Category: New Beginnings

Are you afraid of God? Last time I asked a provocative question: Does God Punish? It’s a tough question. One of this blog’s purposes is to talk about confronting adversity and moving forward in hope. It’s difficult to do that if you’re afraid of being punished. Punishment is all about fear, power, and control. If […]

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And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 is one of those great feel-good Bible verses. What’s better than faith, hope, and love, right? Toss that chapter around and a wedding’s likely to spring up right before your eyes. But…am I the only one […]

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I often sense that I stumble through life almost completely oblivious to the incredible story taking place around me. When I occasionally manage to trip over something miraculous, I feel a bit like a blind squirrel finding a nut. I don’t believe those are accidents (No Coincidences) but I can’t help wondering how frequently God […]

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Nobody’s here by accident. My friend Al used to say that often. It confused me, because I thought Al was saying we should understand why we were there. I figured everyone else knew their purpose, and I had no clue. Besides, we’re all free, right? The fact that a particular group happened to show up […]

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For me, following Jesus is mostly a process of learning what I already know. I think I’m a perpetual beginner when it comes to integrating what I know into what I do. Yesterday I asked a question: Ever Feel Discouraged? As so often happens, one of those daily, ordinary, almost unnoticed events reminded me of […]

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What kinds of things cause you to become discouraged? The past twenty-four hours have been eventful. Hurricane Isaac made landfall and stalled over New Orleans, dumping buckets of rain on the anniversary of Katrina. I wrote a post over at Rich’s Ride blog expressing concerns for the folks we met in that area last fall. […]

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The more I think about it, the more I like my metaphor (or is it an analogy?) that following Jesus is like walking a tight rope. Is it okay to admit that I like my own metaphor? This weekend our pastor reminded us that early Christians were called followers of The Way and that Jesus described […]

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Lately I’ve written a lot about my friend Dick Foth. That’s okay—Dick’s a good guy to write about. Due to a scheduling coincidence, Becky and I heard Dick preach in Fort Collins and then three weeks later in Washington, DC. Can I let you in on a bit of a secret? Preachers who speak in […]

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My friend Jon Swanson wrote about Learning Humility. Jon referenced the story from Luke in which the disciples argued about which of them would be greatest. Yesterday a lady from my church called and strongly encouraged me to push for opportunities to tell the story of our recent  IJM Freedom Tour. I hear what she’s […]

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As I write this, a friend waits for one of those conversations with a doctor. Maybe you’ve had one of those discussions for yourself or a loved one, the kind where the test results will determine a whole lot of next steps in your immediate future. It’s all about what you don’t know. It’s all […]

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I love my good friend Pastor Dick Foth. I’ll explain the photo below. This photo shows me, Becky, Dick (striped shirt), and best-selling author Mark Batterson at Mark’s National Community Church In Washington, DC on the last day of our recent bike tour. One of Dick’s many endearing qualities is an ability to pose a […]

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As we prepare for our ride, I have a question for you: Do you underestimate what you have to offer? Most of us tend to discount our potential to contribute. Someone else can do it better, so we leave it to them. I used to tell students to get used to an inescapable fact: nobody’s “best” […]

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