Starting a new job is exciting! You get a blank slate, new friends, challenges that hopefully fit your experience, among many other perks that come with the new digs. The time of year is high time for people taking new jobs so I thought of a few things that will hopefully be of some use... Continue Reading →
Abe Lincoln knew a lot about a lot of things, but something he knew exceptionally well was how to influence people. This post touches on two things that Lincoln did that put him in the hall of fame of leaders and they are simple enough that anyone who's willing to pay attention can do. The... Continue Reading →
Yesterday was a spiritually supercharged day for me. I had been praying for a crucial conversation needing to be had for a couple of weeks and it went very well. Because of all the prep that went into it, I believe I experienced a deeper communion with God as a result. I had two other... Continue Reading →
In 2010, my family and I were in north central Ohio where I was pastoring a small church. We didn't have a copy machine so I was going to Office Depot weekly to have the bulletins printed for our Sunday services. I was in the van with my daughter, who at that time was around... Continue Reading →
Hebrews 12:15-17 (ESV) "See to it ... that no one is ... unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears." The blessing is reserved... Continue Reading →
I remember watching a Liberty Mutual commercial back in the mid-2000s and the music in the commercial was so beautiful I googled who it was and found an artist that I have not stopped listening to since. I offer you Rabbit Songs from Hem. This album and Eveningland have sung my little boys to sleep... Continue Reading →
"I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord," Psalms 116:13 When God walked into the sleezy pawn shop of Satan's domain, he bought the lot of broken musical instruments hanging lifelessly on the wall. Each dollar from his wallet stained with the blood of His dear son.... Continue Reading →
"This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, the Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. Then I said, "O Lord God , please cease! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!" The Lord relented concerning this: "This also... Continue Reading →
"...save the son of your maidservant." Psalms 86:16 ESV David's appeal to God is based partially on recalling the faithful nature of his mother. My mom is a righteous and God-fearing lady as well. Though I can't pray "in Kati's name" I do well to mention her and plead God's faithfulness to the third and... Continue Reading →
"I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy," 2 Timothy 1:3-4 NKJV A significant amount of the joy and peace... Continue Reading →
I'm reading a devotional in the Bible App Youversion called "Pray like Jesus" by Pastor Mark Driscoll. He tells a funny and helpful story about his kids in reference to how God answers us when we pray. "Like all dads, God reserves three potential answers to all prayers: Yes, No, or Later. Some years ago,... Continue Reading →
I think I figured out how to hug Jesus... Matthew 25:45 "When you do this (take notice, get broken, love, and act upon) the least of these, my brethren, you do it unto me." His heart was not only for the poor, defenseless, widowed, and sidelined, he identified with them. Do you scroll past articles... Continue Reading →
There are wounds we get when we're young that have a way of sticking around. If you got picked on, poked at, or made fun of for something, you may know what I'm talking about. Maybe you ran funny... or couldn't do "simple math"... had a different skin tone... too quiet... too loud... maybe all... Continue Reading →
