As churches grow in numbers, it becomes more specialized and segmented. There is a ministry for children, high school students, college students, single adults, and married couples. As the members in the church get older, the need for a senior citizen ministry is apparent. Even though separating the various ministries helps […]
Christmas Tree Tradition 2008
Yesterday the family and I put up our Christmas tree. It is a special time for us. We crack up the Christmas music and start putting our “tree of the nations” together. Some years ago, Christina and I made a decision to decorate our tree with ornaments from different nations and cultures. In the midst […]
2008 Thanksgiving Reflections
Recently, I read an interesting reflection by Jill Carattini, who is a managing editor for a Ravi Zacharias International Ministries newsletter. She writes, “To our grumbling prone lips, these words are quite revealing. If being thankful is by nature being aware and appreciative of things beyond ourselves, complaining is refusing to see anything but ourselves. […]
A Day in the Life of Karissa
Today, Karissa and I headed out to her school at 6:30PM. It was a special day. All the kids in her class invited one of their parents to come and experience what a day in school is like for them. I decided to go and make it a daddy/daughter thing. Karissa’s excitement was contagious. Even […]
The Bigger Man
Photo: Reuters Now that the elections are over, the president-elect Barack Obama is in the process of forming his cabinet. This has been in the news for the last couple of weeks. But the thing that has caught my attention and impressed me about Obama is that in the last few […]
Faith is Always Required
I was ministered by the Holy Spirit with a quote that I read today. It is by George MacDonald (1824-1905) in his book, “Weighed and Wanting.” MacDonald said, “The principal part of faith is patience.” One major weakness that I have is impatience. Since I am an ENTJ, according to the Myers-Briggs personality test (you […]
Veteran’s Day 2008
Today is Veteran’s Day and a time to remember many of the men and women who have served in the armed forces. It is also a time to remember some of the people who are serving right now in Iraq and Afghanistan. With some of our members serving in the military […]
I Voted Today
Since I will not be here in Ann Arbor tomorrow, I ended up voting through an absentee ballot. In this historic election it felt good knowing that I took part in the process. But there is one confession. I did not know some of the candidates that were running for some of the smaller offices, […]
Jakarta Information Meeting
I am excited about this day. Not only is Pastor Paul Liu going to be speaking in both our Sunday Celebrations, but we will be having our Jakarta Church Plant information meeting. While I was out in Indonesia, I was able to meet some key people who will be able to open the door for […]
Heading Out to Jakarta
Now it is official – my family and I will be heading out to Jakarta, Indonesia for one year to plant our first international church. The estimated time of departure is July 2009. It has been a long journey for us to come to this point as a family. But as I look back into […]
Keep on Climbing
“God’s Road is all uphill, but do not tire: Rejoice that we may still keep climbing higher.” [Arthur Guiterman]
Thankful for My Daughter
Everyday at 8:34AM EST on the Christian radio station they play a Gospel choir song that goes like, “Thank you, Je-sus…” After playing the chorus, the radio station gives out a number where people can call in and publicly give thanks to Jesus for something in their lives. Karissa and I go through this ritual […]
Radical Love… Radical Lives
Tomorrow, I will be introducing our theme for the 2008-2009 year. If there is ever a theme or a message that I would want to preach on, this would be it. In many ways, this is my testimony and the testimony of many people in our church. Once a person has […]
Saying Good-Bye
This afternoon I met up with one of our church members. The person sent me an e-mail about wanting to meet up before they left for their new job position in another city. Even though life is busy, whenever it is one of those “last” meetings, I try to make it a priority to meet […]