2 People; 1 Story

Have you ever heard a preacher say, "If you were able to help one person follow Christ... and then that person helped one person follow Christ... and then that person helped one person follow Christ... just think about the impact you would have." Well, today there was a …

When We Are the Church

I've seen the church at it's best this week. In the wake of a horrible accident that has greatly impacted many of my brothers & sisters in Christ, the church has been in the middle of it. Here's are a few things that I've seen (most in an ICU waiting room): Meals …

When Ethiopians learn English do they sound Italian

Shurabe started saying a phrase this weekend when my parents were here, and it's so funny to hear. If you see her in the morning, you might hear her sound quite Italian as she says, "Good-duh morning."

Beth, Ray Ray & India Arie

Beth & I took Ray Ray to a concert last night. It was an early birthday present (about 3 months early). The highlight of the concert was listening to India Arie. Her music was amazing, easy & had a lot of depth to it. We definitely became big fans.
We had a great time …

Atheists for Jesus

I've spent the afternoon studying for Sunday's sermon and read about a website that I had to check-out (and that I had to share with you): Atheists for Jesus. Yes, it's for real. They embrace Jesus' message of love & kindness but reject that He was God or that the …

Scriptures

I'm amazed at how relevant things written thousand of years ago can still be to our lives today. I mentioned a few Scriptures yesterday that I was asked to pass along, so I will do that below. We'll have the audio online this afternoon. You can listen to it

Three Letters

This morning we talked about a subject that has three letters. We wanted to show this video, but had some technical difficulty. As it turns out, we didn't really have time for it anyway, but it's one we showed to the teens a while back - just to have some fun with them.

Words

I was eating some cereal and reading Proverbs when Levi sat down next to me with his pancakes. He asked me what one of the highlighted verses meant, so I told him it was one that I really liked to remember. It was "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir …

Why Suffering?

Our Sunday morning began with my talented friend, Kevin, singing REM's song "Everybody Hurts." Not only did he do a great job & capture people's attention, he set the stage for our whole morning. Lane did a great job preaching. He asked two questions: #1. Why does God …

Suffering & Worship

I am so thankful to worship a God (and The God) who understands suffering better than any of us. That thought leads me to worship.

Our World

My good buddy, John, sent me a link to a video that shows how enormous our world is - and how small Earth is. We showed a small clip of a similar video on Sunday. I'm trying to figure out if I should stay up & try to watch the meteor shower tonight. Will I honor God …

I had fun at the hospital

Lane, my friend & co-worker, went to visit a friend at the hospital today. I gotta tell you, it was fun. Our friend is fully of life - the only kind of life that comes from someone who is in awe of Jesus. Her love of God and others oozes out (even in the midst of both …

Be Glad You Aren't on a Committee with Waxman

U.S. News and World Report; August 4, 2009. After another day wrangling over healthcare reform, it was no small amount of frustration that inspired Rep. Henry Waxman to stand in front of a press gathering and not-so-subtly accuse the "blue dog" Democrats of being …

The Greatest Leadership Strengths & Weaknesses of 4 Presidents

I heard David Gergen interviewed by Bill Hybels yesterday. I gotta admit, it wasn't one that I was highly anticipating, but it turned out to be fantastic. He served under 4 Presidents as either an advisor or speechwriter. I appreciated that he was willing to work for …

The Unusual Prophet

I just got done watching Bill Hybels interview Bono. Regardless of what you think of him or U2, it's clear God used his voice prophetically. Several years ago he called the church out for neglecting the greatest humanitarian crisis in the world - people dying of …

Quote of the Morning (so far)

Leading into a break at the Leadership Summit today:
"If this was a children's conference, we'd encourage you to blow bubbles. If it was a youth conference, we'd encourage you to text each other. If it was an arts conference, we'd have you give each other massages. But …

Would You Like to Work for Them?

If you know me, you know I'm pursuing a team leadership model. I've been reading, talking & thinking about this concept for some time. Today, at the Leadership Summit, I heard several speakers talk about this. It lit my fire because earlier this week I heard from …

Proverbs with an Eternal Perspective

I think that I have typically been too shortsighted in my application of Proverbs. There is all of this really practical wisdom in Proverbs, and after preaching a sermon about Hell, I read Proverbs a little bit differently this morning. Instead of thinking of the …

The Fear of Hell Is Not Enough

“Heaven is a place for those who love God, not for those who only fear hell.” Let me explain.

God has always been after our hearts. Perhaps no one is a better example of this than King David. In spite of his many failures, his heart ultimately longed for God. His …

When I Held an Orphan

N.T. Wright, in his book Surprised by Hope, makes a point about I Corinthians 15 that impacted me greatly while I was in Ethiopia. On Thursday I got to visit an orphanage with most of our group. It's the orphanage where many of the kids, including Shurabe, spent some …