I’m writing this piece in October, the month when grocery stores haul out mounds of candy, and when pumpkin-flavored items appear in unlikely places. Orange and black seem to be the color scheme for just about everywhere, and Halloween costume ideas have already started appearing on my social media feed. Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” will soon […]
THE GIFT OF ENCOURAGEMENT FROM THE GREAT ENCOURAGER
A couple years ago I was invited to receive some training to become a certified coach for the family of churches I belong to. I was informed that the training would help me coach people who were planting churches, and it would also help me be a much better leader in the local church I […]
IN PURSUIT OF INTIMACY: SIMPLICITY
The discipline of simplicity is, simply put, the practice of living with less. This practice is unique from the other spiritual disciplines that we have explored in this series, in that the need to be intentional about living with less applies specifically to those living in societies and situations that allow people to live with […]
APPROACHING THE NATIVITY
Of all the nerve!” fumed a certain member of my congregation as she stormed into my office. She was holding a Santa ornament that the (newly formed) decorating committee at my church had included as part of the Christmas decorations. “Pastor, did you see what they put out there for our decorations?!” I did notice […]
SOLD OUT
If I said you were a sell out you would probably be insulted. No one wants to be called a sell out but in the right context that could be the highest compliment. Usually when we talk about someone selling out, it’s a negative thing. It means they have given up their convictions and principles […]
GOD OF THE EVERYDAY
This summer, I spent two months working for a Christian nonprofit on the coast of sunny South Florida. There, it was not hard to feel God’s presence. Every person I worked with had a close relationship with Jesus, setting strong examples of what it means to put God first. Every week we prayed for each […]
EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE?
Since the autumn season is also one that means new beginnings to many of us – the fall semester is usually the first semester of most school years in North America; churches begin offering programs again as the regular volunteers return from their summer vacations; and for some of us, it may mean the beginning […]
HEALING AS THE KINGDOM COMES SLOW
A few years ago I was in Kenya, a beautiful country in eastern Africa. As a group of my friends, both Africans and Americans, were sharing the good news about Jesus, we approached two ladies with the hopes of building a friendship and sharing Jesus with them. As we began talking, we learned that due […]
IN PURSUIT OF INTIMACY: REST
Back in 2007, during my junior year of college, I was a resident assistant in the dorms, and I spent that entire year going to bed at 2:00 am then waking up each morning at 8:00 am. I felt tired most of the time, but not particularly exhausted. That six-hour stint of sleep each night […]
HEAD TO HEART
Today, we have the opportunity to take in the Bible in many ways. We can read it in daily devotionals, listen to an audio reading on our commutes to work, tape verses to our bathroom mirrors, take detailed notes during sermons, and scroll through inspirational pictures and verses on Instagram. Yet even with the Bible—God’s […]
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