I have now been attending churches for over 40 years. And I have picked up a few things about church culture that I do not particularly appreciate. And most of the things that trouble me about church culture revolve around the subject of conformity to non-Biblical standards. As a child I picked up on these…
It is scary how quickly the things of life are taken for granted. I was in college when I recieved my first email. Prior to that day, every correspondence I had with a person was via a corded telephone or a mailbox! I am thankful for the ease of communication of our current age. When…
Somewhere between feeling like a hip and cutting edge church planter a few years ago and where I sit right now, I lost my mojo. I could go back and search along the history of the past few years to find it, but I am not sure it was all that I felt it was…
Helicopter Parenting, Snowplow Parenting, and Other Unhelpful Analogies.
October 23, 2014
I have been a father for 13 years. It has been a journey of learning about my own strengths and weaknesses. It has had ups and downs. I have been stretched to put away my own schedules, plans, preferences, and iPhone. But I didn’t realize until recently how little I know about parenting. It amazes…
The Bible. The most read, most published, most common book in the world. The old testament prophets would have LOVED to live in our time when the Word of God was completely revealed and available in every bookstore, on every mobile device, and even in a lot of homes. (1 Peter 1:10-12) So, are we…
When I hear some people speak about the call of God it sounds a lot like the expectation that God has a mobile phone. As long as my phone doesn’t ring with a call from God, I am free to do my own thing. It is spoken of as if some people got that call,…
I have not always been a runner. I have always enjoyed sports. I played soccer in high school and college and always considered myself somewhat in shape. But several years ago I hit my highest weight, realized I had a pretty sedentary lifestyle, and was eating very poorly. I changed my diet at that point…
A couple of things have come up in the media recently that have led me to consider and question the civility of the “civilized” world. The realities of living in a society with more information at our fingertips than any other generation lends itself to all kinds of abuses. But what I have seen in…
I have grown to love Gungor. They are a very musically gifted band led by Michael and Lisa Gungor. I love the creativity and intentional quality that they add in a world where so much music is shallow and lacking depth. Many contemporary songs are musically written as just shells to carry forward some lyrics.…
My title was once “missionary”. That title meant that I was an individual that was fully employed in the cause of taking the good news of the gospel to those who did not know the good news of the gospel. Most people when they hear the word missionary assume some international context. From childhood, I…
Despite what many assume, I did not name Leah after a princess from a well known science fiction movie that came out in 1978, even though her brother’s name is Luke. She is named straight up for the Biblical character introduced in Genesis 29. And I feel like I need to clarify that we didn’t…
Linda and I just returned late on Tuesday night from a seven night stay at an all inclusive resort in the Riviera Maya region of Mexico. I had saved up money to take Linda there for her birthday. (35th or something like that . . .) We were both very ready for a vacation from…
