Blog
Over the years, I've had people who were personally connected to me walk away from our relationship without offering any explanation for their departure. After repeated attempts to reach out and make things right, I was never given a response. In the process of our...
Where Jan and I live, we have four ways to leave our neighborhood. Each exit leads to a different way out of town. We don’t live on a dead-end street or within the confines of a cul-de-sac. The way of escape, should we need to do so, is open with several options...
For those who love the Church and want to see her prosper, it’s important to understand the conditions in which people live. To ignore those realities will remove the power of the Gospel to overcome those issues and suffering they create. The Gospel is meant to be...
I remember the first time I kissed Jan. It was 47 years ago. We drove from Multnomah School of the Bible (now known as Multnomah University) in Portland, Oregon to the Eagle Creek trailhead in the Columbia Gorge. I had to borrow a car to make the trip. After a long...
In the middle of the night (for me), I drove to the airport to pick up my daughter, Anna, who was returning home from a trip to Mexico. If you follow my writing, you know Jan, and I hit the rack early and get up early – real early, each morning. It is our best time to...
In the two months since my dog, Abby, died, our cat, named Mister, has assumed some of Abby’s duties. Both Abby and Mister have no tails. Mister is a Manx (he looks like a little bobcat), and Abby was an Australian Shepherd (Aussie). Aussies are called velcro dogs....
In my life, the greatest blessings I received were not the result of a well-crafted human plan. I could not create the blessings I have been given. I could not predict them or see them coming. These blessings simply arrived out of the goodness of God's heart and in...
It can make some theologians nervous to say that good theology is formed from experience. The pages of Scripture are a story of God interacting with people, not a hard and cold set of impersonal facts about God. I formed my theology about God’s goodness at 2:00 am...
You know the feeling you get when you hear words in your heart that are not typical in your normal vocabulary. The words get your attention because you know its God speaking and not your imagination. I heard two words like that a few days ago. The words were, “Global...
When I awakened this morning, I began to think of what would happen if the masses of people who follow Jesus Christ became an active part of the reformation currently taking place in our culture. Today, many believers feel distant from the subject. They think...
Martin Luther King, Jr. has always been a man I admired both as a statesman and a fellow pastor. He was a man of courage who made choices many of us would hesitate to make. I want to pause and remember his life and sacrifice on this day when we as a nation honor his...
Breach / brēCH / to make a gap in and breakthrough (a wall, barrier, or defense). I researched the word “breach” after watching a video of a whale breaching. The whale swam half of its body out of the water into thin air then crashed back into the ocean with a huge...
People have different reactions to the unexplainable events of God. A person can respond with joy, suspicion or outright dismissal. These responses come for a variety of reasons. Something took place several years ago that could create one of those responses as you...
This is a very emotional and adrenaline-driven time in our nation. People are feeling frustrated with the current state of affairs. Every clickbait button on our computer screen, each controversy of faith or culture, foolish, and the foolish and demeaning words...
I watched a video of a motorcycle cop riding his bike through a set of narrowly spaced cones in a riding competition. It was amazing to see his balance, discipline, and timing. He was trained to do these maneuvers. It did not come naturally. When you train to...