Just passing something simple (yet profoundly important) on: What every child should hear from his or her parents: 1. You are my son/daughter. This states ownership on my part, and identity on theirs. It gives them a place to belong, in my family. This is the foundational statement on which the other two phrases are…
Sorry if any of you just received an email digest of my most recent blog entries. I was moving my site to another server and in the migration triggered something (wish I knew what, but for the life of me I have no idea what could have happened). Sorry for plugging up your inbox, please…
Just refreshed my memory on chapter four of The Good and Beautiful God and found it so encouraging that I wanted to pass along a few tidbits. You’ll get a quick sense of the author’s throughts as you follow the progression of these quotes: First, he highlights a false narrative we tend to live out,…
That is why the Lord says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not…
“Jesus went up on a mountain and called out the ones he wanted to go with him. And they came to him. Then he appointed twelve of them and called them his apostles. They were to accompany him, and he would send them out to preach…” (Mark 3:13,14 NLT) Isn’t it interesting that Jesus didn’t want everyone to…
Imagine that God is light and that God is love. Now imagine that God’s Being is the lens through which the light of his love shines. Last week I was talking with a friend about Jesus’ parable of the prodigal. It’s beautiful story (and if you’ve not read it, do so right now, you won’t be…
This verse from part of today’s One Year Bible OT reading jumped out at me… Jacob to Esau: “…what a relief to see your friendly smile. It is like seeing the face of God! (Genesis 33:10 NLT) Jacob said this after Esau (the one Jacob had cheated and swindled more than once) welcomed him back…
In my last post, I mentioned that I would be slowly and intentionally sharing some of my foundational assumptions about the Church and our church. If you are a part of the Columbia Ridge family in any way, you deserve to know what goes on in my head and my heart. You deserve to know…
Funny the thoughts you think on a plane. It had been a great day yesterday. The weather was warm and sunny and the work our team did in San Jose was very well-received. It felt good to have been given the opportunity to begin to assist one of the largest companies in the world in…
I’ve been doing a considerable amount of thinking lately about the church, leadership in general, and my leadership. Some of this thinking has come about because of internal pressures that I’m feeling. Things like… desiring to lead better and in areas of my own gifting (rather than outside of them), wanting to equip others better…