Posts from September 2024
What does it take to be Farmer?
When we go to the annual state fair (which just occurred this month) many of us like to pretend we are farmers or ranchers. As we go and visit the horse barn at the fair or go to the rodeo arena, we love to watch the riders and pretend to know the differences between horse breeds. When we take our kids to the pig barn and watch the momma pig with 13 little piglets, we pretend to know all about…
Prayers for Impossible Things
You and I have a most useful tool in our toolbox. It sits in our toolbox. It’s right there. But we seldom go into our toolbox to retrieve it. Why is that? If this is a useful tool, why do we use it only sometimes? This tool, of course, is prayer. Not just any prayer, but prayer for “impossible” things. One day, I began to think about the prayers I prayed to God each day, and I noticed that they…
Who Do You Say That I Am? – Who’s the 3rd batter in the line up?
I was never really much of a baseball player, but I know that if I were I would hate the pressure of being the 3rd out when your team was up to bat. For most of you I likely don’t need to explain the basics of how a baseball game is played; how that your team is only allowed three outs in each of the 9 innings. But in the little that I personally played baseball (football was my game!)…
History of LifeWay (Part 10)
Today is part 10 of my ongoing series of reflections of 40 years here at the Church. This has been fun for me personally and there is much more that I might write out for the sake of missions history, but I have decided to put some conclusions on this series today. Learning to work with Crisis: In the life of a church, if I have learned anything that is inevitable, it is that crisis and conflict is essentially unavoidable.…
Who Do You Say That I Am? – My Soul Thirst for You
I have been blessed with the opportunity to see some amazing places in the world. Out of all the unique places I’ve seen and experienced in the world such as the North Slope Brooks range of Alaska, the Grand Canyon, the summit of Mt Rainier to name a few, the starkest place I’ve been to was the North African Desert in Egypt! It was on one of our many trips to Russia that we chose to do an inexpensive detour…
Who Do You Say That I Am? – Mark 1.1–11
We have officially begun our academic year teaching out of the Gospel of Mark. Last Sunday Alvin laid out a bit of an overview and some background to better get a grasp of this book. It is of course the 2nd of the four Gospels that we find in the Bible. It is often the least read of the four as well. But we are jumping in and I can’t wait. This Sunday I have the privilege of focusing on…