The keystone habit for spiritual development has to be consistent time in the Word of God. Prayer is vital. The spiritual disciplines like tithing, witnessing, service are all crucial. But everything we do spiritually rises out of a regular, focused, intentional plan for staying in the Word. My friend Robert and I have been to… Continue Reading
2020 Vision
Let me make a confession. I talk to myself. A lot. When I’m alone in the car, late at night while closing up Branches, working out at the farm, I have great, lengthy, impassioned conversations with…well, ME. And yes, to answer your question, I talk back to me. To be truthful, some of the most… Continue Reading
My Life for Yours
A few days ago, I attended a fund-raising event for Siloam, a non-profit, primary medical care organization in Nashville. They have worked tirelessly for 20 years serving the underserved and marginalized in Davidson County, Tennessee. While their primary focus has been the burgeoning immigrant and refugee population of middle Tennessee, of late they have taken… Continue Reading
And Now, We Wait
I am reminded at the beginning of this Holy Week that Jesus knew what the end of the week held for Him, but He had to wait for the weekend to come. Can you imagine? Knowing the agony, the betrayal, the loneliness, knowing the power, the miracle, the resurrection, all of that was coming, and… Continue Reading
The God Who Takes Forever
There is a wonderful praise song that we love that talks about “the God of angel armies.” Imagine in your darkest and most difficult hour the heavenly host of celestial beings all coming at God’s command to surround and protect you. I can get fired up about that. One line of the song says, “The… Continue Reading
Right Where We Are Supposed To Be
(This is the funeral message I preached for my dad yesterday. You don’t have to read it, and it may seem a little strange even me posting it. But…it’s my blog. When you write a blog you can post strange things too. 🙂 Anyway, if you are in a strained or estranged relationship, there may… Continue Reading
The End
When you use your family as an illustration or an example there are two distinct dangers. One, the audience will think, “Man, that is one messed up family,” which is probably true but no more messed up than any other family. Or two, they will think, “Man, that is one cool family. They really have… Continue Reading
Legacy Leadership Lesson
Joshua has always been my hero. His courage and integrity, standing with Caleb for what he saw, as one of the original ten spies that went into Canaan, when the other eight backed down from the challenge of conquering the land. His loyalty, spending years as the right arm of Moses in the very difficult… Continue Reading
Celebrate Life
Jakson scored his first One Goal Basketball basket the other day. He is six and so far, his team is undefeated. No thanks to Jakson. He happens to be on the team with Davin, who is a fifteen year old in a six year old body, and Anthony who is the Eveready Bunny in a… Continue Reading
On Conditional Statements
Jon-Mical is 10. Jakson will be 7 in a couple of weeks. They don’t know it, but they are masters at geometry and philosophy, well, at least one part of geometry and philosophy, the conditional statement. Let me remind you of Philosophy 101. A conditional statement is also called an “if-then” statement. If this is… Continue Reading