Linda and I have had the joy of hosting a friend for the week. We have known Ben Glupker as long as we have known each other. All three of us counseled at Camp Barakel back in the mid-90’s. He is that kind of friend that has kept in touch over the years. He visited…
As I sit here at the local coffee shop, I have the privilege of having my daughter sitting beside me. She is listening to music on her phone and texting friends while I have been studying and writing this blog. She is now in high school. She is a freshman. Every glance in the proverbial,…
I could never imagine when I became a pastor, that I would be called upon to declare my personal stance on murder. Nor could I conceive of a cultural climate in which I would be pressed to verbalize my opposition to racism. These are two things that have felt so self-evident to me that I…
I must confess that I keep up with social media. And over the course of this lock-down I have observed phases of online content. There was the initial light-hearted phase where every other post had something to do with Corona Beer. Staying humorous, but getting more serious we went through the shopping and acquiring toilet…
It didn’t take long to figure out that Mattawan Consolidated School is the heartbeat of this small community. Back in 2009 I moved my family here from Portage with the goal of planting a new church that would be centered in the Bible as the Word of God, and motivated to give love and blessing…
Rather than add more content to an expanding body of opinions and speculation, I have decided to blog about 5 random points of gratitude that have nothing to do with COVID-19. 1. The Snow Drops are Up in the Woods by My House This is always the first sign of Spring around my house. The…
A glance over the headlines calls it COVID-19. Colloquially it is called Coronavirus. And it seems to be spreading. I have looked up the words pandemic and epidemic and neither word is entirely accurate yet. And further from reality are the words ‘plague’ and ‘pestilence’. I cannot imagine the latter word being employed by anyone…
Any conversation about Bible translation has the potential to bring up a lot of emotions. People who grew up in the church have likely become accustomed to a particular translation and they develop loyalties. Further clouding the issue is the way we naturally associate a favorite translation with people along the way. “Grandma loved that…