On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, I attended a missions conference at Avant Ministries, in Kansas City. The conference was called C.A.N., meaning Church. Agency. Now. They partnered with sixteen:fifteen, a coaching ministry that partners with churches to discover and implement a strategic missions mindset. I attended the CAN conference this week with another…
Why I Love Mondays
I’ve noticed a trend recently that disturbs me. As a youth minister, I use FaceBook a lot. I connect with teens easier through that medium than almost any other. But I see a trend developing, and has been for some time, that bothers me. Lots of people hate Mondays. Every week, I read some variation…
Memorize The Sermon On The Mount – Week 14
Today’s passage is one of the harder teachings of the Sermon on the Mount, in my opinion. I would like to know if anyone has ever actually cut off a hand, or gouged out an eye. I think that would be extremely difficult to do, given our propensity for self-preservation. I know, there are differences…
Book Review: Couples Who Pray by Squire Rushnell & Louise DuArt
Couples Who Pray was an intriguing book. While not a deeply thought provoking book, it did highlight some great points and was very encouraging. Authors Rushnell and DuArt have developed a 40 Day Prayer Challenge. The basic idea is that married couples spend at least five minutes a day praying together for 40 days, and…
Book Review: Chasing Elephants by Brent Crowe
I didn’t get what I expected when I read Brent Crowe’s Chasing Elephants: Wrestling With The Grey Areas Of Life. I expected it to be a book where he examines several “untouchable” topics. Topics such as the back cover lists: social drinking, homosexuality, social networking, and more. I was interested in reading his opinions on…
Memorize The Sermon On The Mount – Week 13
I love this section of the Sermon on the Mount. Not just today’s passage, but all of the “You’ve heard that it was said…” parts. Murder and hatred. Adultery and lust. Divorce. Oaths. Revenge. And love. These statements from Jesus are so simple, and yet so profound. They hit me anew almost every time I…