Today is my 57th birthday. I woke this morning and my first prayer of the day was: “God, thank You for 57 years. It has been an incredible adventure, and I am surprised to make it this far.” Before the day was over, I would learn that a friend from the old days had passed… Read More Old Friend
Do we have the capacity to love others for who they are? Not for the traits or gifts or help they offer us but for who they really are? Not for who they are to us relationally, but for who they are as a person created by God? Shouldn’t that prompt us to express that… Read More Counter/Offensive
In the U.S., we spend $3 billion a year on gift wrap. $3,000,000,000 for colored paper. Each year. We place a high value on wrapping gifts. I gotta ask… why? Why do we spend so much on something destined for the recycle bin? Presentation perhaps. It looks nice. It reflects care and attention. Then there’s… Read More Gift Wrapping
We mourn the loss of possessions, youth, vitality, money, relationships, status, power, jobs. We mourn the loss of our idols. We would be rightly judged as embracing “loss prevention”. We eventually struggle with the final loss of death. In a recent message, my pastor described death as “the vehicle that takes you to God”. Death… Read More Blessed
In the years of its existence, my church has been meeting in buildings owned by other churches. We haven’t had a building of our own. Our little church has grown in number, outgrowing the capacity of the building we’ve borrowed these last few years. This week my church will move into our new building. It… Read More OJT: On The Job Training
In the U.S. we are just about to celebrate our Independence Day on July 4th. It is customary to have parties, grill out, and watch fireworks. I remember being mesmerized by fireworks. It almost seemed like a perfect ending to a perfect day. Being that fireworks were done late in the evening, invariably some fathers… Read More Growing Young
I intended to write a witty and insightful post. That didn’t work out, so I resorted to a collection of witty and insightful quotes. “Lessons in life will be repeated until they are learned.” Frank Sonnenberg “You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need.” Vernon Howard “Life is… Read More Words of Wisdom
On the busiest days spend more time with God, not less. When plans are disrupted, destroyed, delayed, remember that plans are simply expectations. When expectations are not met, resentments are born. Let go of expectations, and ask God to show you what He is doing in these moments. Love your neighbor; whomever God places in… Read More 10 Things I Forgot To Remember This Week
I had a really hard day. And I didn’t do some things I’ve been taught to do on days like this. I didn’t call my closest friends. I didn’t journal. I didn’t pull up a Bible app on my phone and read from Psalms. I didn’t find a quiet place to meditate with my Jesus.… Read More Hard Day
The last several weeks have been very difficult at work. More than I enjoy or desire. And I like to work. I count myself as one of the very fortunate to have experienced this phenomenon. Find something you love to do, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life. In a… Read More Don’t Dabble
I am, by any measuring stick I know, a selfish man. I wish it weren’t so but it is. Sometimes I look in the mirror and smile because it’s not as bad as it used to be. But still… If I were a house for sale, the seller would describe me as “a great opportunity… Read More Load-Bearing Support
I haven’t seen the movie Collateral Beauty yet but I intend to. Maybe you’ve seen it. Perhaps it’s good. Maybe it’s not. Don’t tell me yet. If you don’t know of the movie, here’s a storyline from IMDB: When a successful New York advertising executive suffers a great tragedy, he retreats from life. While his… Read More Love, In Person
It all started innocently enough. I wanted some black jeans. I have plenty of blue jeans but no black ones. Black jeans make a statement that blue jeans just can’t. I’m not sure what the statement is… I read that online, so it has to be true. I don’t usually go to stores to buy… Read More Cheesesteaks, Maternity Jeans, and Grace
One day at work… VP: “I want to see if you are interested in taking on more responsibility.” Me: “What did you have in mind?” VP: “I’d like you to take over this team (holds up an organization chart).” Me: “That is quite a lot more responsibility.” VP: “It will be a stretch.” Me: “I… Read More Proper Pronunciation
Standing in line at my local grocery store, I was lost in deep spiritual thought (ok, I was reading the cover of People in the magazine rack). When it was my turn to check out, the young lady cashier engaged me in an interesting and brief conversation. You might say, it was a meeting of… Read More Seeing Rightly: A True(ish) Story
Lately I’ve been watching Planet Earth II on BBC. The first episode aired in the U.S. two weeks ago. The videography is incredible. I found myself awe-struck after each of the two episodes I’ve seen. The captivating creativity and wonder of God’s creation is staggering. This led me to ponder how God has created us to… Read More Beautiful
My high school class was rather small, which is probably why I was on the football team. I wasn’t good; certainly not as good as the first string players. But I was sent into a game from time to time. The highlight of my football “career” was at an away game; we were the visiting… Read More Run Until Tackled
I’ve just read Donald Miller’s book, Blue Like Jazz, for a second time. I was captured anew by a phrase in the book: we use love as currency. That is not a complimentary statement. And he wasn’t referring to humans in general. He was referring to church-going people in general. In one section he remarks… Read More As-Is
Soon it will be Easter season again; spring colors, hats and dresses and ties and dyed eggs and baskets. It is the special time of year when flowers come up and trees bud (here in the northern hemispheres, at least). Since I was a kid I have marveled at this phenomenon of rebirth and renewal.… Read More What Do You See?
I admit defeat. I can’t take all the negativity in the news anymore. Besides, I don’t know who most of these people in the news are. I figure it’s even odds they are (a) celebrities, (b) politicians, or (c) athletes (is there a difference?). All of them have expiration dates in their respective fields, which… Read More Grow Where You’re Planted
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“... and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” — Micah 6:8
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