Each year churches plan, prepare, pray and pull off a summer outreach using three familiar letters: V.B.S. Each summer, thousands of churches boldly reach out to their community and tens of thousands of kids are impacted by Vacation Bible School. How do you spell work? VBS. VBS doesn’t happen on it’s own. Those glitter-covered block [...]
I have a confession. When I am in a conflict with another, I have trouble letting it go. Though I should just drop it, I often just cannot seem to let things go. I have trouble dropping the matter. You may identify and share in this common struggle. I wrote this post about 7 months [...]
Some time ago, I took up swimming as exercise. Swimming, like other athletic activities increases one's need for oxygen. Normally, breathing is a very natural and even subconscious event that we do not even think about. But not with swimming. In swimming, the first thing that I had to learn what was called the "exchange" [...]
Have you ever had a feeling of spiritual paralysis? I have felt stuck. I have felt like something was wrong. It was like I was somehow out of step with the Lord. I felt a sense of being paralyzed. Spiritually paralyzed. Paralysis is non-movement. Physical paralysis may be caused by a physical malady. In the [...]
What was an animal in the ancient biblical culture? An animal helped to get the job done, and without it, the laborer would be seriously hindered in his capability to produce. A fool mistreats his animal out of shortsightedness, not realizing this animal ultimately makes his life easier. Without this animal, the job simply would [...]
Galatians 6:6 says, “Do not grow weary in doing good…” Part of not growing weary in doing good is exercising God's provision for rest. The Sabbath day should not thought of as a "punitive command". The Sabbath is not burdensome. The Gift of Six not Seven God could have demanded seven days of work out [...]
I think about my life and experiences as a ministry toolbox. God gives tools through our life experiences and they are found in each of our toolboxes. Our tool boxes are filled with items He has providentially allowed us to collect for a future use to accomplish His purposes. I view life as tool gathering. [...]
I had a college roommate, Tom. We had an agreement to take turns washing dishes. However we lost track of whose turn it was to wash the dishes. Neither of us thought it was our turn, and thus the cold war of dirty dishes ensued. The dishes got higher, the leftover bites of ramen noodles [...]
In ministry we think, "If you want a job done right, do it yourself." You may avoid messes, but you have just stepped into the "Trap of the Clean Stall". Proverbs 14:4 reads, "Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but much increase comes by the strength of the ox." In the ancient [...]
Our family has decided that teaching our kids to argue is a valuable life lesson that we can provide important training on in our home. You can read more about our process here, here and here. All the Answers? As a parent, I’m a fool to think that I have all the answers, all the [...]