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One of the biggest problems that I’ve tried to confront throughout my ministry is complacency. From the beginning of my journey as a Christ-follower, I have said that complacency is one of the biggest problems we face! Complacency is a temptation for all of us and perhaps the temptation only gets stronger as we grow … Read more
If you’ve been following our journey (i.e., most recently, welcoming Sarah into our family), you may recall that Ethan has struggled in this process, especially in the early days and weeks. Now that Sarah has been with us nearly six months, we’ve noticed recently that, while Ethan still has his moments, he is starting to … Read more
This morning, the final day of our post-Easter family sabbath time, we left Lancaster and stopped in Hershey, PA on our way home. We went to ZooAmerica and Hershey’s Chocolate World. After a couple of very warm days (with 80-degree temperatures) it was a much cooler day (in the 50s). It was also fairly windy. … Read more
Easter is a busy time for pastors, of course, and it’s an especially busy time for a family with two pastors and two kids. So, we’re taking a mini-vacation after Easter for some much-needed Sabbath time. We arrived in Lancaster, PA yesterday and will head back home tomorrow. On our way here, we reached another … Read more
During Lent this year, my sermon series focused on the last 24 hours of Jesus’ life, leading up to his crucifixion on the cross. One of the key study resources that I used for this series was Adam Hamilton‘s recent book, 24 Hours That Changed the World. I enjoyed reading the book personally and will … Read more
Today was our first Easter with Sarah and our third with Ethan (see Easter 2008 and Easter 2009). We began Resurrection Day in worship. After lunch, we all took naps (when *I* nap, you know we’re tired!). Joleen says the Easter Bunny came while we were asleep, and when the kids got up (at 5:30!), … Read more
Desperate preachers pray. Desperate preachers pray a lot. But what do desperate preachers pray? I once posed a question in an online pastor’s forum/community, asking what they tended to pray in the minutes/hours before preaching. I don’t remember getting a lot of response, so perhaps this topic only interests me. 🙂 But it’s an opportunity … Read more
Acouple days ago, we gave Ethan a treat after lunch (a little bit of Easter candy). Ethan doesn’t eat much junk food so he doesn’t get much sugar, normally. But after his treat, he was too wound up to take his normal 2+ hour nap. He stayed in his room (mostly in his bed, although … Read more
I wrote a week ago that I had recently started using Twitter, a micro-blogging service (posts are limited to 140 characters). Since I started using Twitter, I’ve been comparing options for using Twitter (view my Twitter page here). So, for the benefit of people who may be searching for other alternatives, I thought I’d post … Read more
Six weeks after bringing Sarah home, we reflected on bonding the second time around. Now at five months, I recently visualized the difference in dynamics between the two experiences. When we brought Ethan home, Ethan entered a circle of two people, but when we brought Sarah home less than two years later, Sarah entered a … Read more