Skip to main content

Posts

Embracing the Ripple Effect of Love

Have you ever wondered if your everyday interactions could be a divine opportunity? Imagine the impact of a simple conversation, a smile, or a shared story. In our busy lives, we often overlook these moments, but they can be powerful catalysts for spiritual growth and transformation. Consider the story of the Samaritan woman at the well, a tale that beautifully illustrates how God can work through unexpected encounters. Jesus, traveling through Samaria, chose to rest at a well, where He met a woman whose life would be forever changed by their conversation. Despite cultural barriers, Jesus engaged with her, revealing profound truths about her life and offering her a new beginning. This encounter not only transformed her but also sparked a ripple effect throughout her community You might think your story isn’t significant, but every testimony is a testament to God’s work in our lives. Sharing your journey of faith can reignite your own spirit and inspire others. When the Samaritan woman ...
Recent posts

Rock 'Em Sock 'Em

 I did not grow up throwing punches with schoolmates or with siblings. I did not experience violence in my home as a child. I was never encouraged to throw the first punch, or any punch for that matter. My memories of physical altercations with another person are limited to one specific instance from my junior high years, and the result of my choosing to resort to throwing a punch was not entirely positive. Yes, I did "solve" my problem on one hand, but I created new problems on the other.  There is certainly a culture that exists in our world that promotes violence as the answer to solving problems. I have a 5 and 7 year old - believe me, some people think that hitting is the only way to fix something. But outside of child's play and sibling bickering, there is a much more damaging culture that promotes "fixing" whatever problem one might have by exerting physical prowess or at least the threat of exertion. It is not limited to one section of culture or even so...

The Captivity of Fear

Fear holds you captive. By this, I mean that when we are afraid, it holds us in a restricted position. What we could have possibly done, we can do no longer, or at least not to the original potential. My wife sometimes shares a story of fear that she has related to the abnormally large cockroaches that we would sometimes encounter when we lived in Hawaii. Truthfully, they were water bugs, but their similarity to a cockroach was remarkable, especially in a dimly lit situation. On one occasion, a water bug had taken up residence in a door frame that she needed to pass through, but the mere fact that it was in that door frame was nearly enough to keep her from going through. She eventually mustered up the gumption and ran through the door. Her fear nearly kept her from doing what she needed to do, even though that particular task was not necessarily a noble one. In comparison, the prophet Jeremiah was given a task by God to warn Israel of the coming judgment of God. The judgment was roote...

One Heart

I have the privilege of being a part of a wonderful team of pastors and leaders from the MVNU Region who are doing the hard work of preparing for the '24-'27 PALCON cycle. PALCON is the Preachers and Leaders Conference, hosted regionally at different educational institutions around the United States on a three-year cycle. As we begin this next cycle in June of 2024, MVNU will be the first host site for PALCON.  Wednesday evening and Thursday of this past week, I spent time with pastors and leaders who are, for the most part, in the trenches and around the tables, leading in local and district ministry for the Church of the Nazarene. Here are my takeaways from this time together. Pastors are tired. They were tired before 2020, but COVID and the sundry of challenges that it brought have certainly made an impact in many ministries (not all). This sense of tired has been heightened by a significant number of church members and attendees either falling away completely or shifting to...

Grace Upon Grace

Ever since finishing my time in the Marine Corps, I have been actively pursuing education. I began with my Bachelor's degree, while still working full-time. After a short break, I moved on to my first Master's degree and then to a second. You might say I am addicted to learning - and this is probably somewhat true. I love to learn, to read, to soak up as much knowledge from others as I possibly can, even if I don't always retain it as I would like.  Over those years of seeking education, there have been a couple of times that I didn't quite hit the mark. In my Master's work, as I have continued to work full-time, raise a family, and do all the things that we do in life, I have had seasons where I fell behind or sickness caused me to be unable to complete the task in front of me.  On one occasion, after battling COVID for a few weeks, I found myself in a place where I simply could not catch up with my schoolwork and I faced a hard decision about what needed to happen...

Hurt People Hurt People

I recently heard this familiar phrase. It was one that I have heard before, but it had been some time. When I heard it, I nodded my head in agreement as I processed all that this meant. People who get hurt, for any number of reasons, are inclined to then go and hurt someone else. If you say or do something that causes another person to hurt, then there is a high probability - according to this saying - that they are going to go and do the same to someone else.  The more I thought about this phrase over the course of the week, the more I came to realize how it has no place inside the Kingdom mindset or in the life of a Christian. It is certainly true that all of us are subject to being hurt at times in our lives. This hurt comes through the insensitivity of others, through the direct persecution of others, and it often comes through the actions of others that were never meant to harm at all. In some cases, perhaps, the actions of others were meant to help - either your situation or ...

Strange Bedfellows

Most modern and secular thinking places fear and hope next to one another, giving hope the upper hand. Hope outweighs fear. Hope defeats fear. Hope is stronger than fear. It's an idea that would not be foreign to most of us because we are taught to not let fear capture our imaginations but to live in hope of what could be. And in many ways, this is not an overall bad way of approaching life's challenges. We should be people of hope. We should look forward to what could happen. We should not be held captive by fear of the unknown or fear of failure, for instance.  But fear and hope can also be bedfellows. In fact, it is fear and hope that the psalmist points to as being dual characteristics of those that are following God. "The eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them from famine." Psalm 33:18-19, NIV While this is an odd combination based upon our more popul...