If you had told me all the treasure, all the blessings, all the growth that would come to me in the summer of 1993, I would not have walked but I would’ve SPRINTED into that summer. It began with a single conversation with a friend, Jeff Howe.  We are both from Michigan but the conversation…

When my kids were younger I was looking for any rope to hold onto.  Linda and I would read books about strong willed children, training children, shepherding their hearts, and any other thing that seemed to offer wisdom and action. Now that all of my children but one have moved on to adulthood, I know…

  Deuteronomy 7:9 “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations”   I once was a church planter, and now I am a pastor.  Technically, I was both from the beginning, but…

I grew up in between the GARBC and the IFCA.  Christians, like the military, love their acronyms and insider speak.  Those both stand for General Association of Regular Baptist Churches and the Independent Fundamental Churches of America.  Both are loose associations.  Both pride themselves in their independence from a larger ecclesiastical accountability.  And both would…

I have commented over the years that I grew up in a town that was very similar to Mattawan.  Middleville even starts with an “M”. Just a couple of traffic lights, no McDonald’s, huge school district, quality education, farming community that was growing into a bedroom community for a larger city a few miles away.…

Last Friday, Linda and I returned from an 11 day Caribbean Cruise.  She took me on this cruise as a celebration of a pretty significant milestone as far as birthdays go. (I’ll be 50 next week!) Now that we have two cruises under our belt, I think I can more knowingly say that I DO…

I like to wrap up the year by sharing some highlights from my reading in the past year.  I will not comment on every book, but will skip across the titles worthy of mention.  I read or listened to 35 books this year. 1. Providence (by John Piper) John Piper has a way of writing…

I have learned two things in nearly 20 years of pastoral ministry. 1.  I need a personal time in the Bible on a routine basis. I remember when I was younger, I would think that spending time each day in the Bible would make my DAY go better.  I will have a better morning, a…

Throwback from 2019! How much glory was obscured in that manger?  Who was this baby, that came to us in such strange circumstances? This week I will be preaching from Matthew 17:1-13 to identify just how much Jesus was hiding.  I believe that many of us drift off theologically this time of the year.  We…

Throwback Blog from 2016! This blog is not written to make you feel guilty. It is more of a confession that I will let you all in on with the hopes that it moves us all along further down the road to gratitude. So let me state at the outset, that I can be a…

I am a reluctant follower.  My past experience and upbringing without a father, quite distant mother, and way too much freedom has made it hard for me to overcome a radical independence.  And I have a nearly lethal measure of confidence.  (Remember that pride is a sin and sin leads to death…) Eugene Peterson has…

I think I have noticed a trend.  Maybe it’s just in my local context, which I can speak to quite well.  But I imagine that what I am experiencing is likely happening in the broader context of other churches as well. First of all, I think many people cannot define what a pastor exists to…