New Wineskins
Watch and celebrate this incredible story of hope! https://vimeo.com/129434810 Read more
Watch and celebrate this incredible story of hope! https://vimeo.com/129434810 Read more
originally posted December 15, 2014 Yesterday at the end of church services I met a new young couple. Been in town for several years, first time at Mt Vernon (and church in general in quite some time). Married for three days. The husband came up to say that he enjoyed the services and that they were planning on coming back. Always fascinated with where people come from and how they connected with our church, I asked him how they heard... Read more
originally posted October 28, 2014 If your marriage is more about fighting then it is about having fun, then you’re off track from where God wants your marriage to be. Sunday at Mt Vernon I shared seven ways that couples can be serious about having more fun in their marriage: 1. Identify the biggest culprits crowding into your marriage space. What is it that is crowding into the space that’s reserved for you and your spouse? Is it a career? Is it... Read more
originally posted June 3, 2013 We see marriages around us fail for a multitude of reasons. Underlying the causes of divorce are some common themes. Here are eleven of them: 1. Lack of communication. Constant and meaningful conversation is the lifeblood of a marriage. You would think that all marriages have meaningful conversation, but they don’t. Couples don’t carve out time. They’re too tired. The husbands don’t want to talk. Television replaces conversation, and separation begins. 2. Busyness. We can be too... Read more
originally posted May 20, 2013 Growing up Baptist, I was entranced by the abundance of committees that seemed to cover every facet of church life. A committee for flowers? Check. A hostess committee? Check. (Only later did I realize that this committee had nothing to do with a favorite brand of comfort foods). But one committee always intrigued me with its deeply authoritative and far-reaching title: the committee on committees. This was the pinnacle. This was the magical smoke-filled back... Read more
originally posted June 26, 2013 What do Moses, David, and Paul all have in common? These names represent some of the best men written about in the Bible. God spoke to Moses face to face (Num. 12:8). The Bible calls David a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:14). Paul was privileged with writing almost half of the New Testament. When you look at their accomplishments, their heroics are almost mythical: Moses called down the plagues on Egypt and... Read more
Our three-year-old son (Happy Birthday!) Lincoln isn’t supposed to be here. If you look at our life now you would laugh at the narrative, but Robin and I used to be the couple who couldn’t have any kids. Robin was a school teacher and I was a youth pastor. We were a good young Christian couple doing good things for good people. Life was good. But we couldn’t have kids. Miscarriages, check. Thousands spent on fertility treatments, check. Robin had school... Read more
Congratulations graduates! What you’ve achieved is the result of years of determination, and your celebration is well deserved. Graduation isn’t the finish line though, it’s merely the second lap. Here are nine truths that may be hard to accept but will help you flourish in the next chapter in your life: 1. Growing up comes by making a decision, not by celebrating a birthday. Maturity and truly acting like an adult isn’t something that magically happens when you celebrate an... Read more
I’m good with names. I remember the summer before my sophomore year of college I came back early to school to help with freshman orientation. After seeing the same names over and over again for a week, I realized I remembered a good portion of them. So I continued to work hard at names and faces, and it’s been a huge help to me over the years. “But I’m not good with names!” I know people like to say that.... Read more
Last Sunday at Hey Thanks! I wrote out some personal ‘Thank You’ notes in the spirit of Jimmy Fallon and the Tonight Show. Here’s the video: https://vimeo.com/128157142 Read more
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