On a cold, and unusually clear night in the suburbs, Becky and I gazed in the night sky at distant planets and constellations. The app on our phone helped us identify stars and planets with some information about each. Learning only increased our wonder at the heavenly display of God’s glory. Our children were constantly…Read more Alive to Wonder
The Heart of the Father
"What I'm trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You'll find…Read more The Heart of the Father
Masterpiece
There is a warm memory in my mind of preaching after our first son's birth at a beautiful church campground in Florida, called Masterpiece Gardens. I remember doing a morning prayer walk with my heart full of praise for our first child and God's intention for his life. I would gaze on my wife singing…Read more Masterpiece
Deeply Secure
Deeply secure! It is a fact and it is a glorious sense of God's presence that I have known for most of my life. Deeply secure when our Pastor, Gerald Bailius would lay his hands on my head and pray for me with my parents my his side in the hospital. Deeply secure when our…Read more Deeply Secure
A Sense of Wonder
"The world is not lacking in wonders but in a sense of wonder." G. K. Chesterton "Blessed God! His love is the wonder of the world." Psalm 32:1, Message Fond memories for me include the sense of wonder our children had with each new discovery. A deer on a trail that walked up to us…Read more A Sense of Wonder
Building a New Habit Successfully
Building habits can be fun or frustrating for some. This week, someone asked me to help them with a new habit goal. It's both an honor and fun to help someone grow. A new habit has to be something you want. We change because we want to. It has been said that we change when…Read more Building a New Habit Successfully
Neither Wealth nor Poverty
“The idealization of poverty is one of the most dangerous illusions of Christians in the contemporary world. Stewardship—which requires possessions and includes giving—is the true spiritual discipline in relationship to wealth.” Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines, p 194 Stewardship necessarily means that we must have material goods to manage for the Lord. Jesus…Read more Neither Wealth nor Poverty
God Gives Us a Trust
“If you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?” (Luke 16:11, NLT) Here is something to think about. God has entrusted to you a certain amount of wealth to manage for His glory. It encourages me to know that God trusts, encourages, and instructs us on how…Read more God Gives Us a Trust
Blessed to Serve, Not Consume
On this bitterly cold and windy night, the thermometer reads 0º. I go outside and walk a little while, bundled up, until I shiver. Now it feels good to be inside. I think of the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem. The difficulties facing them on the journey and then finding no room in…Read more Blessed to Serve, Not Consume
JOY WHEN YOU GRIEVE
Handel's magnificent musical, Messiah, has been a source of joyful inspiration for me during Advent this year. Facing bankruptcy and failing health George Frederic Handel wrote with "a heart bursting with joy," The Messiah in 24 days. When he finished writing the Hallelujah chorus he said, "I did think I did see all heaven before…Read more JOY WHEN YOU GRIEVE
Coram Deo 