I’ve been away from the blogoshpere for a while.  God had some lessons to teach me firsthand.  Several weeks ago, I received news that a dear friend of my family had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer that had spread to her bones.  We were shocked.  And so was she.
Jacqulyn had been experiencing [...]

In 1974, veteran missionary to the Philippines, Dr. Don Benson and his wife, Alice, stood on a vacant, cactus covered lot and prayed for the birth of a church in the growing northeast heights neighborhood of Albuquerque. The church – called Agape Baptist Church – first met in a home, then a pre-school and finally, [...]

Who’s in charge of your church?  Weird question, I know, but who’s really in charge?  Is it the pastor? The deacon board? The elders? The trustees? The rich old people? The church secretary?  The janitorial staff?  Who’s in charge?
You may think this question isn’t very important, but it’s actually one of the most important questions [...]

The other night, I was invited by a friend to join him at a local cigar room to watch the NCAA tournament. I’d never been to one, but the prospect of smoking my pipe indoors was appealing to me. You see, I like to smoke a pipe every once-in-a-while, and because I don’t [...]

I was running on the treadmill yesterday, pondering the new year. At the same time, I was listening to a song by a (now defunct) band called Church of Rhythm. They were a group of guys from WillowCreek Church in Chicago who put out two really good albums in the 1990’s. One [...]

As you can see, I haven’t blogged much lately. It’s not that I haven’t wanted to; it’s because I’m being a good American citizen. After 20 years of flying under the radar, my number finally got called. Out of 257 people, I was one of 36 people to be selected for the grand jury, [...]

The whole idea of being a member of an organization or club rubs me the wrong way, and I’m not sure why. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I’m a Gen X’er, and we are known for our cynicism and skepticism.
Or maybe it has something to do with my past membership [...]

In the Engage class this morning, we had an excellent conversation! For those who don’t know, the Engage class is a sermon discussion class that follows the Sunday service. Today we discussed my sermon from 1 Samuel 18-20 entitled, David and Jonathan: A Picture of True Community. Allow me to recap the main points of [...]