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The Lingering Effects of a Spirit of Fear
I recently finished a book called #iAmWorthIt: The Wishful Thinking of an Ignorant Man-child by Matt Luecht. Amazon describes it as an "...honest look at one man’s heart-journey in pursuit of an infinite and profound God. It is a transparent account of revelation and humble acknowledgment of whose we are in spite of how we are." Since I knew the author (sort of), I purchased the book when it was first released, and it has been sitting, dormant and unopened, on my kindle app since 2015. As I...
What Does It Mean To Be “Saved”
I asked Jesus to come into my heart in kindergarten at a Christian school. Did that mean I was saved? It's hard to remember much from that long ago. I remember I liked the little girl who always stood in front of me in line. Math facts were a chore for me to memorize, and so my mother used M&Ms as a reward to help me learn. We played freeze tag and cops & robbers almost every day at recess. Isn't it funny how some things get ingrained in our long-term memory? One thing I don't remember...
In The Darkroom
I wasn't feeling well this past weekend, but it was my week to bring the message at church. I knew it was going to be a message that someone needed to hear, because I needed to hear it myself. But, I did not expect to get the number of personal responses that I received. It's not uncommon to hear "great message" in the lobby after church. I'm not saying those accolades are disingenuous, but it often feels like some people say things like that because it's an expected courtesy. This weekend was...
Seeing Is Only Part Of Getting There
In January, 2013, three men took a weekend away to seek God together in prayer. Their goal was to pray for their leaders, families, and each other. I’ve been thinking about that prayer retreat lately, and dug into the blog archives to read what I had written. It was like looking through an old journal as I vividly recalled different parts of our time together that weekend. One of the things I was seeking God about was clarity regarding my calling. God answered that prayer quickly as I received...
Prayer Is Incredibly Important
I didn't see much on Facebook about the National Day of Prayer yesterday. Is prayer still an important part of the lives of Christ followers? I don't want to read into what Facebook's algorithms decided I should see yesterday, but I get the impression that people are generally praying less today than in past decades. My very first blog post was actually a response to the National Day of Prayer ten years ago. It was interesting for me to go back and look at the way I thought back then. I wasn't...
The Desires of Your Heart
There is a lot we can say about God. He is gracious, just, faithful, good, loving, powerful, and gentle. We could exhaust the entirety of the English language and it would not be adequate to fully describe Him. Because of our limited understanding, we have a tendency to focus on a very narrow part of who He is, and even assign our very best or worst thoughts about Him based on that perspective. One of those very narrow perspectives of God has to do with what we receive from Him. He is called a...
Water and Wine
Since the beginning of the year, I've replaced some of my podcast listening time during my commute to work with listening to Scripture. There was a familiar passage this week: Jesus turned water to wine as His first public miracle. As I was listening, I noticed some things in this passage that I had not really thought about before. On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine...
It’s Monday
It's Monday. Family has gone back to their homes and the work week begins. It was just yesterday that we were celebrating Risen Christ, but is today any different than last Monday? How can it be that we so soon go back to the daily grind of life? If we have confessed with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts that He raised from the dead, then we have that same resurrection power inside of us. But do we live like that is true? This is not just a question for the week...
Mercy and Grace
I don't think there is ever a calm feeling when there are red and blue flashing lights in the rearview mirror. Think about when you're driving down the highway and you see a police car checking everyone's speed. Instinct kicks in and you probably step on the brakes, or at least let off the accelerator, even if you are already going the speed limit or lower. When an officer is behind you with their lights flashing, your blood pressure probably spikes a little bit as your pulse starts to race....
The Shoes We Wear
Perception is reality. At least that's what I've been told, and I've said it to a number of people as well. As I've led a team over the past few years, one of the things that has often come up in conversation is perception. How we present ourselves in the world should look no different than how we present ourselves on the platform at church every weekend. At the same time, we need to be conscious of the image we put forth from the platform. This past month, a new instagram account popped up...
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