The story is told of Fanny Crosby, that sweet hymnist of our country, of how it was that she wrote the lyrics to My Savior First of All. One summer night at a Christian camp in Western New York near Lake Erie, an aged Fanny was enjoying a summer evening on the porch in a rocking chair, when she was joined by one John Sweney, who was himself also musician and song writer. 

After sharing their love of hymns and Christian music together, Sweney lamented how such a fine Christian had been born...

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Grandpa was a simple man, to be sure. A man of a bygone era. We call it the Greatest Generation, but we do not mean it for a second! For not one of their values do we continue to hold; not one of their morals do we continue to esteem; not one of their ethics do we continue to regard. Grandpa is a relic and his memory but a fossil; they are simply reminders of things from long ago which no longer have any consequence. His life was a vapor, and all the whisps have vanished. The preacher was dea...

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An old hymn came to mind the other day, and as I listened to the words, I couldn’t help but be transported back in time. There I was in my grandpa’s church; everyone was there. Grandma was at the piano playing the song as only she could; Grandpa was standing on the platform singing away as the song leader waved his hand with the tempo of Fanny Crosby’s “To the Work.” My aunts and uncles and cousins were there, along with my own family. During the chorus I can hear the echo of grandp...

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My Grandpa, Jerry Osborne, faithfully served the Lord for 46 years as a pastor committed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. After he passed away, his sermon notes and preaching Bible were stored away in a large old-fashioned trunk in the garage where they remained undisturbed and quiet for nearly 20 years. Then, as providence would have it, on the night of July 4^th (one of Jerry’s favorite holidays), 2015, that garage was set ablaze by the embers of illegal fireworks. I had always intended to s...

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My dear grandfather, Pastor Jerry Osborne, hated Greek class and failed to receive his seminary degree because he just could not make the grade. What a difference 70 years or so makes. I am currently taking second-year Greek and I just can’t get enough of it! One might say that I am simply more inclined to languages than he was, but I am not so convinced. While natural ability is certainly helpful, the modern learning strategies for learning Greek are so completely different than they were ...

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The Bible confronts us with the following provocation in James 4:14, “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” This can be a discouraging, even depressing thought. A person’s life is like water, slowly boiling away under the heat of daily trials and monotonous tasks, and after all is said and done, there’s not much to show for it. The water is gone, and so is the mist of vapor that once gave evidence to it. Much of human existen...

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“And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.” Mark 9:35 

Although we as Christians would give assent to the words of Jesus, there is something about His Kingdom which is entirely beyond us, even contrary to us. Contrary to our vision of a kingdom, contrary to our desires, contrary to everything we value and strive for, contrary to our self absorbed and self obsessed Facebooking and tweeting...

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November 15, 1997 to November 15, 2017

Today marks the twentieth anniversary of the death of my grandfather, Jerry Osborne. It seems both a moment and an eternity that I have been without him. I can still hear the sound of his voice. I can still hear the sound of his laugh, and the way he would even snort sometimes when the joke was funny enough. His mannerisms are still vibrant in my memory, as are his idiosyncrasies. The very last time I saw him alive was at the Los Angeles International A...

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One of the greatest dramatic moments in American film takes place in the third act of Glory, when Private Silas Tripp (Denzel Washington) witnesses the regiment’s standard- the American flag- fall to the ground. As the soldier carrying the flag is shot dead on the battlefield, Silas takes up the standard once more and carries the banner forward, rallying the troops to continue their ill-fated charge against Fort Wagner.

As I think about my Grandpa today, I think of the first time I ever saw ...

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“It takes three to thrive: Sunday Morning, Sunday Night, and Wednesday night!” Such was the exhortation of Jerry Osborne to the people of God regarding their own attendance in the House of the Lord, and he practiced what he preached! When He was saved, Jerry Osborne was born again! He was begotten again by the Spirit of God unto new and abundant and eternal life! He was redeemed and proclaimed the praises of Him Who had called him out of darkness into His marvelous light! As a teenage con...

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Anyone who knows me, knows what an integral part the ministry of Calvary Chapel has played in my Christian life, and it is a fact of my spiritual evolution that I would never wish to underestimate or undervalue. Back in 1998, it was the voice of Pastor Bob Coy which cried out to me in the wilderness and set me once more on the path of the Lord. Through his radio ministry I was introduced to Calvary Chapel, and eventually I found Chuck Smith whose ministry was extremely influential upon my lif...
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"Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses...” Hebrews 12:1
   
    Then there were two.
    Nearly one year ago my grandmother joined my grandfather in Heaven. I stood beside her and told her how much I loved her, and how fortunate I was to have a grandma like her. But, I also encouraged her to let go of us and take that long awaited walk with her Jerry.
    In the final moments of the life of Wanda Lue Osborne I felt her bedside was far more crowded than it may have appeared to the eyes ...
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I was very close to my grandparents, ever at their house or the church they had built together. Hardly a day could pass in my life when I did not see them. We did so much together. I remember Sunday afternoon lunches and mountain vacations; I remember spending the night at their house, watching X-files with them, and making homemade ice-cream for the Fourth of July! When I played football they were in the stands; and when I had an old broken down car to fix up, grandpa was there to hel...
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This past week I have reflected on how Pastor Chuck Smith touched my life. I knew he was close to the end, but when the news of his passing finally reached me on Thursday morning, I couldn't help but shed some loving tears. I thought about what his ministry meant to me, and I remembered when it was and why it was that he touched me so deeply.

In 1998 I was still reeling from the loss of my grandfather, Pastor Jerry Osborne; and the turmoil that erupted at his church in the wake of his tragic a...
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I have refrained hitherto from writing about the Trayvon Martin case, because my personal policy on this site and in this blog is to never stray into subject matter that has no Christian or spiritual angles. Whenever I take up my pen I desire to do so with the specific purpose of shedding Biblical and spiritual ligh...
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The Bible has much to say about sin, and it also has much to say about how we deal with the sins of others when they are made known to us. Sin separates a person from God, and it can most certainly separate people from one another. However, so often in Scripture it becomes an occasion for both God and man to display love and grace. Admittedly, the Lord tends to be quicker to do this than man, but He sets an incredible example for man to follow and furthermore exhorts him to follow it.

Sin is p...
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It was a time of turmoil and unrest in a place filled with anger and resentment. It was a place of revolution and riots; it was a time of chaos and anarchy. In June of 1960 the Belgian Congo declared its independence from Belgium, establishing the Republic of the Congo. However, intense political struggles and a continual and downward spiral of military control quickly led to civil war.

In September the President dismissed his Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba, who in turn rallied the senate an...
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I remember my Grandpa… he would have been 84 today! The years have started to pile up over my life with him and my memories of him. Has it really been 15 years since I last saw him? One look in the mirror tells me it has. I fear there are things forgotten, and yet there so many things I still remember. The mind is a funny thing. We remember what we remember most often, and forget the subtleties which we infrequently or ever think about or speak of. I can tell you about my Grandpa, but I’l...
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As usual on this day each year, I write to commemorate the legacy of my grandfather, Jerry Osborne. Lately, I have been researching and writing a biography on his life as the founding pastor of Community Bible Church in Norwalk, California. As I have been pouring over the details of his life, I came across a letter written to him posthumously, delivered to him as a eulogy of sorts at his funeral. I have partially reprinted the letter for preservation here from a photocopy. I believe the origi...
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Back in 2001 I was only 22 years old. Ten years have passed and so much has happened since then. That year Marie and I became parents for the first time as we welcomed Cristian into our family. A few months later the World Trade Center Towers fell along with the rest of the carnage that devastated our country on September 11th. That Christmas the first installment of The Lord Of The Rings became a world-wide phenomenon. During that year I had moved from Wisconsin back to California only to wa...
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The punch-line to the old joke is true. If you haven’t bumped into the Devil lately, maybe it because your both going the same way. Spiritual warfare is something few believers understand because so few of us ever enlist in God’s battles. We’re too busy to engage the Enemy, and often we’re so focused on ourselves we hardly even really believe there’s even a spiritual war being waged. However, those who have taken the whole armor of God, and suited up for combat to take a stand again...
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This is the question indeed. To pray, or not to pray? Sometimes the question isn’t even asked. I constrain myself, however, from writing or saying to much on this subject today. No doubt, many have had enough of me already this year. So, short and pithy I will be.

As I was preparing my Sunday sermon in Daniel 2, I was arrested by a thought which shot through my mind, and will, henceforth, find itself in yours. It is a question of prayer, and of praying. There are some things we choose t...

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[Actually posted on October 25, 2010]
It was dark, pitch black, as we drove through the mountains. Only a toddler, I stood between my grandparents and exclaimed, “Speeky, Grandpa, speeky!” But all was well with him at the wheel. I had no reason to be afraid with Grandpa there, and for the rest of my life I looked up to the man who saw me safely through  those scary mountain roads.

As a boy, I would sit with my mother in a church pew on Sunday nights and listen to Grandpa preach. Sometimes I...
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"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!"
Psalm 133:1

Many years ago I engaged in a heated argument with my closest and dearest friend. The subject matter is not important, but he ended the dispute with a harsh word of rebuke, invoking the name of our grandfather, and the shame I was bringing to his venerable legacy. I was stunned into silence, and we left that particular controversy to die. Hearing the story from my side, one may be deceived into...

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Happy 4th of July! Today we celebrate the 234th birthday of the independence these United States of America; and our independence from foreign rule has brought us great freedom and liberty. As Christians, may we take this day as an opportunity to celebrate our spiritual freedom from the rule of the god of this age, who continues to blind so many around us, keeping them from the Light of the Gospel. May we be reminded today that our liberty is found in Christ, who said, “If the Son makes ...

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“Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.”
1 Thessalonians 5:14

I am angry. I am saddened. I am disgusted with what is tolerated and condoned by silence in the Church of Jesus Christ (If we dare yet to take His name, and so vainly attach it to our dens of thieves and murderers!)! It is true that evil triumphs when good people do nothing; but how good do we think ourselves to be, when we allow the weakest in o...

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     I was thinking about the way I so often have trouble trusting the Lord, how my faith frequently fails and how I often blame my God and complain about His ways. It seems that my experience is in no way unique, as many believers (if not all of us) struggle at one time or another in resting in the faithfulness of God.
     Why is this? Why do we as Christians struggle to trust the Lord?
     How is it that we doubt the love of our Father who spared not His only Son, but delivered Him up for u...
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Today my grandfather, Jerry Osborne, would be eighty-one years old... would be; but he's been in Heaven now for nearly 12 years. I miss him so much! I am surprised how easily my tears still flow when I think about him. I remember once, when I drove up with my grandparents to their house, standing behind my grandpa as he opened the back door for us. He was the sort of man who was hurried in his actions, and he would fling the door open with the flick of his wrist once the key turned. I had see...
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I heard such a disparaging opinion of “The Proverbs 31 Woman” the other day. It really took me by surprise, since in my experience, the ideals of the virtuous wife in that passage are usually regarded in high esteem. However, there was a woman in a group I was with who shared her utter disdain for the general trend of churches to push the ideals of Proverbs 31 onto women who could never live up to such a rigorous standard. Cynicism dripped from her words as she went on about this passage,...

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What is the Church coming to these days? For the Dove World Outreach Center, a self-described charasmatic, non-denominational congregation in Gainsville, Florida, the Church has come to sending kids to school with T-shirts emblazened with hate speech like, "Islam is of the Devil". Perhaps the Dove World Outreach Center should have got the hint when they were forced to custom order the controversial shirts over the internet, because no local screenprinter would take their business. According t...

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I have been greatly challenged over the past week by our dear and suffering Hannah. She has been such a sweet and wonderful blessing to my family, especially my kids. Yet, as I went to visit her in the hospital I felt so unprepared to minister to her and her family. Indeed, I am young and inexperienced as a pastor beyond teaching the Bible. While I am confident in my teaching gifts, I am suddenly aware of my inadequacy as a minister to those who are suffering. What am I supposed to say? What ...

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Isaiah 52:7-10 (NKJV)
How beautiful upon the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who proclaims peace,
Who brings glad tidings of good things,
Who proclaims salvation,
Who says to Zion,"Your God reigns!"...
  Break forth into joy, sing together...
For the LORD has comforted His people,
He has redeemed [them].
  The LORD has made bare His holy arm
In the eyes of all the nations;
And all the ends of the earth shall see
The salvation of our God.

That fall day, as he penned his last writt...

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(Originally written in August, 2003)
The old saying goes, “Hate the sin, love the sinner”; but in this post-modern, (perhaps post-Christian) multi-cultural, multi-sexual, society of amorality and extremist tolerance I see believers struggling with the latter.
 
   In the last several years Americans have seen an uprising of homosexual activists pushing forward their “gay” agenda.  State laws agianst homosexual behavior have been struck down, legislatures are recognizing civil unions, and...
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As I pray for Hannah I am struck by a thought. As I think of her suffering, and as I am told of her own prayer request for God to keep her faith strong during a time when she feels spiritually abandoned, I am cut to the quick. This is what personal ministry is all about. It's about you and me, encouraging each other about something which we both believe, but niether of us can actually see. When I am hurting, it is so difficult to receive a spiritual word of encouragment; I want REAL results. ...
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