I’m not going to tell you what to do, but get your kids signed up for summer camp! I may be a little biased regarding the whole summer camp gig since I worked four Summers from 93-96 at Camp Barakel in northern Michigan and even met my wife there in 1993. I was not privileged…
As I read through 2 Kings 13-14 this morning I was struck by a statement regarding Amaziah who was one of a long line of Kings over Israel. Scripture says, “3 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, yet not like David his father. He did in all things as…
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Today I am not only wearing some green but even have some shamrocks on my shirt. The ironic thing, is that I got dressed and headed off to the hospital to pray for someone pre-surgery before I even knew it was St. Patty’s Day. How lucky is that!? But this…
I just had a spat with my best friend. Something about triple booking this evening between a band trip meeting, a women’s bible study, and another opportunity I was looking forward to. I didn’t do a great job alleviating the tension, she jumped to some conclusions, but we texted our way into the clearing, and…
Maybe you noticed too, but there seems to be something going on in the government of the United States. Some people are trying to get your attention because they would like you to vote for them! Is it working? Has someone made it to the top of the heap in your opinion? Be sure…
As I was reading through some obscure parts of the Old Testament about the assigning of cities of refuge, God impressed upon my heart His great grace in recognizing the messiness of life in a fallen world. The concept of the city of refuge was God making a provision in the event that someone…
There is truly nothing new under the sun. Teens these days are confronted with drugs, with social pressure (usually online now), academic pressure, sports performance pressure and everything else that goes along with the struggles on the road to adulthood. The beauty in life, however, is that despite the problems being recycled in various…
What would you do with the money!? Quick math (you can check on me) indicates that you would need to spend $136,986 per day in order to spend 1.5 billion dollars in 30 years! I know the pay out wasn’t a full 1.5 billion dollars but little math games like this put big numbers into…
This past year was a good year for reading for me. I enjoy reading and have started listening to audio books while I run or work out. For those of you familiar with strengths finder I have input, ideation and learner in my top five strengths meaning that I spend a lot of time…
I do not know why I have a Master’s Degree in Muslim Studies. Let me be clear. It wasn’t an accident, like I woke up one morning with a headache and a fuzzy recollection of taking a bunch of classes in Muslim Theology. What I mean is that I haven’t figured out God’s plan for…
I am back after a month long sabbatical. I have been to the mountain top, and I have returned with many words of wisdom. Or put in a less dramatic way, I am back after a refreshing break. God did impress upon me several things while I was away. Some of them more personal in…
Through the various stages of church planting, I have often had to dig deep and ask some tough questions. Why start another church . . . in West Michigan of all places? Where is this thing going? Now that we have some stability, have we arrived? Why isn’t there a good Mexican restaurant in…
