Yesterday's message ... Came from Lamentations. Yes! Lamentations! Was inspired by my many recovery friends; Led to a bottom line with a -- non-sexual -- double entendre: Mercy beats you up. --------------------------------------------------------------------- So...
Talkin’ Bout My Generation
At a recent Young Adult LifeGroup, a newleywed-ish couple shared an insightful answer to the question: "When, if ever, have you felt the power of 'fellowship' and what it means to be part of the Body of Christ." And the young couple answered, "When Ron & Eleanor...
Why Is This Guy So Happy?
Because he just signed a contract for a sixth book with Abingdon Press, that's why. Come again? That's right. After a few months of dreaming, praying, proposing, writing, and praying some more, I got the word last week that Abingdon will turn my preaching workshop...
Top Five Tuesday — Top Five Things You Just Don’t See Anymore
As I progress through my 50s, I realize there are more and more things that I USED TO SEE but just don't anymore. Some of these absences fill me with longing. While others fill with gratitude. Here they are: top five things you just don't see anymore. 1. A music...
Fresh Start, Week 1 — The Freshest Start Sermon Rewind
We started the Fresh Start series with a series that focused on the signature New Testament verse about new beginnings, 2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here! The challenge,...
Fresh Start Launch: “The Freshest Start”
Fresh Start Sometimes you just want to start over. Other times you want to begin again. Still others you long for a re-set. Whatever you call it, most of us go through seasons in life where we want … no, we need … a fresh start. That’s what August is about at Good...
#TBT — Kalamazoo, Michigan, August 1978
If it's early August, that means that the best junior tennis players in the USA have converged on Kalamazoo, Michigan for the US National Boys' 18 and Boys' 16 and Under Championships. Which takes me back forty years ago to when I was seeded 13th in the Boys' 16...
A Mission To Notice
In her memoir Priestdaddy, Patricia Lockwood has this moment of self-awareness: I consider myself on an anthropological mission, much like Margaret Mead. I have discovered that this makes almost anything bearable – it would have been such a salvation in my childhood...
Top Five Tuesday — Top Five Books On Sports
I love reading and I love sports. So combine the two and VOILA! Sports books. I read them whenever I can. So here are my Top Five Sports Books of all time: 5. Instant Replay by Jerry Kramer. One of the first "behind the scenes" look at modern pro sports, this one is...
#BehindTheScenes, Week 5 — The “The Worst Laid Plans” Sermon Rewind
I honestly don't know how you can preach on Esther without being an English major. Now: I know it's done and done well. But I also know that I couldn't preach on this enigmatic little book without dwelling on the ironies, reversals, coincidences, and perfect timing. ...