As I come to the end of my time serving Grace Church of Simi Valley, I am profoundly thankful for the grace of God that has been poured out on me, often through the people I’ve been placed around. Particularly, I am grateful for the life and ministry of our pastor, Jordan Bakker. Paul...
The following post is the second-to-last part of Pastor Eric's series on church revitalization, inspired by the revitalization opportunity God has opened to us at Grace Rancho. Catch up on the earlier posts in the series here: "Revitalization: Our Moment" "Why...
The following post is part of a series on our blog inspired by the opportunity for church revitalization God has opened to us in Rancho Cucamonga. Catch up on the earlier posts in the series here: "Revitalization: Our Moment" "Why Revitalization?" "Revitalization: How We're Doing It (Part...
The following post is part of a series on our blog inspired by the opportunity for church revitalization God has opened to us in Rancho Cucamonga. Catch up on the earlier posts in the series here: "Revitalization: Our Moment" "Why Revitalization?" "Revitalization: How We're Doing It (Part...
Back in late February 2017 Jordan, Marshall and I had a meeting to evaluate the previous year and discuss plans for the future. I came in prepared for a review-- we would look over the blessings and successes of 2016, talk about individuals who seem to be responding to the gospel, think...
The following post is part 2 of 3 in a series. You can read part 1 , "Revitalization: Our Moment" here. Trends. If you try to follow them too closely you’ll end up turned around, upside down and backwards, like the clothing on my three-year-old when she dresses herself. But if you...
I remember sitting in a chapel at The Master’s Seminary listening to John Macarthur informally share about some of the different ministries he had been participating in over the previous few months. He said something shocking that I have yet to find in print: “Some of you have...
There is nothing in Acts that connects the filling of the Holy Spirit with singing, raising hands, or expressive worship. That's often what we equate the working of the Spirit with today. However, the Spirit was abundantly active in the first century church to give them power to preach in the...
Suffering in the early church (and still for the church today) was not only a means of delivering the gospel - it was a means of spreading the gospel. For the first few years of its visible existence, the church stayed in Jerusalem. The church reached out, but only locally or to those who...