Archive for the ‘Personal’ Category

Ok, I confess. Publicly even. (No, this is not an admission of not blogging for 6 weeks…I’m working to fix that). Here’s the bottom line: I’m an addict. And I’m working hard to get help. What I’m addicted to is pretty common, but I don’t want that to be an […]

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This week, today is my Sabbath. Because of the nature of my life right now, Sabbath happens on different days, but I’m aiming for a consistent Monday. I’ve found that an expected day provides  a sense of stability for my family, and it ensures that I actually honor the day. […]

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Matthew 14 includes the story of the frightening storm that was intimidating seasoned sailors. These fishermen thought this was the big one. They were going down. But here comes Jesus, walking on the water. This confused the disciples, of course, and they had to be assured He wasn’t a ghost. […]

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January 1, 2012 2011 is over and 2012 is here; we now have a fresh 366 days ahead of us (yup, it’s a leap year). Here are a few things I’m going to be focusing on this year. These aren’t resolutions, but more like personal targets that will contribute to […]

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It’s Christmas Eve, 2011, and I’m enjoying watching my city kids play on Grandpa’s 2 acres in the country outside of Eugene. This is the first year in a long time that we took off for Christmas vacation and didn’t have church responsibilities to distribute before we left. This year […]

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My wife and I have a Starbucks mug collection that’s very special to us. We built the collection over years as we have moved and traveled and ministered all over the country and the world. In each place we’ve lived, in many places we’ve served, and in select locations where […]

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Last week my family celebrated an epic day: 11.11.11 was my son’s birthday…his ELEVENTH birthday! On the day of his birth, we discovered this would be the case because the doctor told us we had a big birthday approaching in 11 short years. At the time it seemed like forever […]

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When I was in my late teens I worked on a couple of different janitorial crews. Those who worked these jobs had some things in common: We wore the same color shirts, we knew how to change a belt on a vacuum, we carried walkie-talkies (yes, before cell phones) and […]

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“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.” Max De Pree Yesterday I said “thank you” to a great congregation I have been leading for a little over 5 years. As a leader and […]

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Will you help me? I’ve started a new job, and it’s overwhelming! I don’t feel like i have time to breathe, much less to write. Tonight I went in to pray with my boys, and I just laid with them and talked and laughed with them for about an hour […]

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In the story of David vs. Goliath (1 Samuel 17), David carefully picked 5 smooth stones from the creek; these were rocks he knew would hit their mark. But in the heat of battle, as David ran towards the giant, he couldn’t carefully decide which specific stone to put to […]

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In a classic story, a strong, young man was hired as a lumberjack. The first day he cut down ten trees; the second day he felled eight; but the third day he could finish-off only two. When he went to apologize for his unexplained loss of strength, his boss asked […]

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Today I’m sharing a guest post: This is something one of my very closest friends recently wrote, and it challenged me! Doug Andersen and I have partnered in ministry and friendship for over 20 years. He is the pastor of The Church on the Way Santa Clarita, a growing and […]

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Last month my family was vacationing in Oregon. We LOVE Oregon. Whenever we visit (at least once a year), Deborah and I drop the kids off at the in-laws and spend a couple of days in Portland. You may disagree with me, but Portland is close to my idea of […]

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Wow, what a July. Now I’m back from vacation and back on the internet with lots of stories to tell. I’m excited about some upcoming blogs, as well as some fun and important updates about our lives. But first, here’s the scorecard for my internet break: Blogging: Didn’t touch it. […]

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