Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
The third movie in the series has more good life lessons. Yesterday, on our day off, we went to see Spider-Man 3. We enjoyed the movie, and thought it was very well done. We read in a local paper that the movie earned a $100 million profit in its first six days (internationally), and it … Read more
The United Methodist Church expands its ministry around the world! It was recently reported that the United Methodist Church, after cutting some of its missionary efforts in recent years, is re-igniting its missionary recruitment drive. We’re excited about that! As reported, while the UMC continues to decline in the US, it has grown an amazing … Read more
The journey demands that followers of Jesus stay in shape! In my daily Bible reading yesterday, I finished Deuteronomy. Near the end of the book, at the end of Moses’ life and leadership of the Israelite’s, Moses wrote a song and taught it to the people he was leaving behind. Part of that lengthy song … Read more
Got word today that a formal application is in the mail! If you’ve been following our unfolding adoption story over the last few months you may know that the next BIG step in the adoption process is the submission of a formal application to Americans for International Aid & Adoption (AIAA) (we had already submitted … Read more
United Methodists in Central Pennsylvania will gather June 6-9 for Annual Conference 2007. Our Conference publication, The Link, just published a preview of this year’s Annual Conference (which will have the theme, “Leap of Faith”): Not Your Grandparents’ Annual Conference. Annual Conference will take place at Messiah College in Grantham, PA. We’re looking forward to … Read more
Reggie McNeal addresses six new realities the Church faces today! I’ve read many leadership books in recent years as part of the Doctor of Ministry program at Asbury Theological Seminary, and Reggie McNeal’s The Present Future has been one of the most impacting books I’ve read during this process (see other recommended leadership books in … Read more
Sponsoring a child is a great way to make a difference in someone’s life! For years we talked about sponsoring a child through one of the organizations that offers child sponsorship. We finally made the commitment to make a difference in the life of a child a few months ago by sponsoring a child through … Read more
Sometimes the “insiders” don’t get it, but the “outsiders” do! When you read Scripture pay attention to how often the “insiders” (i.e. God’s people) don’t get it and how often the “outsiders” do. It reminds me of what Jesus said: “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do” (Matthew 9.12). Here are a few examples … Read more
Dr. Russell West (our faculty mentor) presses us for the puzzle behind our dissertation topics! In our last post related to our dissertation work, we reported that we mailed our first drafts to our mentor, Dr. Russell West, at Asbury Theological Seminary. We both had very productive conversations with Russell last Friday by phone as … Read more
God turns setbacks into comebacks! I started a sermon series on Easter Sunday called “A Resilient Life.” God turns setbacks into comebacks. T greatest example of that is the resurrection of Jesus Christ! I began the series with a message called, “Bouncebackability,” a word I read in a book by Dr. Robert H. Schuller called, … Read more