HAPPY MONDAY! A surprising statement leads me to today’s word-of-the-week… CONSERVATIVE “I always thought Jesus was really conservative.” “Really?” “Yeah. Not politically, but just, you know, quiet and sort of down-the-middle.” “Interesting. Where’d you get that idea?” “I guess from church. That’s pretty much how church was when I was a kid, so I just figured […]
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All Those Times We Try To Be God
You and I would never try to take God’s place, right? Except I’ve noticed I do it a lot, and I suspect I’m not alone. It’s not on purpose–I don’t have a throne in my back yard or anything like that. It happened most recently when a friend got in some trouble and I wanted […]
Continue readingWhere Do You Begin A Big Dream?
Our FREEDOM TOUR team is discussing a big dream for 2016. Can we raise enough money to cover the entire budget for all of the kids at Project Rescue’s HOME OF HOPE? Can a project that’s raised about $65,000 in 3 years jump to $100,000 in a single year? Every time I consider an outrageous goal I’m reminded of a […]
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HAPPY MONDAY! A frustrating truth prompts today’s word-of-the-week… SERIES The important matters in life are a series of repeated choices. We don’t choose to love someone and then forget it. We must repeat the choice over and over, because loving is difficult, we change, and people change. We may forgive a horrible wrong, but we’ll likely need to forgive […]
Continue readingWhy Should We Prime The Pump?
My friend Jim likes to sing on long bike rides. Jim knows one verse of about a million songs. We’ll be cranking along and he’ll just start singing in his rich, baritone voice, the sort of voice that imprints a chorus on your brain so it pops up weeks later when you’re riding alone and […]
Continue readingAre You Running Aimlessly?
My friend Jon Swanson is on a 98-days-in-a-row running streak. A streak like that causes you to do crazy things like run in the dark or the rain. But Jon doesn’t run for streaks. He’s training for a bigger purpose. I encourage you to follow his blog–you’ll learn a lot about bigger purposes, and perhaps […]
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HAPPY MONDAY! A weekend message brings us today’s word-of-the-week… EXPECTED That’s Not What I Expected Interesting sermon title, huh? The pastor used an incident from David’s life to illustrate how life with God frequently takes unexpected turns. Good point. If you’re anything like me, you can look back and see lots of things that turned out […]
Continue readingIf Only We Could Trust
There are lots of gaps between what we know and what we believe. We know outcomes don’t depend on the size of our efforts. We know God asks us to do what we can, where we are, with what we have and then trust Him for the results. We know, but do we believe? Do […]
Continue readingWhere Did They (We) Go Wrong?
Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. (Matthew 22:15) It’s not an isolated incident. Religious leaders were always seeking opportunities to twist Jesus’ words, catch Him breaking a rule–anything to discredit Him and diminish His increasing influence among the people. We’ve read the stories so often, maybe we […]
Continue readingDo We Abandon Our Wounded?
LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND. In battle, soldiers do everything possible to bring fallen comrades home. Even at the risk of their personal safety, every member of the unit holds sacred the commitment to leave no one behind. Recently I encountered a circumstance in which I wish that commitment applied a bit more closely to my […]
Continue readingGod’s In Control–Right?
A friend’s in some trouble. You know it. Everyone else knows it. Your friend knows it. And right now, there’s nothing you can do to help. You’ve done what you can, so now you wait, and hope, and pray. And feel helpless. You know God’s in control. But God was in control when the trouble began, […]
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HAPPY MONDAY! A favorite quote inspires today’s word-of-the-week… MENU “It’s always easier to order off the menu.” ~ Seth Godin Let someone else decide what choices are available–and acceptable–and choose from their list. Much less risk. Just sit in the chairs somebody else already set up. Jesus advised us to toss out man-made menus. He said […]
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