a friend this morning the conversation turned to the too-common reality of a heart grown hard. My friend and I are people desperate to have hearts soft toward God, tender to his purposes and pleasures and presence. As we were reflecting on this hunger for pliability and proximity to the Father, what READ MORE
A simple review of the center of John’s gospel account gives us a glimpse into the awful drama of sin-management: Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary READ MORE
