We’re rounding the bend into another holiday season. Once again, we reflect on the previous twelve months. We wonder how they flew by so fast and marvel that we survived. It’s been a lot of a lot. It’s easy, at times like this, when there’s so much unrest, injustice, and fear, to keep peeking around…
I looked at the caller ID and was both surprised and thrilled to see the name of an old friend with whom I had attended church and Bible studies years ago. Ann and I had never been best friends or even close friends, but I always admired her humor, her insight, her compassion, and her…
I was sitting on my barstool, drowsily sipping my morning coffee and reading my Bible study, when this question jolted me: What was one of the most passionate or intense prayers you can remember praying? Immediately I recalled several intense prayer sessions. Sadly, not all of my heartfelt cries produced happy outcomes. I remembered huddling…
Those of us who have grown up in the evangelical church have learned, whether directly or indirectly, that “real” ministry requires significant sacrifice. For some reason, we seem convinced that the work of the Great Commission should only occur beyond the borders of the United States. Yet there are people all around us looking for…
“My command is this: Love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12 NIV) A girlfriend of mine (let’s call her Jane) told me a story recently about how she and her family have basically gone kosher. They have a friend living with them who is kosher, and he was uncomfortable cooking in their…
Why do I attend church? What is the desire inside that calls me there? Where does it come from? Do we human beings have an intrinsic desire to believe there is something or someone bigger than ourselves that deserves our worship, our praise (even if we never acknowledge such a feeling)? I believe we do….