Just Another Blog

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...