Welcome to my website!
After fifty years of pastoral ministry, I've retired and am now turning my attention to writing. Over the years of my pastoral work, I've written a number of books for the church I've served and this is now the focus of my ministry. My desire is to continue ministering through the written word. Hopefully, the books made available here will inform and encourage your Christian walk. These books are written for the common Christian; they're short, easy to read, and topical in nature. My prayer is that they'll be a source of encouragement to you as you strive to be a faithful follower of Christ.
Writer, Pastor, and Educator.
Stan has been active in Christian ministry since graduating from Bethany University in 1968. He began his ministry in San Francisco, CA, serving as the Executive Director of Teen Challenge, Northern California & Nevada. After directing this drug treatment program for five years, he joined the pastoral staff of Church of the Highlands in San Bruno, CA, then planted a church in Pacifica, CA, and finally served as the Senior Pastor of Cornerstone Christian Church in Medford, OR for 22 years. He is currently the Pastor Emeritus at Cornerstone. Stan also served on the Pacific Bible College Board of Trustees for 20 years, and is now a member of PBC's adjunct faculty.
FEATURED BOOKS
Christian Unity in an Age of Tribalism
In this small book, I want us to think about conflict and unity within the church. I want to underscore the healing nature of the gospel, and how within the life of the early church, long-held divisive convictions and social practices were challenged and transformed.
Thinking Out Loud: a collection
Thinking. Thoughts. Out loud. As decided Christians we’re challenged to think deeply about our faith. We’re encouraged to become more biblically literate and theologically informed. Over the past ten years I’ve written a number of smaller books and it’s been suggested that I publish them in one volume...this is what you hold in your hand. Hopefully as you read it your faith will be enlarged and devotion to Christ will be deepened. In this book I address a range of topics: the sacraments, biblical marriage, and what it means to be human, just to mention three. My prayer is that the Lord will speak to you as you read.
Under the Sun: Wisdom from Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes is wisdom literature that speaks to the human condition unbounded by time. It's relevant to every generation because the passions and longings of man never change. Men of every age desire money, power, sex, and social prominence. Solomon in his journal speaks to all of these. He's an insightful man because he lived life pursuing his passions, both good and bad. He can speak about wealth, power, and self-pleasuring out of his own experience. And yet, he appreciates virtue, wisdom, and godliness. He's a complex man; he's a modern man.
Not Ashamed... the Radical Power of the Gospel
The Christian call is a call to justifying faith, self-surrender, and service to others. This call hasn’t changed over the centuries. When embraced it changes us, and transformers us into a prophetic community that previews the Age to come. The church that’s grounded in the gospel as it’s taught in the book of Romans is a transformative presence in the world. It changes those who believe, and it reshapes the cultures it dominates.
Christ The Fullness of God
The cultural environment we live in is hostile to any claims of Christian exclusiveness. “All religious systems are true.” This poses particular challenges to Christians striving to remain faithful to the gospel in this cultural climate. We’re often confronted with the mixing of religious ideas and a hesitancy to make exclusive claims. We’re pressured to soften our understanding of Christ’s uniqueness and look for shared themes and complimentary ideas found in various religious systems. The Apostle Paul, in his letters to Colossae and Philemon, doesn’t conform to this pressure. He bears witness to the uniqueness of Christ and the power of the gospel to transform lives.
Tested - Confirming a True Faith
John presents three essential tests of genuine Christian faith. The tests involve three categories of consideration that are just as applicable today as they were then: theological; moral; and relational.
An Anthology of Thought
For many years, even people who reject the confessional aspect of Christian faith, have embraced Christian ethics. But it's a new day! Many have rejected or simply drifted away from the sound underpinnings of a biblical faith. And we're seeing what this produces: abortion, euthanasia, transgenderism, same sex marriage, atheism, increased divorce, and moral collapse. This is not good! My prayer is that this collection of thoughts on biblical truths will encourage you in your faith.
The Word Became Flesh
The incarnation of Christ is a great wonder! To think that God the Son took to himself the flesh and humanity of man is difficult to comprehend. It stretches the mind and challenges us to believe. Even though other religious systems make a similar claim, the incarnation of Christ is unique in that it’s understood to be a redemptive event and God’s final act of self-disclosure.
Biblical Marriage: In a Secular Society
The descent of man started with a simple question posed to Eve by Satan - “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden (Gen.3:1)?” Then he followed up the question by challenging God’s Word and misrepresenting God’s intention - “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil (Gen.3:4b-5).” This was very appealing to Eve and to Adam, who was also present. The appeal is the possibility of being like God - autonomous; self-governing; and self-determining. It’s being free to redraw moral boundaries and determine what is right and wrong apart from God’s law. This is the shared source of all human evil; it’s at the root of all the issues of sin that separate us from God’s favor. Sin has impacted all by bringing us under the wrath of God. We no longer enjoy life in favored fellowship with God. We died spiritually, but sin has also impacted the very heart of God’s social ordering by distorting the biblical understanding of marriage and family.
Revelation And The Fall of Jerusalem
The Book of Revelation is one of the most controversial books in the Bible. How should it be understood? Is it looking into the future, or is it looking back? Is it yet to be fulfilled, or was it fulfilled in the first century with the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Jewish Temple? Does it foretell of a judgment event about to be executed against apostate Israel? In this book I address these probing questions.
Glorious Hope: The Gospel of Resurrection
Jean-Paul Sartre, the French novelist and playwrite, expressed how conflicted he was when he wrote -“That God does not exist, I cannot deny; that my whole being cries out for God, I cannot forget (Quotio.com).” Intellectually he rejected the notion that God existed, and yet he was aware of an emotional longing for God's existence. Conflicted. Despairing. An irrational longing. Is there something exposed here that's embedded in human nature? Religious expression is universal and timeless, whether it be in prehistoric or postmodern 21st century man.
Confessing the Faith: Reflections on the Belgic Confession
Confessions of faith have served the church well for hundreds of years. They have contributed to the preservation of a pure gospel that's used by the Holy Spirit to convict sinners and bring them to true repentance and faith. Also, confessions summarize essential Christian doctrine and are used to disciple believers in the faith. One of the most recognizable and widely used Protestant confessions is the Belgic Confession of Faith. It has preserved the integrity of the gospel and shaped the witness of the church for centuries.