Tag: christianity

  • Less Oblivious, More Aware

    In your relationships, whether with your spouse, a friend, or a co-worker, have you ever felt like the person you have a relationship with is oblivious to who you are? They want you to see the world only through their lens, not your unique lens.  Of course, we all have people like that in our…

  • Less Critical, More Kind

    I’m a decent writer, and I’ve always enjoyed writing.  One of the things that brings me great satisfaction is when I can edit what I write.  I’m pretty good at finding all sorts of writing and grammar errors.  I like efficiency in my writing.  Sometimes I tend to be too wordy when I write, so…

  • Presence In Your Relationships

    As a pastor, I occasionally provide marital counseling. Here is my observation about couples seeking counseling: Many couples, by the time they seek counseling, are simply two people living under the same roof but really living on two different planets.  Their marriage has come to a place where they are merely roommates. Not helpmates, not…

  • Complete in Christ—2 Peter 1:1-10

    If you have ever driven by my house, you may have noticed a red Volkswagen Van sitting there in my driveway.  Madison and I purchased this van and a 1990s model Subaru Outback several years ago.  We pulled the engine out of the Subaru and intended to put that motor into the Volkswagen Van. “Why…

  • The Romans Road

    We dropped Olivia off at the airport yesterday morning.  She is en route to Mongolia as we speak. She is currently at the Incheon International Airport in South Korea.  She lands in Mongolia about 3 pm our time.  Her journey to ride in this Mongol Derby has been a multi-year, multi-dollar, multi-person effort.  Pretty much…

  • Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff—Romans 14:1-15:13

    In twenty days, my daughter, Olivia, will leave for Mongolia, where she will ride in a 600-mile horse race that will take place over 10 days. They call this race the longest & toughest horse race in the world. If you want to follow Olivia, I’ll post a link where you can see her progress…

  • Romans 13:1-7—Good Citizens

    An old man was driving down the highway at 35mph when a highway patrol officer pulled him over. He asked the man if he knew why he pulled her over. He said, “I have no clue, officer. I’m sure I was obeying the speed limit…” The officer said, “Sir, you were traveling far too slow…

  • Romans 12:9-21 —The Actions of Love

    “It can be complicated to make something simple, but very simple to make something complicated.” That can be true of so many areas of life.  We often make things that are actually pretty simple, complicated, especially in today’s fast-paced, technology-driven culture. Maybe it’s complicated because we tend to overthink things or because of a lack…

  • Romans 12:3-8—Humility Through Service

    When I was 16 years old, a friend of my whose dad was the pastor at a local church, asked me to lead worship one Sunday morning. I was very involved in music at my High School, but had never led worship for a congregation before. I definitely had more confidence than skill in this…

  • Conformed or Transformed? Romans 12:1-2

    Today is the beginning of the end….of our study in Romans.  In case you are new to New Hope, back in August of last year, we started a series through Paul’s letter to the church in Rome.  We’ve been away from our study this spring as we focused on some other things, now we are…