Blog
On a walk last week, I saw a group of turkeys sitting on a fence. It got me thinking about how we can become so afraid of offending someone that we shy away from expressing the truth, especially about hot-button social issues. To a passerby who wants to see a...
As summer winds down, I’m thinking of the summer of 1973. It was a special time. On Mother’s Day, I proposed to Jan, and we set the date of our marriage three months later. That summer was carefree and filled with expectations of a new life and a new future...
Where I live in southern Oregon, our valley is filled with smoke from massive forest fires. For days we have endured deteriorating air quality now defined as hazardous. Because the sun has been reduced to an apocalyptic orange glow, it caused me to ponder the words of...
Growing up in the home of a self-employed contractor helped me see the seasonal nature of the construction business. Without fail, each approaching winter would put dad’s business on hold until the warm spring days returned along with new construction contracts....
As a boy, I enjoyed getting into my father’s Chevy pickup truck and driving into town. During these trips I would watch my father and learn about life. Most of these trips would involve a lunch where we sat at a counter on stools laughing and talking. On one of...
My father was a self-employed contractor. He was able to set the calendar of his life around the various building projects that came his way. When he had free time between these projects our family would take our vacations. I loved growing up in this lifestyle...
In October of 2006, I rented a room in a lodge along the Rogue River in Southern Oregon. I went there for a three-day prayer and study retreat. Each day I would hike along a graveled road high above the river. On one of these hikes, I spotted a smooth and...
I was raised in a blue-collar home. My father was a contractor who built houses. I remember working alongside my father at various construction sites in the warm summer sun of the Santa Clara Valley in California. In the years my father did this hard...
Recently in worship the Lord revealed an image to me. The image was of a person standing on a beach looking out to sea. There was a sense of longing on his face. The scene changed where I could now look out through his eyes at the developing image. Before me was...
Some Christians throw the word “heresy” around with reckless abandon. It appears in heated conversations over coffee. The word is used each time a revival takes place that confronts and shakes the existing religious establishment. It is used in the script of...
It is about to heat up. There are two kinds of heat coming. Heat from the religious establishment and heat from the fire of God. The religious establishment binds people up. Their heat is used to silence and discredit anyone who tries to remove their...
This week, I recorded a thought on my Twitter feed: “A healthy prophetic word will include an element of self-indictment.” The day after I shared that sentence, I was reading in Ezekiel and came across verse ten in chapter three,“Son of man, let all my words sink deep...
I have lived long enough to see a few trends develop in the Church. Some of the trends were healthy and others have caused me a bit of concern. As a young boy my religious heritage included time in the Methodist, Presbyterian and Baptist traditions. I got...
Recently, I experienced something that became a prophetic picture of hope I believe many in the Church need to see and believe. At the end of this summer, Jan and I made a trip to Montana where I officiated at a wedding and taught in a church. ...
The more I connect with pastors and leaders across the United States the more I am seeing a group fatigue in the ranks. This fatigue is not from busy schedules or stress-filled encounters with difficult people. This fatigue comes from a subtle resignation that...