Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
TED is a great place for ideas and inspiration. And, as a communicator, I like to watch them to inspire me to be a better communicator. In fact, I’ve recently started watching TED Talks while walking on the treadmill (at least once a week) as part of my strategy to grow as a communicator. TED … Read more
Lent is an ideal time for personal reflection and self-examination. It’s also a great time to remember the importance of accountability. Recently, I came across a list of twenty-one daily accountability questions used by John and Charles Wesley during their days in the Holy Club at Oxford University. It’s a pretty intense list of reflective … Read more
Psalm 95 is an interesting psalm. It only has 11 verses. The first seven verses are filled with great statements about praising God … Come, let’s sing out loud to the Lord! Let’s raise a joyful shout to the rock of our salvation! Let’s come before him with thanks! Let’s shout songs of joy to … Read more
Life isn’t easy. We need a guide, a compass, a way to live. Last summer, I was reading through the Psalms, and a verse from Psalm 86 jumped out at me. Teach me your way, Lord, so that I can walk in your truth. Make my heart focused only on honoring your name. (Psalm 86.11, … Read more
John 3.16-17 sums up the purpose of Christmas … God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. … Read more
In my last post, Eschatological Hope, I stated that the eventual return of Christ gives us hope to face whatever we might encounter in this life, and that our focus must simply be to be ready for Christ’s return. As I noted, eschatology is the study of end time events. Jesus certainly talked about end … Read more
Eschatology is the study of end time events. Few areas of scripture are more hotly debated, and perhaps misunderstood and misused, than parts than deal with end times events. Stuff can get off-the-wall pretty quickly. Some faith traditions talk more about eschatology than others. For example, it’s not a big focus in The United Methodist … Read more
I was a 19 year-old college student when I sensed God calling me into full-time ministry. Shortly afterward, I transferred to a different college and changed my major, and my life focus, from engineering to ministry. While I was finishing up my last two years of college, working on a Bachelor’s degree in ministry, I … Read more
Acts 13.22 describes why God chose David to become king of Israel: God made David king, saying, “I have found David … to be a man after my own heart” (NLT). The goal of a Christ follower is to have a heart like God’s. I’ve written before about a prayer that has become part of … Read more
The Apostle Paul was known for encouraging followers of Jesus to rejoice. In 1 Thessalonians 5.16, he wrote, “Rejoice always.” In Philippians 3.1, he wrote, “Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord” (NRSV). Paul added in Philippians 4.4, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (NRSV). The word “in” is … Read more