Everyone has a story. When you know their story, you get a glimpse into God’s beautifully redemptive work throughout an entire life. Here is Abby’s story, one that we shared at Mt Vernon Church earlier this year. Thank you Abby, for sharing your beautiful story with us. Read more
Everyone has a story. When you know their story, you get a glimpse into God’s beautifully redemptive work throughout an entire life. Here is Abby’s story, one that we shared at Mt Vernon Church earlier this year. Thank you Abby, for sharing your beautiful story with us. Read more
Earlier this year my family went down to New Orleans for a short vacation. While there, I able to engage in a favorite past-time: people watching. “People watching” sounds much nicer than “creeping,” so I’ll stick with that. Two guys captivated my attention while there. The first guy worked at the New Orleans Insectarium. He was in his late 20s, and he screamed ‘beatnik’ with his Shaggy-like beard. He looked like the guy who would hit the hippest coffee shop... Read more
Kisses from Katie wrecked me. I knew a little bit of her story, so I thought I was prepared to hear her heart-wrenching story of life in a third-world country. I was wrong. If you have a soul inside of you, you cannot encounter stories of poor, neglected and abused children fending for themselves in Uganda and not have your heart ripped out a little bit. Katie Davis is a 24-year-old who grew up in Brentwood, TN with a life... Read more
Being a youth pastor for ten years, I’ve got a lot of “daughters” that I view as practically my own. Some are married but many are still single. As a protective dad, here are seven things I wish I could say to all of them (inspired by Perry Noble and his blogs on the same subject): 1. You’re a princess. I don’t mean this in the spoiled-rotten, get-whatever-I-want sense, but in the sense that God sent Jesus to die for... Read more
Hey everyone, thanks for another great week of blogging! I hope these articles will help you keep you thinking through the weekend. Enjoy! Lotteries are Bad for the Poor. Please Don’t Celebrate or Participate – Follow up from my message last Sunday. Do you secretly wish that you’d win the lottery? This myth-fueled hope is disastrous for the poor. Insightful article by Ed Stetzer. Courageous Petraeus – Why Petraeus was courageous for stepping down from the CIA. A great perspective on... Read more
In the summer of 2000 I journeyed from Botswana, Africa to the war-torn nation of Mozambique for relief work. Devastated by decades of civil war, this nation was among the poorest of the poor. A corrupt government, poor infrastructure, and the inability to meet basic human needs left millions of people in poverty. And then the rains came. While most Americans were caught up in the 2000 presidential primaries, Mozambique was being ravaged. All major rivers in the lower half... Read more
BIG Idea: Overcome the fear of giving by faith in giving. For the past several Wednesdays, we’ve been walking through a series I preached in February called “Going Green.” All about the wonderfully awkward topic of money, it’s a subject that American Christians have a tough time getting right. We know we need to give more of God’s money to the church and Kingdom purposes, but for some reason, it’s tough for us. Now, I’d love to be able to... Read more
If you lead part or all of any organization, then you need to read The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni. Drawn from his decades of work in business management consulting, his insights into organizational health are a must read, whether you’re a business owner, school principal, or pastor. I first encountered Lencioni through the Catalyst Conference. Every time I heard him speak I walked away impressed with his insight into organizational health. This year, I bought his book, his “how-to” manual... Read more
Hopefully all of us pray for our spouse. Too often though, they’re prayers that don’t mean much. Prayers like, “Keep him safe on his road trip” (Is he wearing his seat belt?), or “God, please help her realize that she’s wrong and I’m right.” (Good luck with that). When we pray for our spouse, let’s pray prayers that mean something. Here’s how you can pray for your spouse this week: MONDAY: Pray that you would see your spouse the way... Read more
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