When our kids were younger we made it a point to read the Bible with them every night. Mikayla had a copy of “The Children’s Bible: Timeless Stories for Children.” As the title would suggest, it contained a wide range of Bible stories and, since it was for children, it also had pictures to go along with each story. We read those stories over and over again during the kids’ younger years. As we...
Rules of the Road
Over the past two decades, I have had the privilege of taking several international mission trips. All of them have been amazing in too many ways to count. Besides providing me with the opportunity to partner with some incredible brothers and sisters of Christ around the globe, they have allowed me to experience cultures in very concentrated doses. The people, the languages, the mannerisms, the...
It Only Works If You Use It
Summer is finally here in Seymour, Indiana. Temperatures have finally reached summer levels. The sun shines brightly until close to 9:30pm. And, school is officially out of session. Now everybody gets to settle into new rhythms and realities for the next several months. One of the realities for many of us is we will be spending significantly more time outside. A quick perusal of social media...
Rooted
We have lived in our current home for just slightly under a year. For the entirety of that year my wife, Robyn, and I have talked about wanting to make some major adjustments to the flowerbeds in front of our house. Whoever owned the house before us did a nice job of trimming back the bushes and making things look presentable enough to convince us to buy the house, but it was still clear that no...
Moments
One of the many lessons I’ve learned in my years as a pastor is that life is short and fast. As a pastor I am often invited to participate in the celebrations of life’s beginning, when a person is born, and also at life’s end, when a person has died. It has made me keenly aware of the fragility and fleeting nature of my own life. We are, each of us, only here for a matter of moments, and then we...
Mentorship
Every year, on or around my birthday, I would receive a card in the mail from my Grandma Ruth. I would begin looking forward to that card weeks before it was supposed to arrive. I would check the mail every chance I got, hoping to see my grandmother’s handwriting on an awkwardly sized envelope. It was, without question, the highlight of my birthday every year! Before you get too sentimental, my...
Taking the Plunge
I remember the first time I ever jumped off a high dive. I was in seventh grade and was a camper at Lake Ann Baptist Camp up in the nether regions of Northern Michigan. Out on the lake they had several jumping off points. You could jump off of the dock, which was no big deal because it was only about a one-foot drop from the platform to the water. There was a low diving board, which was about six...
Church Camp
When I was a kid, church camp was the highlight of my summer. The church I grew up in was rather large. As a result, the children’s and youth ministries were big enough that our summer camps were self-run. The church would rent the entirety of a camp facility for our weeks of camp. We would bring in our own camp staff. From directors to counselors, from cooks to kitchen help, from crafts to kids...
To Be Continued…
TO BE CONTINUED… When it comes to literature, movies, television shows, and other storytelling forms, is there a more annoying phrase in the English language? There are few things as frustrating as investing yourself fully in a story only to be confronted by these soul-crushing words. You ride the storyline all the way to the top of the climax. You invest yourself fully in the characters, in...
Bird vs. Window
A few weeks ago, I was working in my office writing when I heard a loud thud from the window to my right. I looked out the window to see if I could figure out what had happened. I carefully observed the window and the ground under the window, but there was no evidence to indicate what had actually hit the window or where it had made contact. I surveyed the parking lot to see if someone had driven...
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