Just Another Blog

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 ...

 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...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

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...

In the book of Acts from the New Testament which tells the story of the early days of the Church, we find a story about two of their leaders, Paul and Silas, who were thrown into prison because of what they were doing. This is what it says in that story: "About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs of worship to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them...there was a violent earthquake, the doors of the prison were opened, and everyone's chains fell off ." There are a couple of important things to note here: - Paul and Silas were thrown into prison (if you read earlier in the book of Acts) because they set a woman free from an evil spirit. Also, because she was super annoying. (Read it, you'll understand!) - After being thrown into prison, Paul and Silas figured the best thing to do in their circumstances (which were not great) would be to praise God and pray. - As a result of their attitude and their actions, everyone's chains...

"The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever." (Ps. 29:10) There are two times in the Old Testament that "flood" in that way is used. Here and in Genesis 6. In the above passage, the psalmist is speaking to the power and sovereignty that God has over even the mightiest and most destructive forces of nature. If God sits permanently enthroned over even the mightiest forces of nature - which bring devastation and death and destroy anything a nd everything in its path - what kind of authority does God have over your seemingly insignificant (in comparison) problem? Be reminded today that the God whose voice can shred the great cedars of Lebanon (Ps. 29:5) is also the God who promises to give you strength for today, who brings peace into your trials (Ps. 29:11), and who loves you (Jn. 3:16).

Here's a word that we don't hear too much anymore: whet. When you look it up online, the "archaic" definition is "a thing that stimulates appetite or desire." When my wife is cooking one of her epic meals, there is an aroma that permeates our home. That aroma whets my appetite for whatever it is she is cooking. I begin to anticipate how incredibly delicious the meal will be. And I am never disappointed. Proverbs 15:14 says "The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly." (NIV) Eugene Peterson says it like this in his paraphrase, The Message , "An intelligent person is always eager to take in more truth; fools feed on fast-food fads and fancies." I will confess that I am far from where I desire to be in my knowledge of the Lord. That recognized distance is part of what motivates me to go deeper with God through prayer and study of scripture. In fact, the more time I spend with God and the more I dig into ...

Perhaps you remember the classic children's tale of Goldilocks and Three Bears.  The story essentially goes that Goldilocks stumbles across the home of three bears, proceeds to check out their digs, eats some of their soup, and eventually takes a nap in one of their beds. The bears discover her, and she is summarily kicked out of their humble abode. I am not even sure if there is a moral to the story other than one should probably stay out of bear houses if there even were such a thing! But the story does provide for us a simple backdrop for the principle we find in Psalm 91:1. "Whoever dwells in the shelter  of the Most High  will rest in the shadow of the Almighty."  Psalm 91:1, NIV This is one of those great verses I come across several times each year as I read through the Psalms, and each time I am reminded of this simple truth: if I desire to find my rest in God, then I must be obedient to dwell with Him. The rest that we are all looking for is not ...

There are many things that I have asked of God in my life: security, health, provision, success, ideas...the list could go on. And in many of those cases, God has answered my plea and given me what I have asked for. He has answered my prayer. He has heard my cry. Thanks be to God. But all that I have asked of God, every little request up to the biggest of requests, while they are not necessarily wrong, there are many times that they are driven by my own selfishness. By my own needs. In Proverbs 30, a saying of Agur is shared. Every time I read this, it hits home with me: Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies from me; give me neither poverty no riches, but give me only my daily bread. Proverbs 30:7-8, NIV Two things. Two simple things that he asks of God. God, help me to be a man of integrity. Help me to be trustworthy, dependable, to so display righteousness and the holiness of God in my life that people can...

I look back with fond memories to my childhood and growing up in the Church. I remember every Sunday night we would make the trek back to the church building (it was just across the parking lot from the parsonage), and we would assemble in the sanctuary to sing some of our favorite hymns. The preacher (he was my dad) would give a message of some sort. I recall no details of this particular portion of the service. Strange. And we would receive communion. Every time. I grew up independent Christian, and part of our tradition was to receive communion every time we met. Literally. I remember when children's church first became part of what happened at church on Sunday mornings. The main area of our church basement was converted into this massive Sesame Street-like getup, complete with puppets and human actors. I remember going to Sunday School and learning the books of the Bible. Those were the good old days. Unless you were my parents. They remember the good old days as being ...

As a pastor, I am continually amazed at the trend I am seeing within the evangelical Church regarding attendance. It used to be, not even 5-10 years ago, that the average church-going family attended church almost every Sunday of the month. Today's church-going family, however, is a different breed. The average family now attends church 2 times per month. If you are above average, congratulations! For the pastor who is tasked with leading a church and providing a spiritual direction to the life of the church, this kind of irregularity is incredibly frustrating and challenging to navigate. It is nearly impossible to create continuity and foster a reasonable level of understanding within a teaching series if someone only comes once or maybe twice. Trying to recruit volunteers to support the vital ministries of the church proves to be nearly impossible and creates frustration for other volunteers who give many hours of service, as well as adds the workload of continual recruitment f...

In the Fall of last year, I attended a prayer event just a couple of hours from home. I began my time there with cautious hesitation, not sure what I would think about everything that I anticipated was to happen. The first night came and went, and I had not experienced anything that made me uncomfortable or had stretched me too far. The next morning, we began again. There was worship and teaching and prayer. Late in the morning, something began to change for me. I can’t fully explain it, nor can I completely understand it. What I do know is that God revealed some things to my spirit, released some burdens from my life, and filled me with a renewed sense of his presence and power in my life. In those moments, I can vividly recall the emotional response that I experienced. It can only be described as a sobbing cry. Some people might call it the “ugly cry,” but whatever it was, it was coming out of me not because of sadness or because of conviction, but because of my thanksgiving for wha...

"For those who find me find life and receive favor from the LORD. But those who fail to find me harm themselves; all who hate me love death."  (Proverbs 8:35-36) We are entering into a season of death, both in our natural world, and in our world of entertainment and celebration. In nature, we will begin to see our plants die, our fields go dormant, our trees shed their leaves. All of these signs of death are a part of the natural cycle of life. We will see  them return to their full glory in the Spring, as new life is breathed back into each plant, flower, and tree. We are also entering into a season of death in our society. I call it that, because for the coming season, many will actually celebrate, decorate, talk about, and think about death more than any other time of the year because of the holiday of Halloween. The proverb says that all who hate the wisdom of God love death.  With the absence of the wisdom of God - which is a source of life for those who w...

There are some things I am passionate about. I am passionate about my family. I love them. I am thankful for them. I guard them physically and spiritually to the best of my ability. I would fight for them, even lay down my life for them if the occasion were to arise. I am passionate about my beliefs. In fact, "Belief" is the number one strength in the ol' Strengths Finders assessment. I have deeply held beliefs that mean a great deal to me and I will defend them, I will seek to instill them in other people, and I have even been known to fight for them on certain occasions. I am passionate about my country. I love my country. I served my country. I have friends that have given their lives for our country. I believe in the ideals that were originally a part of my country. I have fought for my country. I am passionate about the Church of Jesus Christ. I have served her for almost 19 years. I have sacrificed for her, I have given of my time and my resources to her, and ...

I had a moment today. Nothing really dramatic. Nothing super spiritual. Just a moment. In our lives, hectic as it may be, there are these moments when I have a single thought: "Thank you, Jesus." It could be something simple. It could be something complex. Either way, it's a moment in which I have an emotion of relief, thanksgiving, and recognition of the goodness of God in my life. Today's moment wasn't especially dramatic. It was simple. An answer to a prayer; to be honest, a whispered prayer. Nothing I even fervently approached the throne of God with. More like, "Please God, let this be something simple." And God answered. He answered in a way that made me respond in spirit and with my mouth, "Thank you, Jesus." I just wonder, how often do we say thank you? How often do we recognize that God is still interested in the little things of our lives? Even the things that we do n't bring to him in repeated prayer, He knows about. He...

"Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor." Proverbs 21:21 The things we chase: life, prosperity, and honor. We want to live life in the fullest way. Doing fun things, going great places, experiencing awesome stuff.  We plan great vacations, incredible excursions, and recreation is not just something that happens, it is an event. An event that is planned, produced, supported financially, and held up like an idol in our lives. We build great homes to live our lives in. The bigger the better. We buy great cars to drive through our lives in, complete with all the bells and whistles. We purchase great clothes to wear as we live our lives. We do all of this to find life, whatever that means or whatever that looks like. For each of us, according to cultural standards, it is different. But we chase after life, primarily through things, events, and happenings. This is life. We chase prosperity through jobs, and new jobs, and different jobs. A...

"It is one's honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel." Proverbs 20:3 Everybody knows one. At least one. It's that person that, regardless of all the good that is happening, regardless of the evidences of God's hand, there is always something to complain about. There is always something to be discontent about. Often masked as a suggestion or a "great" idea that is trying to solve a "problem," the real underlying spirit is one of division and of criticism. There is no pursuit of peace. There is not a spirit of contentment. There is not a desire to be in unity. Sure, there is the profession of all those things, but the proof is in the fruit and the fruit is all wrong. The proverb tells us that when we avoid strife, it is to our honor. Strife is being angry or bitter over fundamental issues. It's just the basic stuff. God says we should avoid causing problems over the basic stuff, but that's where we love to cause...