Clik here to view.
Monday Morning Preacher: Before
Before. Not after. Before. Before you were born. Before you started walking. Before you fell. Before you could talk. Before you said your first cuss word. Before you graduated. Before you got fired...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Monday Morning Preacher: The One Thing God is Always Saying
A man walked up to Jesus. He was one of those guys who followed all the rules. Not only did he religiously follow all the rules of the Bible, but he even made up a few rules himself and followed those...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Monday Morning Preacher: How Much You Wanna Bet I Can Push that Huge Rock...
Jacob had a problem. He was alone. He was by himself in the world. He was single. So he traveled hundreds of miles to find himself a wife. And the first gal he met, he made his intentions clear. He...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Stop Believing This Lie
You’re believing in a lie. And so am I. From childhood flag football game to leading Fortune 500 companies we are taught to never be satisfied. We have to keep improving. We have to keep getting...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why Don't We Tell More Stories?
Life is about stories. Think about it. Each season. Every year. Every month. Each week. Every day. Every moment. Right now … a story is unfolding. And these stories make up our lives; they blend...
View ArticleClik here to view.
One Idea that Will Change All of Your Relationships
"We need to talk.” When I hear these words or words remotely similar, an instant stream of tragic possibilities floods my mind. What did I say? What didn’t I say? What did I do? Was it today?...
View ArticleMonday Morning Preacher: Work, We're Doing it Wrong
Many of us view our jobs as a means to an end. Many of us go through the pain and toil of an entire year of work just so we can have a few weeks off … to do what we really want to do. Many of us give...
View ArticleDiscipleship is a Setup
It was a sad day. Many believed and trusted and hoped that Jesus was the Messiah. But two days after his crucifixion reality started to set in. What happened? What did this all mean? You see, in...
View ArticleA Better Way to Listen to a Story
Have you ever listened to someone tell a story? You know, someone passionately recalling an incredible experience, television show, or car crash? Yes? Good. Now … think about it. While they were...
View ArticleMonday Morning Preacher: Preaching is Silence
Fredrick Buechner convinced me. Before a sermon is anything it is silence. There was an eternity before “let there be light”. There were thirty years of obscurity before “blessed are the poor in...
View ArticleStorytelling is the Highest Form of Generosity
When you give money to someone, that says a lot. It communicates a willingness to be inconvenienced or make a sacrifice for the benefit of someone else. After all, you worked hard for that money. You...
View ArticleFailure is Part of the Story
Seth Godin once said, “if I fail more than you, I win.” To be sure I wasn’t immediately receptive to this idea. Like most of what Godin has to say, when I heard it … it took me a minute to sink in. But...
View ArticleMonday Morning Preacher: The Statement in Every Question
Perhaps few things reveal our humanity more than questions. When we ask questions we admit we are not God. We can't do everything. We can't be everything. We don’t know everything. That means few...
View ArticleEvery Gift is the Giving of Ourselves
At the heart of the Christian story is a gift. Not one of money. Not a physical or monetary donation. Not something wrapped up with a pretty bow on top. But a person. Jesus. God himself, gave himself....
View ArticleMonday Morning Preacher: We Were Never Meant to Fit In
Israel wanted a king. The power players at the time of Samuel made it very clear. They sat him down one day and had three things to tell their prophet leader. One … you’re old. Two … you’re children...
View ArticleMonday Morning Preacher: Everyone is a Preacher
Everyone is a preacher. Though not everyone is a Preacher. You know what I mean? To be sure not every follower of Jesus bears the weight of opening up the Scriptures and participating in the ancient...
View ArticleForgiveness Causes a Ruckus
Over the past few weeks something has grabbed my attention: Jesus forgives ... a lot. Well specifically what I've been thinking about is the number of times the people who followed Jesus around were...
View ArticleActions Speak Louder Than Words, But Words Clarify Actions
Have you ever had to explain yourself? You know ... you did something or didn’t do something that caused shock, awe, surprise, curiosity, or even anger from someone. Your actions (or lack thereof)...
View ArticleJesus Took a Walk | Lesson #7: One-Liners Aren't the Whole Story
.Jesus could have just told them. But he didn’t. He could have simply said, “I’m Jesus! Everything is okay.” But he didn’t. Instead he told them the whole story. After walking with a pair of curious...
View ArticleDealing with God's Presence
God’s presence creates a baffling dilemma. In this sacred space we ought to be overwhelmed in the truest form. That is to say there is an appropriate heaviness to his glory—his beauty, worth, power,...
View ArticleThe God Who We Always Knew Would Come
There’s a curious truths of the Christmas story I haven’t ever gotten over. It’s the fact that the Messiah was excepted. Before the foundation of the world God planned to send his Son as the savior of...
View ArticleWhat is Holding Your Attention?
It is the most wonderful time of the year. But it is also the most distracting. From glittering parades to crazy customers and dinner parties, Christmastime is filled with countless bangs and flashes...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Knowing the Unknowable and Really Knowing that You Know It
Knowledge is a curious thing. Questions about how we know and why we know and what we can really be sure that we actually know have taunted even the sharpest intellects for centuries. And so we who...
View ArticleClik here to view.
It's All Part of the Plan
God is good at everything. So it has always been a bit baffling to me that he wants me to do anything. Do you know what I mean? Are you with me? For instance … God is really good at telling people...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Productivity is a Liar
Does your life feel hurried? Deadlines, basketball practice, travel, clients, emails, expectations, teething, and date night … these all add up and pile up, inevitably escalating to the point of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
You Don’t Need a Better Story, You Need a Different Author
You’re telling yourself a story. And you need to stop. It’s the grand narrative of your folly and foolishness and inability and clumsy morals and inept relational ability. You’re not good at your...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Grace causes a ruckus
The sixteenth century pastor and theologian, Martin Luther said that religion is the default disposition of the human heart. In other words being rewarded or judged based on performance just makes...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Familiarity is a tricky concept
Familiarity is a tricky concept. When we experience something or someone regularly, over time we begin to assume we understand those things or people. In fact if we see someone enough or encounter...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The story of an author is always wrapped up in the author’s story
When it comes to stories today, we’re lying to ourselves. And we don’t even care. Let me see if I can illustrate. Have you ever been reading a book or article or watching a movie or television show...
View ArticleClik here to view.
We are all creatives
I’ve been a pastor for about ten years. And it's never struck me as a very creative profession. I’ve never considered myself a "creative". After all creatives are artists and poets and musicians and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
You have been sent to serve
In my short term as a pastor I’ve been asked a lot of questions … Is God a being or a feeling? How do you harmonize God and science? What’s the difference between Christians and hipster-Christians?...
View ArticleClik here to view.
It's 5:00 PM. Go home.
It’s 5:00 PM. For most of the Western working world it’s the end of the day. It’s time to go home. It’s time to rest. It’s time for dinner. It’s time to reflect on the day. It’s time to stop working....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Questions to ask when reading the Bible
The Bible is amazing. But it can be pretty tricky to unpack. And as my wife, Laura and I have tried to navigate the Scriptures for our own development and lead others to do the same, we've realized...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Rest everyday
On the seventh day God rested. But he also rested on the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth day. I like to think of it as the cadence of creation. We find it stuck on repeat at the start of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Community is always uncomfortable, but always comforting
I’ll never forget walking down a dark alley with my wife and one-year-old daughter. I didn’t want to be there. I was anxious. But just a week prior I had agreed to relocate our small group to our new...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A right view of God changes our view of everything else
A few days ago I had a bad day. Nothing really significant or earth-shattering … I just wasn’t a fan. In the middle of my frustration I thought about God. I wondered why he wasn’t making sure my day...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Five things to do everyday.
Read a book. Every time you open a book it’s like saying, “I don’t know and I want to learn.” This simple act combats a slippery tendency within our souls which tells us we are fully wise, fully...
View ArticleClik here to view.
God stands between us and the waves
I stood between my daughter and the waves. She can’t swim, but she found her happy place walking her hands along the sands as the waves lapped over her and then onto the shore. We’ve been on vacation...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The strange thing about living a strange life
My earliest memories are filled with church services, prayers before meals, and lessons from Jesus and the Bible. By the time I hit my late teens my playlists were filled with Christian songs, my...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What you are really telling the world isn’t really what you’re saying
Speaking tells the world who you are. Speaking is self-discloser. But what we disclose is not found simply in what we say. Rather, the message we’re really telling the world is found in our words'...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Salvation is an event and an invitation
Popularly salvation within Christian ranks is seen as a moment. For me it was a moment kneeling at my parent’s bedside with my dad. It was a small collection of minutes and sentences in which I agreed...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why I'm teaching my children to be Christians
“Here’s my heart Lord, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.” Every night before we put our children to sleep my wife and I sing a song. Then we pray. Then I recite specific blessings for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Do not add a filter to your story
Stories are canvases. On stretched displays we are invited to reveal our dreams and pain and joy and perspectives. Even when the composition of our story doesn’t say much about who we are our tone,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The light shines brightest when it is unified in Jesus.
So let your name, illuminate the dark As we proclaim, the love that wakens hearts Shine your light on us These lyrics became central to our morning conversation. Somewhere between our cups of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tis' the season for waiting ...
Advent is about arrival. It’s a season when we remember, commemorate, and celebrate the coming of Jesus. But within the larger context of history it’s important to keep in mind that the arrival of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mister Rogers and my tragic habit of filling in blanks and connecting dots
Rumor has it Mister Rogers kept a quote in his back pocket. (Literally.) It was hand-written on a small piece of paper. It read, “Frankly there isn’t anyone you couldn’t learn to love once you’ve...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The possibility in being served
A young couple brought my family of four a meal the other night. No one was sick. No one was hurt. We weren’t celebrating a special occasion. We didn’t have a new kid—yet. We just had friends who...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Commitment feels like death because it is death
We had only known each other six months. But on the shore of Lake Michigan … Laura said “yes”. To be sure the popularly publicized passion of engagement immediately hit me. However something else hit...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Freedom is not a choice
Menus are terrifying. To be sure they are little more than lists of options—often in languages I do not understand and laced with unfamiliar insider language. However words are the least of my...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Shame on your shame
Jesus was not even supposed to be there. It was the middle of the day. He was a Jew (in Samaria). And he was an important rabbi who could have easily delegated the task of getting water to one of his...
View Article