I love learning. I could be in a classroom for the rest of my life. Especially with cohorts in a real classroom (compared to online) with a professor-in-the-flesh who enjoys hanging around after class to process what he/she has just…
I am so encouraged that over the last few years there seems to be a growing cry all over the country for God to revive His Church...and from some unlikely voices and places. I think the rapid deterioration and growing…
We just returned from four days of an amazing pastoral/board retreat. The nature of our leadership retreats changed dramatically back in 2001. Through a very hard situation we were facing as a church and leadership, we abandoned our typical Spring…
It is so important to know the difference. There is a use of the word “with” in Scripture that simply refers to the occasion where people happen to be together, with each other, and there is no larger or more…
Every so often, I like to switch translations for my devotional reading, just to get a different perspective on God’s story. When I do that, I will typically get a study Bible so that I can have some commentary on…
It’s easy to forget they were just human. Pretty much just like you and me. Over the years of stories and sermons on their lives, we have unfortunately elevated them to a level that can render them unreachable to us…
I say, "almost all benefits," because if God can speak through a donkey, He doesn't need your or my devotions to communicate with us...and He did it millennia before Disney came up with the idea of talking animals. But He…
Think of a lover spurned. Or deep envy over someone else's position or possession. Not the kind of emotion you would normally ascribe to God. We think of jealousy mostly in a negative sense. It shows up in several of…
We tend to despise small things in our culture...except maybe diamonds. We think small things are less exciting than the big things. Less impacting. Less effective. Less worthwhile. Until we run into stories like this. The young man was nineteen…
