I have tried dozens and dozens of ways to organize my prayer life, all the way from no structure to NASA-level detailed. I've tried a Daily/Weekly/Monthly scheme. I've used the Lord's Prayer as a scheme, and even wrote about it here a few years ago. And so many more. These have all been good...
As we approach the Super Bowl, we also approach all those annual comparisons between church crowds and football crowds. "Do you get as excited for Jesus as you do for a touchdown?" "You can't get up early enough for Sunday school, but you'll get up earlier than that to tailgate on game...
In the last 6 months, I have been affected 8 times by death. Four of those involved hospice. My father passed away after a series of ailments put him under in-home hospice care. A close family friend (to whom we had just given my dad's lift chair) committed suicide. Most of us know Chris, even...
In our message last Sunday about living a life of surrender, I used the phrase "A more expensive trust in the surrender of Jesus." I'd like to unpack that just a little more here. Surrender of Jesus: We start here. Everything starts here. What Jesus did on the Cross by giving his life, taking...
I wish I were more for you. For 2019, I wish that I would be able to teach you more, comfort you more, encourage you more, inspire you more, and redirect you more. I wish that I would be able to do more for the long-term success of your family and of our church family. I wish that I was more...
I'm very excited about the "Go Underground" project coming up in February, and I would love to see you sign up! After our years in LA, in the Deep South, and partnering with various churches and leaders around Kansas City, my heart has never been more broken for racial tensions and disparities...
I was at a luncheon this week attended by local businessmen who desire to integrate their faith and their work. (It's a regular luncheon provided by CMBC, a Christian men's group.) One of the men present said what I feel increasingly each year, "I just don't have the Christmas spirit this year."...
There's a young man that I've been discipling for over a year, now - not someone who is a part of our church family. We've gone through a few books together and are now walking through the Gospel of John. We simply read the next section, make observations, ask questions, and talk about how it...
There's a fascinating theory that involves the omniscience of God (that God is all-knowing) that I repeatedly find helpful. It comes up in conversation here and there, and so I want to give it a very brief treatment here. However, you can read something much more complete and academic about...
Have you ever struggled to know how to pray for someone? You don't want to act like you know better than God does about what should be done. You don't want to only pray for temporal relief. You know God already knows, and you suspect He'll do whatever He wants no matter what you pray. One...