This summer, I had the honor to counsel at Chi-Rho camp at the Christian Conference Center in Newton, IA and it was an absolute blessing to see preteen and teenage campers share a way they have been conformed to the world and listen to them discuss how they have been transformed and could make a…
Have you ever had a moment when you were driving when another driver did something incredibly rude? Have you ever had a disagreement with a sales clerk that wound up affecting your attitude for the rest of the day? It can happen to the best of us. Jesus often talked about forgiveness. It was a…
I was thinking how hard and how delightful parenting can be sometimes. I have to remind myself every so often that it’s always worth it even though it’s not always easy, or immediately gratifying. Often times, I can come home to time with the kids and it is a joyful and life-giving thing for me.…
While I’m on vacation this week – enjoy some holy humor from my files! On a balmy evening in the South Pacific, a navy ship spied smoke coming from one of 3 huts on an uncharted island. Upon arriving at the shore, the crew was met by a shipwreck survivor. He said, “I’m so glad…
I was so excited to report that our pictorial directories were on their way! We set up volunteers, were ready to track received directories, and within minutes of handing out the first directory, a flaw was reported. I take the blame, and ask your forgiveness, for the mistakes in the printed portion. Corrected info inserts…
People who study trends in today’s churches have made one thing clear: the greatest indicator of a church that is alive and growing isn’t its doctrine or the size of its building or even how well the preacher might preach. The greatest indicator of a healthy church is the level of participation. The greater the…
Oftentimes, when a person comes to me for counseling, what they actually want is to see change in someone else – their spouse, or children, or coworkers. What I then have to explain is that the only person they have the power to change is themselves. Not surprisingly, many counselling sessions end right there. There’s…
This past Sunday, I spoke about Billy Sunday’s big revival in Keokuk in the fall of 1904. According to a 114-year-old First Christian Church directory, Rev. Sunday wouldn’t come to Keokuk unless he had the unanimous support of local pastors. He knew that after his revival tent was taken down, it would be up to…
God has big dreams for us and created us to personally have a relationship with Him. We are called to know and trust the voice of our shepherd so we can listen and follow Him. But if we cannot identify what His voice specifically sounds like to us, we can’t respond. Chances are, if you…
Last Sunday, we celebrated the gift of the Holy Spirit – complete with a long piece of red fabric coming down from the ceiling, draping along the cross, and pooling on the floor. Thank you to our Worship Ministry for this vivid reminder of the first Pentecost! For the next few weeks, we’ll be exploring…