Photo from Flickr I don’t know if you have heard about the “big news” that came out of Brigham Young University (BYU) recently, but it has definitely made a lot of people raise their eyebrows. To bring you up to speed if you haven’t heard the news, BYU dismissed Brandon Davies, […]
Global Access Retreat 2011
Back in August 2010 (before this school year got started), God gave us vision. As we were in prayer, God made it clear to us that this coming year, one of the things that He wanted us to focus on was the international community. A phrase that came forth was, the […]
The Purpose of the U.N.?
Photo on flags.net I recently tweeted, “Just curious what the U.N. is doing about all the killings in the Middle East. Another reminder how useless the U.N. is as an organization.” And my goodness, did it start up a firestorm. I had people direct message me and express some of their […]
The Freshmen Class
Photo by Washington School Inn I realized that serving as a pastor on a college campus is like a double-edged sword. On one hand, there is a great sense of joy because I am able to meet a new batch of freshmen every year, as they start their college years. Then […]
Pursuing Singleness
Photo by Courtney McLeod This time of the year is always hard for many people. With all the bombardment of love-oriented messages, it can be a difficult time for a person who is single. Who doesn’t want to have a life-long partner with whom they can trust and depend on through […]
HMCC of Austin Retreat Reflections 2011
I love the local church. They come in all different sizes, styles and shapes. We should never relegate the church to a building or even to a “place” where we go, but instead, we have to constantly remind ourselves that it is made up of people – people that Christ loves and gave Himself […]
Cultivating Creativity in the Church
I recently heard about how the Assemblies of God denomination is committed to raising up the youth to use their God-given talents in the area of the fine arts. Every year, they have the festival in a different major city in the United States. In August 2010, they had their national Fine Arts Festival […]
A Vision for Detroit
Photo by Getty Images When you look throughout the Bible, you will notice the significance of cities. It was in particular cities where God revealed Himself and where He sent people to declare His truth. As we specifically look at the early church, we notice that once persecution started (Ac 8:1), […]
MLK 2011
Throughout history, there were people who made an indelible mark on the hearts of humankind and in society. In fact, they became the catalyst for starting movements that transformed the world. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a person who lived in a time in American history where there were enormous injustices. King dared to […]
Wrestling with Transformation
Inevitably in my travels as I talk about the Gospel, the Church and the Kingdom of God, the topic of “transformation” comes up. Usually, I always get two responses from people. Either I get a passionate response as we talk about transformation or I get a cynical and jaded look from […]
The Bible Can Transform Us
One of the things that I always start in the new year is to make a commitment to read through the whole bible in one year. It is a habit that I have been doing for awhile now. There have been many times when I wanted to quit… been behind in the reading… didn’t […]
Chile Missions 2010 Update 5
At this moment I am sitting in front of a computer at the airport hotel lounge. So many different things are running through my mind, as one of the team members, Josiah and I are still here in Chile, while the rest of the team just arrived in Detroit. To make a long story […]
Chile Missions 2010 Update 4
This past Sunday we had a busy Lord´s Day. We started off by worshiping at the main church, Pueblo de Dios. Right from the start, we felt the presence of God as we started the service with prayer and then entered into an intense time of praise. There is something about the Latino praise […]
Chile Missions 2010 Update 3
It is hard to believe we have only been in Chile for 5.5 days because so much has happened. I am constantly amazed at God’s grace over our church and our missions program over the years. God has always protected us and He has always provided for us in huge ways. For some reason, […]