Dear Sojourn Family,I wanted to sit down and digest the summer with you and reflect on the wonderful gift that my family received in the sabbatical. I view this as somewhat of a memoir of the past few months of my life. So, I’m just gonna kick back and let my fingers relay what my heart feels and all the rabbit trails that my mind feels like chasing. I typically prefer to chase them all. So many e...  Read More

From time to time, we all need to consider our ways. Our lives are often busy and hectic, so we can sometimes move from one crazy week to the next without giving attention to our life rhythms or the direction we are moving.   Read More

This Sunday you will notice two changes having to do with communion, also called The Lord’s Supper. First, we will begin taking communion corporately, rather than individually or as families. If you have been to Encounter, it will be similar to how we do it at Encounter. Secondly, we will offer wine and grape juice along with gluten free bread. Yes, you read that correctly. We will not have the di...  Read More

Before Covid and 2020, our church recorded sermons and made them available online. During 2020, we began live streaming our services on Facebook and Youtube. Lately, our leadership has been considering the pros and cons of live streaming our worship gatherings. I’m writing this blog to share some of our thoughts and to help our church and anyone who will read this think about the pros and cons of ...  Read More

If you’ve been around Sojourn for any length of time, you’ve heard us talk A LOT about community groups. Every February and August we seek to launch new groups. Throughout the year we are actively trying to get new people plugged into existing groups. Groups here. Groups there. Groups this. Groups that. Groups. Groups. Groups. What’s the point of all these groups?Full disclosure: community groups ...  Read More

I’ve been social media sober for almost a month, and for the last few weeks I feel more joyful, peaceful, and present than I have in quite some time. During the end of 2020, I found myself drawn to my phone like a moth to a flame. I’d go from Facebook to Instagram to Twitter and back around again. I’d notice myself reaching for my phone or wanting to reach for my phone even while in conversations ...  Read More

But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. (Romans 5:20)These powerful words from the Apostle Paul are the springboard for this magnificent song. Co-writers Matt Boswell and Matt Papa use this gospel concept to highlight the grace and mercy of our God that overwhelms the massive heap of our sins. This is such good news for sinners like us. Let’s think about it for a moment.The truth is ...  Read More

It’s that time of year again where the band starts rolling out the ever-adored Christmas tunes. This is always a bittersweet time for me each year. It’s sweet because so many of these songs are bursting at the seams with rich theology and potent gospel proclamation. Yet, the bitter part of the equation is simply the fact that we only get to dust off these gems a few weeks out of the year. It’s sti...  Read More

Psalm 46:1-3God is our refuge and strength,     a very present help in trouble.Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,Though its waters roar and foam,    though the mountains tremble at its swelling.The psalmist begins by making some incredible statements about who God is. He is our refuge: our security, our safety, our sta...  Read More

  If you have a friend that is going through an affair, you can be a huge help and blessing or a source of further pain and heartache. I want to share with you the type of friend that I hope and pray surrounds those I am counseling through affair recovery. These principles may be broadly applicable, but I am specifically thinking about how to be a good friend to the faithful AND unfaithful spouse ...  Read More

  “I feel so weak. If I were strong I would leave him/her. If I don't leave my spouse, does that mean I am weak and needy?” I often hear words such as these when walking with a husband or wife whose spouse had an affair.     Let me be clear! You are not weak for seeking to work towards healing, reconciliation, and trust in your marriage. It takes strength to forgive, grieve, have hard healing conv...  Read More

“What in the world do we do now? We are not prepared for this.” That is what I typically hear in the first counseling session after an affair is confessed or discovered. Understanding the basics of what it takes to recover from an affair may help you empathize with a friend, or it may help you have a clue where to start if you ever find yourself in affair recovery. Having counseled couples after i...  Read More