Have you ever taken God at his word and asked him for a strange yet direct request? That’s what Mt Vernon Church is doing. Even if you don’t attend our church, we’d love for you to say a short prayer with us today. Here’s the backstory: several years ago, Mt Vernon moved forward with a vision (called the Imagine Campaign) to change the way it did church to reach the next generation for Christ. Part of that vision was renovating... Read more
Yesterday at Mt Vernon Church I met a nice young family with a precious daughter. Not too out of character for a Sunday at church. They were a different nationality, and they ran a small business in town. Standard stuff. Then I learned a little bit more of their back story, and my heart broke a little bit. They moved to our city six years ago. They own a small retail business, one that sees at least a hundred people... Read more
A graduate student in Pennsylvania has sued Lehigh University over a bad grade she received in her graduate program. She claims that if she was given a B instead of a C+, she would have been able to complete her degree and become a professional counselor. She’s suing the university for lost wages she would have earned as a counselor. Usually I just post links to stories, but this one deserves a comment: REALLY?? This student claims that the teacher... Read more
I literally just got back from speaking at a high school chapel at a Christian school in town. Pulling from my years of student ministry, I shared the contents of the blog post I wrote earlier, “7 Things I Wish I Could Tell Every High Schooler.” The response from the students, even at 8 in the morning, was extremely positive. The students were leaning in, staying with me, and giving me positive non-verbal feedback throughout the talk. Why? Because I... Read more
“Never has there been a moment in history when so much was all compressed into a little time,” one US senator aptly observed about the momentous year of 1862. Rise to Greatness looks at Abraham Lincoln’s rise to greatness in the presidency and the tumultuous year that forged his mythic legend. While it’s easy after 150 years to look back and take the outcome of the Civil War for granted, Lincoln didn’t have that luxury when he first took office. In... Read more
“Never has there been a moment in history when so much was all compressed into a little time,” one US senator aptly observed about the momentous year of 1862. Rise to Greatness looks at Abraham Lincoln’s rise to greatness in the presidency and the tumultuous year that forged his mythic legend. While it’s easy after 150 years to look back and take the outcome of the Civil War for granted, Lincoln didn’t have that luxury when he first took office. In... Read more
Don’t feel bad that you clicked on this blog entry. It’s not a sign of failure in your marriage. It’s a sign that you’re married. All marriages struggle, to one degree or another. If you find a marriage that has no struggles, then either one of the partners is dead or has given up a long time ago. Marriage is so fundamentally important that I’ll be writing on the subject of marriage every Monday. I’m by no means an expert,... Read more
There’s nothing more challenging to your prayer life than unanswered prayer. Why do our prayers go unanswered? Does God not care? Is he too weak to answer all of our prayers? Or is it something else? Here are eight biblical reasons why our prayers may go unanswered: 1. We don’t ask. I know this seems simplistic, but many of our prayers simply go unasked. “You do not have, because you do not ask God.” James 4:2 2. Praying for selfish reasons. This knocks... Read more
If you spent $15 million on a Super Bowl ad, what would you sell? In the midst of the Super Bowl commercial hoopla, one ad had some people scratching their heads. I thought it was gutsy, classy, and brilliant. Each 30 second spot for Sunday’s Super Bowl went for a record $3.8 million. Dodge bought four slots for a 2 minute ad. During that two minutes, their product was featured only for the last fifteen seconds (12% of the time).... Read more
Being a California native, I was pulling for the 49ers in Sunday’s Super Bowl. However, I gained tremendous respect for and freely celebrate the team that won the Super Bowl twice on Sunday: the Baltimore Ravens. Here’s how they won it twice: from the beginning of the game, they dominated their opponents. They were quicker and hungrier, building up a commanding 28-6 lead early into the 3rd quarter. They had the 49ers on the ropes. And then, the lights went... Read more
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