Some big news to share. The Hasler's are moving to Texas! I've accepted a call to plant the first PCA church in Abilene, TX. Our family is very excited for this opportunity to be part of the amazing things the Lord is already doing in West Texas. But we can't do this alone. So, could I ask you to... 1. Pray for us. Pray for our family, for our core group, and for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on this mission church. We are hoping to be arriving Spring 2026 but many things have to come together before then. 2. Tell your friends! If you know anyone who is looking for a church in Abilene or would like to support a PCA church in Abilene, I'd love to talk with them. 3. Consider financially supporting us. We will need to raise some significant funds over the next couple years as we get this church off the ground. If you or your church would like to give to a confessional, ordinary means of grace, P&R church committed to the Great Commission and reaching the lost with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you can DM/text/call/email me. I'd love to talk to you about this work! "And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved"

It is the Lord’s Day my dudes

Whether it’s out of pride or embarrassment, we P&R types don’t do ourselves any favors when we treat our tradition like it’s some kind of higher level of Christian consciousness.

The worst development in evangelical circles has been the tendency to treat any distinction as a "dualism" and therefore reject it. But the distinctions are absolutely necessary - both theologically and biblically. The New Testament simply makes no sense if you can't properly distinguish the law from the gospel.

“If Jesus were alive today”

It's not for nothing that Matthew links our Lord's "names" ("Jesus" and "Immanuel") with the virgin birth. I think folks wonder, "What is really lost if we give up the virgin birth?" In short, everything the Bible says about who Jesus is and what he came to do. If Jesus isn't born of a virgin, he's not Immanuel and he's no Savior.

Discernment is required to spot the subtle difference between that and the religious conservative who says, “You should maybe consider the importance of preserving the thing which animates the cultural deposits you love so much.” It matters which is the horse and which is the cart and what’s pulling what. They’re fundamentally different projects.

When an outlet like Vox runs a piece saying, “Guys, we need to embrace religion to save democracy” that’s a pretty good example of Niebuhr’s Christ-of-culture type and could be the harbinger of a religious-not-spiritual future.

So incredibly millennial-coded. ugh maybe we are the worst generation

Jesus is Immanuel, God With Us, par excellence. Our Lord is not merely a sign of God’s presence among his people but the very image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15; Heb 1:3) dwelling among us (Jn. 1:14).

If Motyer is correct, and Isa. 6–12 is a single, coherent block of prophecy about a promised child called both Immanuel (7:14) and Mighty God (9:6), then Matthew’s statement that Jesus “fulfilled” Isaiah’s prophecy would be more early evidence of high christology.

I’m preaching Matthew 1:18-25 this week which means this week will be a lot of studying the importance of the virgin birth with two great theologians.

It is the Lord’s Day my dudes

Many lessons from Saban on leadership apply directly to church planting

There’s a RC Sproul video that I think about a lot. He’s asked the stereotypical question: How can God, who is good, condemn people to hell? Sproul talks about the wickedness of sin, the righteousness of God, and even how God’s holy justice brings him glory. But then he says something that’s always stuck with me. Sproul says still, even after all that, God does not “get his jollies” from it. Anyway, that might have some application to current events.