A Sojourn’s First Step
I’m a follower of Jesus. As the Heidelberg Catechism declares- ‘I am not my own, but belong body and soul, in life and in death to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ who has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood… and because I belong to him, Christ, by His Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.’
Everything else in my life flows from my identity in Jesus. It informs my marriage, the way I father my children, the way I work, how I lead in the church, what I enjoy, how I spend my money and my time, everything. Following Jesus means he gets to lead me in all facets of life.
This website is titled Presbyterian Sojourner because that describes my theological home. I am biblically orthodox, theologically reformed, and evangelistically minded. I am a presbyterian pastor who cares less about making good presbyterians than making disciples of Jesus Christ. Thus, as a good presbyterian, I belong to a denomination because we’re a connectional people- no one can church alone and the church is rightly interconnected with other churches. However, for the 23 years I have been in professional ministry I have served churches that were once all part of the same denomination and have since joined three denominations. Of the four major presbyterian denominations I have good friends and regularly interact with churches and pastors in all four. I have been a member of two of those denominations. What I’ve found is that I feel at home in all of them in many ways but don’t feel completely at home in any of them. It’s not that I have been unwelcome or that I’m not involved as a presbyter. But sometimes when you’re attached to a lot of circles, you’re not always in any particular one. Sometimes this is for theological reasons, other times it is for basic Christian worldview reasons, and sometimes it is for practical reasons in how the theology is lived out. As a presbyterian sojourner, I am conversant across the presbyterian world, but without a place I call home. At times, my own denomination purports to speak on my behalf, it does not. I know that I’m not alone in this, but this blog is designed to be a place to sort out my thoughts and perspectives through my reformed theological lens.
The thoughts I share are my own and not of my church- though I hope my congregation will engage and learn more about me through these writings. I don’t expect to write often or regularly, but when matters arise that I feel would be important to weigh in on I will do so here. I’m not lost- just wandering. Come join me and see where Jesus leads.
