Consider What You Bring to the Table Isolation is not the goal of a Christian. Our faith is intended to be lived out in community with others. We are not lone monks hiding from the rest of the world, but a community of Christ followers that encourage and inspire others to be Disciples of Jesus. We [...]
Read More Bible, Christ, Christian, church, community, follow, god, growth, health, Jesus, obey, pray, relationships, spiritualYou went back to work today and realized you never made any New Year’s Resolutions. You’ve listened to the coworkers who dropped money on gym memberships they won’t use, you heard big talk about diets when you know they’re going to hit Mighty Taco or Chik-fil-A next Tuesday, but still you’re wondering if you should have [...]
Read More Bible, change, children, choices, church, decisions, exercise, family, god, Jesus, life, live, marriage, New Year's.resolutions, read, relationshipsIf you never forgive, and wish only for others to “get what they deserve” you will be just like Jonah. Jonah lives on through history in a very short story in the Bible as the example of how terrible and destructive bitterness can be, and how God will still accomplish his purposes without you while [...]
Read More Assyria, Bible, bitter, bitterness, Christ, Christians, church, condemn, condemnation, contempt, destroy, enemies, enemy, forgive, forgiveness, god, gospel, Grace, harm, hate, hatred, heart, history, hope, humility, Jesus, Jonah, justice, Nineveh, pride, sin, slander, steal, unityThe following is part of an ongoing crowdsourced sermon I’ve been developing using my own life experiences and the feedback of others on Facebook and twitter. It’s all about what to do when we have no answers. The introduction can be found here, and the second section is here. There is always hope. It is entirely possible [...]
Read More answers, Christ, Christian, church, clothe, crowdsource, eternity, Faith, feed, give, gospel, hope, hungry, Jesus, life, live, poor, purpose, sermonThe following is part of an ongoing crowdsourced sermon I’ve been developing using my own life experiences and the feedback of others on Facebook and twitter. It’s all about what to do when we have no answers. The introduction can be found here. It is entirely possible that you may not get all the answers [...]
Read More answers, burke, Christ, church, circumstances, daniel, doubt, god, hope, Jesus, know, life, sermon, struggle, suffer, unknownThe following is the introduction from a sermon I’ve pieced together but have not yet preached. Therefore, it will hopefully raise thoughts and questions inside you even while not being the complete sermon. I’d love to hear your feedback on the intro and what thoughts, questions, emotions, or needs it brings to your mind. But [...]
Read More answers, Bible, Christ, Christian, church, doubt, exhaustion, Faith, Glen, god, Hansard, hate, help, hurt, Jesus, job, Old, pain, pray, prayer, questions, struggle, suffer, TestamentOne thing that is clear to me from being a pastor and leader is how important our teams of leaders and supporters are to what we do in the world. Our leaders are not just a part of the church, they ARE the church. They are not just a part of what we do in [...]
Read More attitude, bless, blessing, care, Christ, church, commitment, encouragement, family, feedback, generosity, generous, help, honesty, Jesus, leaders, leadership, love, volunteersI need God’s grace every day. Not just for God to overlook a couple missteps, but radical Grace to cover every thought, motive, and action. But God knew that. Jesus, dying on the cross and rising from the grave, not only changed my eternal outcome but also provides hope to live each day. My hope [...]
Read More choices, Christ, church, forgive, Grace, Jesus, life, love, mistakes, past, Radical, self, sinI wash my hands a lot because I am a dad, which means I change a lot of diapers and handle food in rapid succession. I realized today that I make the same mistake every time I wash my hands. I turn on the hot water and start rinsing and by the time my hands [...]
Read More Christ, church, cold, family, hands, harm, health, help, hot, hurt, Jesus, pain, scrub, scrubbing, unhealthy, wash, waterPeople ask me all the time why I love Mondays. I love Mondays because they set the tone for the rest of the week. Pastors across the entire country are building off of Sunday which is fresh in our minds, full of stories, feedback, energy, and ideas. Mondays tend to be very productive for me. [...]
Read More church, family, kids, love, mom, momentum, Mondays, pastors, wife, work