Take No Thought For Tomorrow

Posted by on 4 Apr 2013 in Personal | Comments Off on Take No Thought For Tomorrow

Take No Thought For Tomorrow

This week I was praying and confessing my tendency to procrastinate and stressing about all the stuff I have to do in my life at church and at home and at work in the next few weeks. When the verse came to my mind where Jesus says, “take no thought for tomorrow.” Now, I didn’t take that as a free pass on my tendency to procrastinate, but I did take it as an encouragement not to stress out over what’s coming.

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Love Songs of the Sea [poetry]

Posted by on 3 Apr 2013 in Poetry | Comments Off on Love Songs of the Sea [poetry]

The sea calls out, beckons, tempts those on the shore to come to it. Indeed the land itself is not immune to the allure of the sea. When writing this poem I tried to use sensual language to evoke an emotional response. These are the love songs of the sea.

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The Second Mile

Posted by on 29 Mar 2013 in Personal | Comments Off on The Second Mile

The Second Mile

Have you ever been asked to help a friend out, or a friend of a friend who needs help moving, and as you pull up in the parking lot you get a text from your friend who says he can’t make it after all, but you go up anyway, even though you’re the only one that came to help, and they live on the third floor of an apartment building, and their couch transforms into a Hummer, and it takes three hours longer than you’d thought? That’s going the second mile.

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A Seal Upon Your Heart

Posted by on 27 Mar 2013 in Theology | Comments Off on A Seal Upon Your Heart

A Seal Upon Your Heart

The Song of Solomon is not always the most widely read books of the Bible. There aren’t too many sermon series about women caring for their vineyards and her lover like a young stag on the slopes of the mountains. But there are lessons in these few chapters about men and women and about God and his love toward us.

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Jesus and The Leper

Posted by on 25 Mar 2013 in Theology | Comments Off on Jesus and The Leper

Jesus and The Leper

“Unclean! Unclean!” rang through the crowd. People looked around to see where the voice was calling from, so they could be sure to move away.  Here comes the man, stricken with leprosy. A bubble of space surrounds him as he walks through the crowd toward Jesus. Because if someone unclean was touched the clean becomes unclean.

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Three Men, a King, and an Idol

Posted by on 22 Mar 2013 in Theology | Comments Off on Three Men, a King, and an Idol

Three Men, a King, and an Idol

It sounds like the start of a bad joke… “Three men, a king, and an idol walk into a bar…” But this is a story of faith, belief, trust, and loyalty in spite of overwhelming odds and uncertainty. We can learn a lot from this story.

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Hello, Spring. Are You There?

Posted by on 20 Mar 2013 in Personal | Comments Off on Hello, Spring. Are You There?

Hello, Spring. Are You There?

All winter long I complain about the cold, and all summer long I’ll complain about the heat. But I always look forward to spring. Driving in to work today the weatherman said it’s officially the first day of spring. But then he said the temperature was 34 degrees. The first day of spring? I’ll believe it when I see it.

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Hospitality is More than Food

Posted by on 18 Mar 2013 in Personal | Comments Off on Hospitality is More than Food

Hospitality is More than Food

It was great having friends over Sunday afternoon for a late lunch after church. My wife and I both enjoy showing the gift of hospitality. And hospitality of course means food. And it means opening up our home to our guests. In our disconnected world, even in the church, taking the time for that personal connection can mean so much. But is that the only way we can show hospitality?

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Special Delivery

Posted by on 15 Mar 2013 in Personal | Comments Off on Special Delivery

Special Delivery

In our post-modern society, day by day the odds increase that the people we come in contact with don’t regularly interact with Christians. There’s a very real possibility you and I might be the only real Christian someone comes in contact with today, or this week, or this month. That’s a huge responsibility. And it’s a huge opportunity.

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Knock Seek Ask

Posted by on 13 Mar 2013 in Theology | Comments Off on Knock Seek Ask

Knock Seek Ask

God wants to help us in our need and bless us in our desires. Jesus instructs us to Knock Seek and Ask, because God’s desire is to answer our prayers. He said, ” If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” Matthew 7:11.

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