Have you ever been in a situation where someone asks you a question about what you believe that kind of throws you off kilter? You know, the kind of questions that in turn cause you to think if what you believe is indeed truth? For people on the receiving end of these inquiries, the question will linger in their minds for a while and one of three things will happen: 1. they'll dismiss the question as irrelevant to their faith and push on "blindly" believing what is true simply because that's the way they've been told to Read rest of post...

Reading has been a lifelong joy of mine.  My parents introduced me to reading at a very young age - I'll never forget the thrill of receiving a brand new Dr. Suess book through the mail and would quickly consume it's contents before doing anything else. Of course, my reading selections have changed over the years - "Green Eggs and Ham" starts to lose it's appeal after a while. Reading expands the mind, it stokes the imagination, it exercises your brain, it challenges your thinking...there's so much good that reading can do - and yet it seems to be a dying Read rest of post...

I've got to say, I don't envy the job that politicians do. The pressure of needing to do a job well, maintain public approval (after all that's how you keep your job), sitting on committee's where decisions are made once everyone is convinced (necessitating the need to debate and bicker at times), fielding complaints from people who aren't happy about what you are doing and rarely hearing appreciation for your work, needing to be careful what you say to media in case you get misquoted, and above all working at everything knowing that in a few years you could Read rest of post...

As a father, two verses stood out to me in today's devotion for the 50 Days of Prayer and Fasting: Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them.  Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord. -- Ephesians 6:4 (NLT) Fathers, do not aggravate your children, or they will become discouraged. -- Colossians 3:21 (NLT) "Do not provoke" and "do not aggravate" are two exhortations by Paul given to Fathers about their relationship with their children.    In the former verse the word translated "provoke" is suggestive of a Read rest of post...

For those of you following along with the 50 Days of Prayer and Fasting online you have probably noticed that I haven't contributed my response to the daily devotional for the last two days. I have been doing the devotionals, I just haven't had time to write up an online post. It's been a very busy weekend and some things get dropped from the to-do list as a result. Anyway, I'm back though - and writing my reflections based on today's devotional. To those of you who saw the title to this post and rubbed your hands together Read rest of post...

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. -- Colossians 3:15-17 (NIV) As I read this scripture text this morning I couldn't help Read rest of post...

I believe very strongly in the importance of forgiveness. A personal story:  In my second year of Bible College, I lived in the college residence and I roomed with a guy I'll call Dwight (I'm not going to give his actual name).  Dwight and I became friends and he was a pretty good guy.  Dwight and I decided we wanted to get a private phone line rather than being restricted to the payphone in the dormitory and so him and I agreed to share the costs of doing so.   I agreed to be the one who would pay the bills and Read rest of post...

In today's devotional for the 50 Days of Prayer and Fasting the topic is faith. More specifically asking the question of whether we believe God is able and willing to do - what we pray for. This is certainly a very important question to ask at the beginning of the 50 Days of Prayer and Fasting because if we don't believe, if I don't believe, then what's the use in praying in the first place? As I spent some time talking with God and reflecting on this this morning another question came to mind that I sometimes Read rest of post...

I had a good conversation yesterday with someone about the reality of the Easter story and yet how for many Christians it seems to have little motivating impact. Sure, they'll get all teary eyed over what Christ did and the suffering He endured - but after the tears have stopped flowing there seems to be little action. The friend I was talking with suggested that he thinks its because we've lost any appreciation for what Christ's actions rescued us from. In other words, we really don't appreciate the depravity, the despicable dark stain, and the putrid stench Read rest of post...

Well, today is the beginning of the 50 Days of Prayer and Fasting, something that I've really been looking forward to participating in ever since God first laid this on my heart.  During this journey I'm going to be sharing some of the thoughts I have in response to each of the devotionals in the accompanying prayer guide. This weeks theme for the journey is that of personal introspection.  This week we are going to be prayerfully allowing God to search our hearts and reveal our true feelings about the lost who are in our town, our motives, and our Read rest of post...