Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
As 2011 comes to an end, we are grateful for God’s unfailing love and faithfulness. We’re also grateful for our blessings, including our family! It’s been a little while since we’ve posted family photos, so here are several from the last couple of months, including some from our trip to visit family in Tennessee at … Read more
During the Advent season, one of the things that struck me this year was that the baby Jesus, who was revealed to shepherds, came to be a shepherd, himself. Once when Jesus “saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6.34, CEB). Interestingly, this phrase … Read more
This Advent season, I’ve been struck by the line in Luke’s gospel … (Mary) gave birth to her firstborn child, a son, wrapped him snugly, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the guestroom. (Luke 2.7, CEB) Mary gave birth to Jesus in a stable, placed the newborn … Read more
I’ve written about signing before (see Sign Language for Kids and Signing). But I just saw that Signing Time (we have a few of their DVDs) has posted a new PDF document summarizing research on signing. Dr. Claire Vallotton compiled the document which summarizes research findings on the impact of signing on preschool and school-age … Read more
Shortly after responding to my call to ministry, I read a little book by E.M. Bounds called Power Through Prayer (originally called Preacher and Prayer). In recent years, I’ve wanted to re-read the book, as well as other books by Bounds, so I bought The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds on Prayer (a collection of … Read more
This week, I was reminded of a list I once heard John Maxwell give. The list also appears in Maxwell’s book, Thinking for a Change: 11 Ways Highly Successful People Approach Life and Work (which I wrote about it 2008). Maxwell says there are three times when people are willing to embrace change, when they … Read more
After Mary’s encounter with the messenger Gabriel, she travelled to be with her relative Elizabeth. When Mary greeted Elizabeth, Luke notes that “the child leaped in (Elizabeth’s) womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” (Luke 1.41, CEB). Then Elizabeth said … God has blessed you above all women, and he has blessed the … Read more
The last book we read/discussed for our monthly Matthew 28 peer group meeting was Deep Change: Discovering the Leader Within by Robert Quinn. It’s a good book, but one of the things that struck me was not even a major point in the book. Quinn briefly discusses the difference between a reactive person and a … Read more
One of the real keys of discipleship is learning to say yes to God. Saying yes to God will inevitably, at times, means saying no to ourselves and other things. Jesus put it this way … All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross, and follow me. … Read more
This post is part of the Common English Bible Tour. The prophet Isaiah proclaimed … A voice is crying out: “Clear the LORD’s way in the desert! Make a level highway in the wilderness for our God! Every valley will be raised up, and every mountain and hill will be flattened. Uneven ground will become … Read more