Christmas is a great time to reach out to an unsaved loved one. What better time of year to build a bridge of communication? My older brother was estranged from our family for a number of years and the holidays were especially hard. Finally reconciliation came and Christmas was right again. Many are facing this […]
My younger brother John and his wife Nancy along with our mother, Esther came over tonight for a visit through Sunday afternoon. Already had some great laughs! Nancy is a banker and I thought a few tips from her would be good for all us. Here are some of her thoughts: 1. The media says […]
I called several absentees today and told them I have been missing them in services, love them, and hope they will come back to services. With the way people travel these days, and miss church for so many entertainment reasons, it is hard to know when to call folks. I usually wait about 4 to […]
I am a pastor and I still love church (at least most of the time)! We have five services now it was just flat out fun this last weekend! One of my spiritual sons, Kevin Foster, was here, and I did a simple introduction to the message while he did a super message on “Staying […]
Hanging out with some staff at our house–eating, watching Amazing Race–Jamie Kemp, former Jr. High Youth Pastor @ Naperville, IL Calvary is here with us. Jamie & Tosha are itenerating for missionary ministry among youth and children in the great country of Indonesia. I want to interview Jamie now and find out what life is […]
Just finished our “Big Give” where we tried raising 5,000 coats for the needy in our communities and it was amazing! I don’t know how many thousands of coats were donated and how many we gave away today but it was such a great demonstration that God’s people are the best! Here are my thoughts […]
One of the costs of leadership is criticism. It is a price all leaders have to pay. Sometimes it is very helpful, but other times people are punitive and just reflecting the dysfunctional behavior they have never conquered. Most of the time the Lord has enabled me to handle criticism, but critical people who often […]
I proved yesterday in chapel at North Central Univeristy (NCU) in Mpls, MN that no matter how much experience you have in preaching–it is possible to “bomb!” I preached (tried to!) on “Overcoming Racism” which is a topic I have preached on many times. Anyhow, I am just not happy with how I did–the subject […]
From June 2005: “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:” Hebrews 10:36 NKJV Recently I was speaking with Gordon Anderson the President of North Central University in Minneapolis, MN and we were talking about this subject of ‘Finishing Well.” He made […]
We are in the 4th week of our Saturday night services–are doing 8 then will evaluate and see what happens. Are we only shifting people, have we really grown (don’t think so yet) ?–we’ll just have to see! The nice thing about Saturday night services is that you get to evaluate afterward! It’s all part […]