Please keep reading. One of the ugliest truths about myself that I have had to come to terms with is hiding in the back half of this post’s title. My head and heart are almost constantly overestimating my own worth. It has always been this way. Always. It began in the Garden of Eden. It […]

This week I shared a brief fly over version of what God is calling us to be as a church. My goal this week (if for no other reason than to test my personal discipline and self-will) is to elaborate on each of those values… one each day. Hopefully this will give you a better […]

First I should admit that I am (as are most men) the biggest baby when it comes to pain. Any physical discomfort is almost immediately translated as dire affliction. Our wives endure far more in bringing children into the world. So I have this lower back thing… now I feel like one of the people […]

I have recently been re-reminded of that profound verse in James 5:16 …the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. That little phrase continues to have more intense meaning to me as the years proceed. Most recently I have been reminded of the importance of prayer as my family and I face this […]

I will admit that my ears are completely tuned to hearing messages about starting a church! OK – with that out of the way – I heard one of those messages in the most unusual places… my yard. This past Saturday I had committed to giving the entire day to work on the house. There […]

As fall arrives and we enter a new ministry year I have been contemplating this question… where does vision come from? It often seems that the blind are leading the blind. No direction. Or worse… different directions and no forward movement. So what of it? I have been wrestling with this idea by looking at […]

Some people watch television to unplug and relax. Others watch to plug in and be informed. I watch for reasons all my own… and very different ones at that. Jon Stewart is a culturist (as I attempt to be). He offers more than comedy. He gives nightly social commentary. And whether you agree with him […]

This may or may not be meaningful to you. Personally, I’m not much of an outdoorsman. On a recent 1500 mile trip I was overwhelmed by the powerful imagery of (and similarity between) the way I found myself watching for deer and the ways in which I seek people who are not-yet-Christian. This story will […]

I have an extreme fascination with words. The words I choose say so much about who I am. How I think… or fail to. The longer I live the more carefully I choose my words. I realize that they are very powerful for encouragement or harm. So why the blog name change? Some of you […]

A few years ago now I had to sell the first brand new car we ever purchased… and that made the decision even more difficult. Looking back, the thing I miss most about that car is that it was a stick shift. Now those of you who have only ever driven automatic transmission cars may […]