Recent Devotions

I took my daughter out for a milkshake the other day. I asked her what flavor she wanted and laid out the options: Chocolate. Vanilla. Strawberry. Cookies ‘n Cream. Then I immediately removed vanilla from the list because that’s boring. Sorry, vanilla lovers. Truth hurts.

Have I mentioned that the Apostle Paul wrote Philippians in prison? It wasn’t a white-collar crime he committed. He didn’t get mixed up with the wrong crowd. He didn’t have what was coming to him. He didn’t stumble into a science project in his basement and realize there was money to be made. His only crime was that he met Jesus, and his life was changed. Apparently, he couldn’t get over telling the story.

Philippians is considered one of Paul’s prison epistles because, as you could probably deduce, Paul was in prison when he wrote it. I don’t want to give the impression that Paul visited prison more than I visit Starbucks, but he certainly spent a lot of time locked up. It should go without saying that prison isn’t exactly a destination location. No one checks for an Airbnb on Alcatraz. For Paul, a comfortable backdrop for his writing wasn’t an option. Nevertheless, notice how Paul reframes his circumstances to see the good in a lousy situation. 

Since we’re going to be spending a little time together, I thought I’d confess something to you. You ready? Here goes. Sometimes I don’t know what to prayer for. I just don’t. I know I’m a pastor, and I’m supposed to know these things, but there are times when I’m just at a loss. I think I figured out why. As shocking as this may sound, I’m not all knowing, and I can’t always figure out what God is up to. My wisdom usually reaches about as far as my knowledge, so I also don’t always know what is best. In other words, I pray with limited knowledge and limited wisdom. Sometimes I’m tempted to begin my prayers with, “God, the way I see it…” I can just picture God smiling and chuckling a bit. But because I can’t peel back the curtain of heaven and eavesdrop on God’s grand design, I like praying Bible prayers. These are prayers, requests or pleas

I taught my little girl how to ride a bike. I did all the things a loving parent would do. I strapped on her helmet and secured the elbow pads, knee pads, and all the bubble wrap I could find. She’s our only girl. You can never be too careful. 

Have you ever started a project you haven’t finished? I’d be the first to raise my hand. When Melissa and I moved to Charlotte one of our first projects was painting the bathroom. Easy enough—even for someone who talks for a living and doesn’t play well with tools.

When I was in elementary school, I was given an assignment to draw some parrots. The teacher was so impressed (that may be a slight overstatement) that she hung my work in the art fair at City Hall. When it came time to show off my skills to my parents, I got all gussied up and walked around city hall like I owned the place.

By James Metsger And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in...

By James Metsger I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. (Philippians 1:3-5)When Toy Story was released for public...

I learned at an early age that sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me. I believed that juvenile statement . . . until someone actually called me a name. My hurt feelings testified to the fact that I had swallowed a lie.