I have developed a pattern to my mornings that have helped me to be more focused and intentional. I have not always been a morning person, but having been challenged to get up and read the Bible and pray at a men’s retreat quite a few years back, set me on a pathway of more…
I was not a summer camper as a kid. But I wish I was. I first heard about Camp Barakel when I was a student at Columbia Bible College in South Carolina. A friend and fellow Michigander invited me to come up and counsel there for the summer between my sophomore and junior year. Having…
I have been familiar with death my entire life. My formative years were spent watching my father battle and eventually succumb to cancer. He passed into the rest of it all three days after my 8th birthday. And so I have spent all of my days with a keen awareness of my own mortality. And…
To my shame, I can let a day just happen. Some days are just overcast and glum. My ability to be overcast is just as fickle as the Michigan weather. But I preface that as being to my shame, because there are little graces in each and every day. I truly believe that the difference…
Sing is a frequent command in Scripture. And it is a command that hasn’t been particularly easy to assimilate into a year of pandemic with an airborne illness. To accommodate for the pandemic, our church has shortened the service, moved the singing to the end of the service, and removed a couple of songs to…
Living in the midst of a pandemic has been difficult. Leading in the midst of a pandemic has been harder. Trying to stay on the focus of the mission God has for the church in the midst of a pandemic has been the hardest. The local church by definition is a gathering . . .…
The title is meant for shock value. But as I consider the way that kids are more isolated now than ever, I am blogging about this list as a catharsis for some things I would do differently. I didn’t raise goblins. But I really think the following list would be a way to get there.…
I believe that American culture has become increasingly negative and fearful. Attempts to peer out into the future often result in prognostications of doom and gloom. And this blog is not meant to skip over the reality that bad things have happened and that bad things will happen. There is a type of sappy (nearly…
I subscribed to the RZIM podcast. I had the app on my phone. I have read a few books by Ravi Zacharias over the years. As a person who grew up with a significant bent toward “defending the faith,” Ravi was a large influence in my life. The findings of a recent report about the…
The Happy Days Cafe is open again in Mattawan for indoor sipping. Rykse’s in Texas Corners is open for indoor dining. And as I sat here this morning enjoying my chorizo bowl, and meeting with someone new to ReCAST Church, I ran into 7 different people that stopped by my table to say “Hi!” There…
This past week my grandmother was brought into the eternal presence of her King. And in a whirlwind of week, we had a memorial service for her last Thursday. She had asked me to speak at her memorial service a few years back and so I honored that request by saying the following. I share…
Just a couple of years after ReCAST Church was getting off the ground over a decade ago, I was asked to join a group of community leaders about starting a food pantry in Mattawan that would be a collaboration of local churches and businesses. There were some small disconnected groups that were each serving several…
