Click through a collection of leadership and ministry blog posts!
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Exceedingly, Abundantly, Above All
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20–21, NKJV When we pray, it is comforting to know that God…
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The Sum of Everything is Not Zero
There is something unsettling about the book of Ecclesiastes. The preacher begins with the cheerful declaration, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” One generation comes and another goes. Rivers continue running into the sea, but the sea is never full. What has been will be again. Eventually, even the things and people we thought would…
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Teach Us to Number Our Days
Psalm 90 is a prayer of Moses that contrasts the greatness of God with the shortcomings of humanity. Moses had seen Israel’s triumphs and failures. He had watched God lead His people with tangible proofs of His presence: manna from heaven, water from the rock, a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by…
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God Calling
The day before my birthday I received an early present—a phone call from God. This is not hyperbole. The phone rang and God spoke. Let me explain. It was July 10 of this year—a Friday. Suzette and I were taking a five-mile walk through the Lakeland Hills neighborhood near our home. As we walked, we…
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Twenty-Five Years of Thankfulness
A study by UCLA details the benefits of being thankful, saying thank you and practicing gratitude in general. The practice of gratitude is an important one. In one research study, it was found that practicing gratitude for 15 minutes a day, five days a week, for at least six weeks enhances mental health and can…
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The Gift of Reading
Recently, while visiting my mother, she was talking about the small group Bible study that she attends each week. She was talking about the different topics they are learning about and the different people who are coming. Then she mentioned that one of the attendees of the small group didn’t know how to read. She…
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Garden Time
In 1912, C. Austin Miles was reading his Bible by candlelight in a very dark, cold and leaky basement room. He was reading John 20, where Mary goes to the tomb of Jesus. As he contemplated the story, he visualized the scene. He pictured it in vivid detail in his mind. He saw a weeping…
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Becoming God’s Investment
God doesn’t just invest through us—He invests in us. When we think of stewardship, we often focus on managing God’s money, time, or talents. But deeper still is this truth: you are God’s investment. He redeemed you at infinite cost—not just to save you, but to shape you. As Paul writes in Philippians 1:6, “He…
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Planted
Do you like houseplants? Houseplants, in the right hands, can really thrive. Think of it this way: For a plant lover, a houseplant is almost like a personal friend. They watch over the plant. They notice when it may need to be moved to a different spot in the house to maximize the light. If…
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Bubble Wrap
Do you like bubble wrap? It is a great invention that, frankly, came from a failed experiment. In 1957, two engineers were attempting to create a new type of wallpaper. They wanted to make three-dimensional, textured wallpaper, so they glued two plastic shower curtains together, inadvertently trapping pockets of air between them. Frankly, that doesn’t…
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Penny for Your Thoughts
The expression “a penny for your thoughts” dates all the way back to around 1535, when Sir Thomas More used those words in one of his written works. It has been used throughout the centuries as a question for someone who appears to be deep in thought. If a person is silent or pensive for…
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Ultracrepidarianism
I learned a new word today: ultracrepidarianism. Want to take a guess what that means? There are some who may even look at the word and think they know what it means, then go and try to explain the word and be totally wrong. That would, in fact, be ultracrepidarianism. The meaning of the word…
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“We Should Start a Small Group…”
Our church was in decline. Committed leaders wondered why we had few baptisms, few young people, decreased attendance, and a shortage of volunteers. My family knew Jesus had dreams for us and our church. What could we do? “We should start a small group in our apartment,” my wife Caitlin suggested. Our plan was simple.…
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Unidentified
Did you know there are 160,000 species of moths? At least that is what scientists think. Moths come in all sizes. There are really large moths that are almost the size of small birds. There are also really tiny moths that do not look like much at all. Moths, however, are all known for one…
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20,000 Miles and 49 Seconds
The 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles came at a time when the United States had not participated in the Games for some time. The United States had boycotted the 1980 Games held in Moscow because of political tension. Thus, many of the athletes who would have competed in 1980 had to stay in top…
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Rust
The Silver Bridge in West Virginia failed suddenly in 1967. As a result of this failure, forty-six people lost their lives. However, it didn’t really fail suddenly. It failed because of something that happened over time. It failed because of rust. A crack slowly formed and eventually became a 0.1‑inch fracture in one of the…
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The Blue Dot
Have you heard of the blue dot plague? Until recently, I didn’t know of this phenomenon. When a person goes online to purchase a ticket for a concert or sporting event, they usually see all the available seats in the venue that are open for purchase. Many times, they are marked with a blue dot.
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Forgiven
In Ohio, there is a marker placed in memory of a terrible event. It is one of two markers commemorating Vietnam veteran Gene Simmers. Gene was a combat medic in Vietnam. He earned a Silver Star for his actions in saving men under intense fire during one of the missions. That in itself is a…
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I Saw God on the Playground Today
It was a bright, sunny day in Prosper, Texas, recently when I saw God. It was in the hands of my oldest son. His little blond-headed daughter, all of two years of age, was trying to climb a roped playground platform. Her little legs couldn’t quite give her the lift she needed to reach the…
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StewardShift–From Getting to Giving
Most of us grow up with a “getting” mindset. From childhood, we’re trained to ask, “What’s in it for me?”—to measure success by accumulation, reward, and recognition. But stewardship invites us to experience a holy shift—a StewardShift—from getting to giving, from ownership to trust, from control to surrender. Jesus redefines greatness not by how much…