Category Archives: The church
Are we doing as God wants with our parents?
Talked with a friend today about a rarity in family life that wasn’t a rarity a generation or so ago: children seeing their parents interact regularly and often with grandparents. Both of us have had the rare privilege and challenge … Continue reading
Posted in Family life, God's will, Personal growth, The church, Values and priorities
Tagged 1 Timothy, 1 Timothy 5, assisted living, children, Christmas, family, grandparent, grandparents, parent, parents, widow, widows
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Do something “foolish” and expect more of others
In honor of April Fools’ Day, I decided to advocate something “foolish”: expecting more from each other. A lot of times in the Christian world we accept mediocre followership. It shouldn’t be that way. Continue reading
Posted in Ministry, Society, The church, Values and priorities
Tagged April Fools' Day, expecting more, fool, foolish, rich young man, what, why
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“Mailing it in” more dangerous than you think when it comes to fulfilling God’s plan for your life
I like to think of myself as a 110 percent guy. I try to go all out all the time. Of course I get tired and need to rest up a bit. Restore, rejuvenate and reflect: we all need that. … Continue reading
Forthright and sincere
I admire forthright people. That doesn’t mean I’m always forthright, but I admire it. I hope that I aim for it in my relationship with God and with other humans.
What do I mean by forthright? This kind of person is straight up about what they believe and why they believe it. They don’t hem and haw about motives and reasons for doing things. They’re candid, not afraid to tell you their own mistakes or reveal their wrong thoughts or behaviors. They aren’t proud of those mistakes and missteps, just honest.
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Posted in Personal growth, The church, Values and priorities
Tagged Bible, Christian, confessing, confessing sin, Ephesians 4:15, Forthright, genuine, God, guileless, honest, honest about mistakes, honest with God, honesty with God, Jesus, John 1:47, motives, no beating around the bush, not false, real, sincere, speak the truth in love, straightforward, true, WYSIWYG
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Spiritual fertilizer
I’ve been thinking about fertilizer from a spiritual standpoint too. During my family’s trip to Honduras we got to see the work of the church in the third world. We observed up close how the church can grow and flourish in a place with minimal resources, or fertilizer so to speak.
Posted in Family life, God's will, Ministry, The church
Tagged American, bearing fruit, costly infrastructure, costs, family mission trip, fertilizer, Gospel, Great Commission, Honduras, impoverished, indigenous church, kingdom, missions, natural growth, organic, partner, resources, spiritual fertilizer, third world, Titus 1:5, unhealthy dependence
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Nothing that hinders the Gospel
I’m teaching our home Bible study this weekend. And the thing I’m being struck by as I consider the message of 1 Corinthians 9 is how hard it is to swallow. In that passage Paul comments that he'd rather put up with any kind of sacrifice than hinder the Gospel in any way (v.17).
Exercising the Right Kind of Influence
We should be salt – seasoning our relationships with grace and kindness, patience and compassion. We should be vessels of God’s love to our families, but not stop there. We should be known as the neighbors with the open door policy. We should have a reputation among our co-workers as the person who can be counted on in a pinch. That’s a short list.
Posted in Ministry, Society, The church, Values and priorities
Tagged Bible, charity, Christ, Christian, Christians, eternally, eternity, God, high-profile, Identity, influence, influencers, Jesus, John 13, Lord, relationships, salt, saviour, who we really are, work
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Journalism and God
The most eye-opening part of talking to Donna Jordan-Mitchell, a former TV anchor, had to do with her experience as a Christian in broadcast journalism. Not from the perspective of a believer trying to follow Christ in a setting where the temptation to cut corners or exaggerate is commonplace. No, what was fascinating was hearing Donna talk about the reaction she got from other Christians. The following is an excerpt of my interview taken from my book, What Does God Want Me to Do? Continue reading
The Danger of Summer Slumber
Summer is a funny kind of season for me. I love the extra time with the kids, the freedom to explore new things because I’m not hamstrung by life’s normal commitments, getting outdoors, going on vacation and hopefully, throttle down just a bit. But I’ve also discovered that summer is a season where I need to exercise extra diligence – spiritually. I find it easy to drift into the endless summer mentality and begin to think that all’s well with the world. Something usually happens when I shift into that mindset – I fall asleep.
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Posted in Ministry, Spiritual Warfare, The church
Tagged 1 Peter 5:8, 24/7, Bible, Christ, church problems, discipleship, fellowship, getting outdoors, God, Jesus, Lord, make the most of every opportunity, Matthew 13, prayer, press on, sleeping, spiritual hiatus, spiritual sleep, summer, vacation, wise, Word
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