This is a family update of God’s work in our family over 2012. 2012 has been the most eventful year of our lives! Early in the year, I was still very much recovering from cancer treatments. Doctors told me to prepare for an 18 month recovery. I’m presently in the 17th month of that process,…
I pray that your Christmas is Christ-Centered! Jesus is everything you allow Him to be in your life. He desires to be your all in all! Consider the Christmas story and all that Jesus is… Jesus Comes to Those Who Have Room for Him—The Inn Keeper! I’m not so hard on the keeper of the…
Today, Dana and I mark our 23rd wedding anniversary, and I am reminded of how blessed I am to have married such a wonderful woman! Indulge me for a post—as I wanted to publicly state why I so deeply esteem and respect this lady I call “my girl!” From the first moment I knew her,…
Seven Biblical Responses to Overwhelming Events This post is simply a resource for those who are hurting or know someone who is hurting. To hear the message from our Sunday morning service yesterday, CLICK HERE. Yesterday we studied “Trusting God in Tragedy”—seven biblical responses to overwhelming events. Perhaps they will encourage you in your time…
Why should God’s people and God’s servants care about excellence? From the maintaining of a church facility to the order of hall closet—does it matter if we have a standard of excellence and order in our lives and ministries? For many, this is a “self-image thing.” Excellence can be about self-promotion and personal image before…
A couple of weeks ago, I retweeted an article from Slate reporting on the surprising growth of Christianity in New England (presumed to be closed to the gospel.) If you didn’t read it, you can find it here: New England’s Quiet Christian Revival. It’s well worth the read in terms of tracking the moving of…
We are happy to announce the Emmanuel Baptist Church Podcast! The messages from Emmanuel Baptist Church of Newington, CT are now available on iTunes and through other Podcast directories (soon) for free download. Usually, three times each week you can download the preaching and teaching series that are presently being delivered. We are excited about…
Do you ever get completely exhausted? Some of the worst decisions ever made in human history were made in moments of exhaustion or depletion. When your spiritual, emotional, or physical gauges are on empty, you are in danger of doing the wrong thing every time! We weren’t designed to function on empty. In fact it’s…
I had a remarkable conversation with a growing Christian recently. It went like this: The man said to me, “Pastor, you’re really starting to bug me!” “Really? Why?” I replied, wondering where this was headed. “Because you’re not telling me what to do. You’re telling me to love God, listen to Him, and obey Him.”…
In an effort to stay informed and capable of speaking to the issues of our culture, I catch my share of secular news media—unfortunately. And as I do, nearly every moment, I have to remind myself of a few things. If I lose sight of these things, invariably the situation seems dire, the news—hopeless, the…
Psalms 31:24 “Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.” Needless to say, last night didn’t go the way most Christians were hoping it would go. In fact, many Christians are flat discouraged or depressed about the situation. After months of campaign rhetoric and apocalyptic language,…
In our transition to Emmanuel Baptist of Newington, CT, many, many people tried to warn me that New Englanders have cold and unresponsive hearts toward the gospel. It seemed that nearly everybody had the same impression of New England— “It can’t be done there…” But I had a hard time believing that God was uprooting…
How big is your God? Is He bigger than your burden? Is He greater than your need? Is He mightier than your storm? As I write this post, we (along with 50 million other East Coasters) are bracing for Hurricane Sandy. Our attention is riveted on preparation for whatever this storm will bring to the…
I’m probably the worst blog strategist on the planet. When starting this blog, I seriously doubted that anyone would read it… and up until recently never thought much about subscriptions. People told me a blog should be “subscribe-able”—so I found the quickest plug-in, activated it, and never thought about it again. In fact, over…
Last week, Haylee (my daughter) and I were going to make a follow-up visit for a new family in our church. One the way, we decided to have a quick dinner at Panera Bread. Our family has been pretty busy the past weeks, and God has led us through some rather significant transitions. I’ve worried…
UPDATE: Passionate Parenting is now available through Striving Together Publications. Find out more at this link! The past Spring, the Lord allowed me to complete a book entitled “Passionate Parenting—Enjoying the Journey of Parenting Teens.” This past week, this new 250 page hard-back book is finally at press and will be available sometime around early…
“I being in the way, the Lord led me.” (Genesis 24:27) Are you in God’s way? Or is God in your way? When God is in my way… My agenda is king. My plans reign. My schedule is full of what I want to do. My focus is on “getting my stuff done.” My world…
Have you ever fallen off the wagon? I have. In fact, through all the transition of the past few months, I’ve just about fallen off the “blog wagon.” If you read these posts with any regularity, you know that. (Thanks for hanging with me, by the way!) But falling off the “blog wagon” got me…
Just a quick report on what God did in recent weeks and yesterday at EBC! We owe many thanks to praying friends and family all over the country who were upholding us before the Lord as we prepared for our first Open House with the Emmanuel Baptist Church family. If you’ve been following our story,…
How do you treat spectators? I’m talking about Christians (or non-Christians) who sit on the side-lines of ministry and watch the activity around them. They are in every church. They have their reasons for not participating. They don’t get very involved, but they love to hear and see what’s happening. Honestly, there isn’t a pastor…
