Lust. I think most of us are pretty clear on the definition of this word. What I want to explore after listening to the message on Sunday is, “now what?” What is chastity? What does that look like in my life or in yours? I think as a culture we are saturated with sexual [...] Read more »
Welcome to an interview I conducted with myself. You observe Lent at your church? Yes, we’ve always observed Lent. Are you Catholic or something? No, we’re not Catholic (not that there’s anything wrong with that!). But until the Protestant Reformation (c. 1650A.D.), the practice of observing Lent was nearly universal. And even after the [...] Read more »
Last week Apple unveiled a new device that uses cutting-edge technology and does things no other device does. Within an hour of the Apple presentation, many tech blogs were making lists of all the features they thought were missing and all the reasons they weren’t impressed with this new piece of technology. We live [...] Read more »
“So, what kind of church are you?” I get this question all the time. People stopping in at the office ask it. Friends ask it. Family members ask it. And, even though I’m the pastor, I don’t know how to answer. I think what people want is some kind of label, some way of [...] Read more »
To the Church in Peoria, Grace & Peace from our Lord Jesus Christ, who was and is and will always be the most powerful earth mover. I know of your community and your outreach. You have such great ability to come together as an interconnected society, though the motives of the city revolve around [...] Read more »
I get up at 5:30 every Sunday morning to help feed the homeless. I do it not because I’m noble or loving, but because I am neither. It’s not a calling; it’s a corrective. I do it because I need it. I hate getting up at 5:30 on any morning, much less on a [...] Read more »
I like being on the inside; one of those who is “in-the-loop” and knows what’s happening before all the others. Let’s take the twelve disciples who Jesus hand-picked. He gave them special instructions and even taught them to pray. Then, of course you had the three “special ones”: James, Peter, and John. Luke records [...] Read more »
This past summer I volunteered at YoungLife camp in Michigan for a month. There’s a lot to say about that month, but in short, it was heaven on Earth. The only thing that was asked of me by God or by the people around me was to love through service. You’d think that stepping [...] Read more »