Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
I am currently doing a sermon series on “Life in the Wilderness.” The wilderness represents those times when life doesn’t go according to plan, when something happens that we aren’t expecting. Everyone goes through the wilderness; no one is exempt. And the wilderness changes us — no one comes out on the other side unchanged … Read more
One of the books I finished up during Lent, as part of my Lenten Growth Plan, was Eugene Peterson’s Eat This Book (which I wrote about a couple times after I started reading it last year: Eat This Book 1.0 and Eat This Book 2.0). Peterson also wrote The Message, a paraphrase/translation of the Scriptures, … 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
You know the drill, one of your many rechargeable battery-powered gadgets needs recharging, so you plug it into its specific rechargeable device (after you find it!). A couple weeks ago, I plugged in my cell phone, and Ethan asked if my phone was dead. It wasn’t, so I said, “No, it just needs to be … Read more
My sermon last Sunday focused on Jesus’ time in the Garden of Gethsemane (“olive press”) found in Mark 14.32-42. In the midst of the agony Jesus was feeling, he was also greatly concerned for Peter, James, and John, who were supposed to “keep watch” with Jesus. I love the question Jesus asked his friends when … Read more
Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season. This morning, I was finishing up reading through Ezra and his prayer toward the end of the book sounded like a good prayer for the beginning of Lent. Ezra, who has returned to Jerusalem with a group of Israelites that were in captivity in Babylon, … Read more
I watched one of The Nines’ videos, one by Nancy Beach who is on staff at Willow Creek. The one thing she chose to share was, “Guard your heart.” Nancy says her heart is grieved with the number of conversations that she’s had with people from other churches who work on staff with a lead … Read more
I am still making my way through Eugene Peterson’s Eat This Book. Earlier, I wrote about the first three chapters, and in this post, I’ll reflect on the last couple chapters of part one. In chapter four, Peterson talks about story and suggests, “Story is the primary verbal means of bringing God’s Word to us” … Read more
In her book, The Organic God, Margaret Feinberg talks about the abundant kindness of God. She writes … I must not just accept that God is kind, I must embrace his kindness as my own. Feinberg says that kindness is largely learned: God displays his kindness through people who give us mini lessons of kindness. … Read more
Everyone invests in something. We invest our time, energy, and money in things in which we expect a good return (be it financial, emotional, or spiritual). Christ-followers invest their lives — their time, energy, and money — in God. But sometimes we wonder if our investment is really worth it. One day, Peter, one of … Read more