Posts by Bob Lepine
MARCH 22, 2023
Dear Friends, See if you can spot the issue here. “We worship a living God. Not one locked up in the Scripture of 2,000 years ago.” That sentiment was voiced some years ago by a protestant clergyman, who went on to say “What I love about believing in a living God is that I believe God is constantly revealing God’s self to us over time, and with each succeeding generation, we come a little closer to understanding the mind of God.” The clergyman’s words…
MARCH 15, 2023
Dear Friends, For years, when people thought about etiquette, the name that came to mind first was Emily Post. Her 1922 book Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home quickly became a best seller and was the go-to manual for how to behave in polite society. Her daily newspaper column on etiquette made her a household name. There was a time when, if you wanted to be a respected member of high society, a rite of passage involved attending a “finishing…
MARCH 8, 2023
Dear Friends, My wife has suffered more in life that I have. She has given birth. Five times. And she has had kidney stones. She tells me that while both events are excruciating, she’d much rather give birth than have a kidney stone. At least you have a child and not just a jagged quarter inch mineral deposit to show for all your pain! This week I read about work done by pediatric researches in 2017 in Philadelphia. Using an artificial womb – what they called…
MARCH 1, 2023
Dear Friends, Last Sunday, we looked at Jesus’ first trial before Pontius Pilate, where Jesus explained that what Pilate was most worried about (an insurrection) wasn’t what Jesus had in mind, since His kingdom is a different kind of kingdom – a “not of this world” kind of kingdom where bearing witness to truth, not coercion by force, is how the kingdom functions. And I made the point that in addition to commissioning us to also bear witness to truth as His…
FEBRUARY 15, 2023
Dear Friends, For years now, many of us have looked at the condition of our culture and concluded that the only hope we have is for a spiritual awakening. The strife and division we see in our land today feels a lot like what we experienced in America in 1969 and 1970. In the midst of the turmoil of those days, God sent a revival – what we now look back on as the Jesus Movement. Those of us who lived…
FEBRUARY 8, 2023
Dear Friends, I’m sure it’s no surprise to you that in our day, for the most part, if you are known as someone who believes the Bible is God’s authoritative, infallible and inerrant word, most cultural leaders will regard you as unenlightened at best and in some circles, as a hatful bigot, regardless of how gentle and kind you might seem to be. Pastor Kevin DeYoung says “the world wants to press us into its mold, and that mold is getting…
FEBRUARY 2, 2023
Dear Friends, Last fall, someone walked into Joe’s Service Center, a Mobile gas station in Altadena CA and bought a Powerball lottery ticket with the numbers 10 33 41 47 56 and 10. And when those numbers came upon Monday, November 7, the Powerball officials declared “we have a winner.” Three months later, we still don’t know who that winner is. When you’ve hit the jackpot – in this case, the $2.04 billion dollar jackpot – it can take some time for…
JANUARY 25, 2023
Dear Friends, How can we know that God really loves us? It’s January, which means if you’re following any kind of Bible reading plan, you’ve probably spent some time this month in the book of beginnings, the book of Genesis. It’s in chapter 22 where we find the account of God telling Abraham to take his son, his only son, up to Mt. Moriah where he will offer him up as a child sacrifice. It’s a startling command from the God who…
JANUARY 18, 2023
Dear Friends, It would be an understatement to say that Peter was an impulsive fellow. He was certainly passionate. At times, that passion drove him to grab a sword and go for the jugular. At other times, his passion led to a bold, Spirit filled and Spirit led declaration of the deity of Jesus. I’ve been reviewing the life of Peter this week as I’m preparing to speak this Sunday on his well-documented, humiliating denial of Jesus. And something that happened earlier…
JANUARY 11, 2023
Dear Friends, “A sower went out to sow some seeds…” With those words, Jesus begins one of his best known, and in some respects, most hotly debated parables. It’s also one of the few parables where Jesus actually explains who represents what in the parable. In reading through Matthew 13 this week, I was struck by one element in the Parable of the Sower. As you likely know, some of the seed which the Sower scatters in this parable lands on the path. …
JANUARY 4, 2023
Dear Friends, By lunchtime on Tuesday, just about everyone had heard the news. With 5:58 left to play in the first quarter during the Monday night football game, the Cincinnati Bengals were driving, hoping to retake the lead from the Buffalo Bills. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow had just completed a pass to receiver Tee Higgins who was tackled by Bills safety Damar Hamlin. It was a clean, hard hit. Both players got up. And then Damar wobbled and dropped to the turf. And…
DECEMBER 21, 2022
Dear Friends, It’s possible that one day, we will elect a President of the United States who was born in 2022. It’s possible that some dramatic advancement in medicine or technology will take place one day because of work done years from now by a child who is today less than a year old. If Nobel prizes are still being handed out fifty years from now, in may be that a recipient in 2072 will be someone who was born in…
DECEMBER 14, 2022
Dear Friends, We spent a lot of time last Sunday thinking together about Jesus’ prayer for unity among His disciples. Here’s the rest of what I wanted to say. A commitment to unity is a commitment to division. Or to put it another way, when you follow the Philippians 2:2 model for unity (being of the same mind, having the same love and being intent on the same purpose) you will quickly find that there are people with whom you do not share…
DECEMBER 7, 2022
Dear Friends, Some days, what you really need is one simple thought. One idea to meditate on. Here are a dozen. Which one is the one you needed to hear today? Don’t let success go to your head. Don’t let failure go to your heart. – Tim Keller “Advent means wrestling with the reality of the darkness that lies near at hand and cannot be wished away. What does it mean to put on the armor of light? At the very least it…
NOVEMBER 30, 2022
Dear Friends, Tomorrow is the first day of December. Thanksgiving is a distant memory at this point. It’s Christmas time. And as the calendar fills us and the countdown is on, I thought I’d pass along to you something that I shared many years ago. Something that was passed on to me almost a decade ago, written by Sharon Jaynes, inspired by 1 Corinthians 13 (HT: Lori Davidson). Hopefully, it will help you keep your eyes on what really matters in the…
NOVEMBER 23, 2022
Dear Friends, I presume you are spending some time over the next several hours thinking about gratitude and giving thanks. Gratitude is an impulse we should seek to develop and cultivate. But it’s just an impulse until we act on it. It’s not thanksgiving until you actually give thanks to someone for something. And that’s what we’re called too. Clearly. “In everything, give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) I’ll note here that…
NOVEMBER 16, 2022
Dear Friends, Earlier today, Mary Ann forwarded this to me. It’s from Shane Pruitt, a pastor, author and speaker who lives in Rockwall, Texas. Want to change your worship experience at church? Pray before you get there. Ask God to speak to you. Listen to worship music on the way. Take a Bible with you instead of relying on the screens. Don’t run late. Sing loudly, like you mean it. Take notes. Expect God to move. I shared with you last week about Greg Atkinson, the man who has made…
NOVEMBER 9, 2022
Dear Friends, Greg Atkinson has an interesting ministry. He’s a secret shopper for churches. Your church can hire him, and either he or one of his trained associates will show up on a random Sunday morning as a visitor and provide you with feedback and a report card on how you can up your game with visitors. When asked about where churches need the most help, Greg cites four things. He says most churches need to do a better job with their…
NOVEMBER 3, 2022
Dear Friends, I read this week a fascinating account of Susie Goodall’s quest to circumnavigate the globe, sailing solo in a 36-foot sailboat as part of the 2018 Golden Globe race around the world. The quest was referred to as a “voyage for madmen,” and with 18 sailors entering the race, Goodall would be the only woman to participate. Sailors in the Golden Globe race in 2018 would follow the course charted by Robin Knox-Johnson when he sailed around the world in…