Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
Morning devotions have been excellent. Yesterday’s devotion centered on Psalm 16 (the goodness of God and the importance of seeing God as good), and today’s grew out of Mark 4 and the story of the seeds that fell on four different kinds of soil. Though all of us have preached from this text, we were … Read more
As I wrote yesterday, Joleen and I are at Asbury this week for a class on "The Spirituality of Leading." Dr. Stephen ("Steve") Martyn is teaching this class, and our first day was a great day. We began our time (as we will every day) in Fletcher Chapel, a small worship space designed for small … Read more
Hello. I’m reporting from Wilmore, KY tonight! Joleen and I are here this week for our sixth class, "The Spirituality of Leading." It looks to be an excellent class; in fact, this is the first class that caught my attention when we began looking at school catalogs back in 2003. I will *try* to do … Read more
We began a new series last week to help us prepare for our upcoming, momentous decision. As we’ve been saying, the wrong question is, "What can we do to survive?" That will always lead us down the wrong path! The question we need to be asking (after, "God, what is your will for us?") is, … Read more
Read Numbers 13.1-20 Introductory CommentsWe begin a new, important series today. It’s a time that I’ve been looking forward to for a while. And I want to begin by sharing my thoughts and wishes as we continue our journey over the next month … I want the best for you! I want the best for … Read more
Happy New Year! As we begin a new year, I want to take a look at a wonderful passage of Scripture. There were two major, polar events that took place in the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible): Exodus from Egypt (1200 BC) and Exile into Babylon (587 BC). Today, we’re going to look at a passage … Read more
Luke 2.8-20 Glory (Doxa)Notice the word glory or glorify in this passage. The angels have the glory of the Lord around them. They say, “Glory to God in the highest.” The shepherds response after they go and see Jesus is to glorify and praise God. In looking at the definition of the word, glory may … Read more
God’s gift to us! When the angels appear to the shepherds on the night of Jesus’ birth, they said, “Don’t be afraid! I bring you good news of great joy for everyone! The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David!” (Luke 2) For God so loved the world … Read more
This summer, I spent some time writing out my personal vision/mission. In thinking about my relationship with God, I focused on 3 keywords: know, honor, and obey. I want to know God; I want to honor God; and, I want to obey God. For me, that’s what it means to be a Christ-follower! Ironically, I … Read more
My Birthday: a letter from Jesus Dear loved ones, As you well know, we are getting closer to my birthday. Every year there is a celebration in my honor and I think that this year the celebration will be repeated. During this time there are many people shopping for gifts, there are many radio announcements, … Read more