As we all let out a big sigh of exhaustion (not relief) following the presidential election, it’s important for the evangelical church of Jesus Christ to do some serious self-evaluation. We are now seen as the people who substantially helped to elect a racist, homophobic, misogynist xenophobe...

Two years ago, I was able to post on my wife’s birthday and I thought it would be encouraging to her and the folks who read this blog to write down all the reasons I love my wife. Well, here I am again, on my wife’s birthday, and I decided to re-post what I wrote, because it is all...

God said to Israel, “I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people” (Leviticus 26:12 NASU). The middle two phrases present an expression of the covenant relationship between the Lord and His people. In an earlier blog we covered the first major concept...

Voting is over. The polls are closed, most of the votes counted, and Lord willing the president elect clearly identified. Our path forward as a nation made clear. I think just about everyone, whether the candidate they backed won or lost, will be relieved this election is over — even if...

Today is Election Day in America. By the time most of us lay our heads down on our pillows tonight, it will likely be clear who will serve as our nation’s next President. Though I suspect you already know.

American Christians pour a great deal of energy into the political process.  We...

God speaks often and clearly regarding church leadership. Knowing who should lead the church really should not be a discussion. Just a cursory glance in the publishing world and social media seems to indicate massive confusion on who should lead the church and is qualified to teach. TBN habitually...

Most of my friends know I love coffee. So, it only goes without saying that, naturally, I’m drawn to the one book in the Bible where God teaches men to brew coffee, “He-brews.” (Lol, yes, I really am the funniest guy I know). 🙂

In all seriousness in my second year in...

I love to shave. That’s not a statement that has always been true in my life. I used to hate shaving. I used to hate the idea of scraping a multi-blade, increasingly costly torture device across my face each morning, simply because society demanded I do so. But, after a helpful blog post&...

People have many ideas about what missions is and should be, as I noted last week. But there is no such confusion on the part of the Lord Jesus Christ, who sent his apostles into the world to carry out his charge.

Looking to Jesus’ commands and to his apostles’ example will show us...

Reformation Day is this coming Tuesday. I have no doubt that you will read many blogs about the importance of what Martin Luther did on October 31, 1517, as well as the glorious results that came from the era of the reformation (approx.. AD 1500—1650). It was an important time in the life of...

In Leviticus 26:12–13 God declares, “I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt . . .” (NASU). The middle two phrases present an expression of the covenant relationship between the Lord...

For many Christians, a church’s success is a matter of simple mathematics.  The more people, the better.  If attendance and giving numbers are going up, God must be pleased.  And if those numbers are going down, well…you get the picture.

I wish I could say that I’ve...

Yesterday, our church began a series of messages entitled “Missions and the Church.” Our church is in its third year and we are continually trying to lay a solid foundation. We aim to shape the direction of our ministry by biblical principles at the outset of the church, and...

October is pastor appreciation month. Here is something to help us consider how to love our shepherd. “Here are some great exhortations from Shawn Wilhite, a man who loves the Lord, the local church, and his pastor. Shawn’s exhortations are well thought out, lived out, and come...

 I routinely evaluate my schedule, work, productivity, time management, goals, and work. Naturally this blog has to come up in the evaluation. Why write for ParkingSpace23? I’m going to share my personal goals.

Now, let me elaborate on one important nuance and caveat. This is my, Jason...

Fall is in the air: days are getting shorter, temperatures are dropping, and everyone is ready to break out the long pants and pumpkin-spice everything. For many, it’s a relief from a long, hot summer; for others, it’s the first hint of another long, cold winter.

But fall...

You must have other leaders besides the youth pastor in youth ministry! If you think you can run the whole ministry on your own, you either need to repent from pride or you need to repent from the lack of trusting people.

Youth ministry (and any ministry, for that matter) is a group effort. There is...

While listening to worship music recently I was struck again with the particular category of songs asking the Holy Spirit to “fall on us,” “come down,” or something similar. I can say just from my own experience that there have been a steady trickle of such songs at least...

If you have been around Christian circles for any length of time you have no doubt been admonished at some point “you have to redeem the time” meaning that you need to quit loafing and get busy.  The days are evil, in other words, time is short and life is fleeting, so get to...

Mark 6:41-44 And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all.  ⁴² And they all ate and were satisfied.  ⁴³ And they took up...

A common strategy in sales (or at least a stereotype of the sales world) is to present a product to someone while maximizing the benefits but minimizing the drawbacks. After all, who wants to highlight why a product you are buying is not necessarily exactly what you want?

Unfortunately, this...

Last Sunday Vin Scully called his final game for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He called play-by-play for the Dodgers, starting in Brooklyn in 1950 and ending, perhaps appropriately, calling the game against the Dodgers greatest rival, transferred from the borough of Queens to San Francisco, the Giants.

T...

There was once a little boy who prayed, “God, if you can’t make me a better boy, that’s OK, I’m having fun just the way I am.” I think there’s a little bit of that boy in all of us. We know that we should fight sin. We know we need to put it to death wherever we...

A friend emails informing you he has met some families and wants to start a church. “We do not know where to really begin. We know a church is a body of people, not a building, but what five or six things should we focus on at first?”

Of course you know this blog will answer this...

Too often we open the Old Testament to read and immediately default to the “this-is-for-Israel” mindset. While it is very true that God superintended the writing of the Old Testament books as revelation He gave to Israel through the prophets, we must remember that

All Scripture is...