I read an article a few days ago questioning what young people long for in worship services. You can read it here. I have mixed feelings about such articles. I, too, long for the type of worship service he says young people are longing for. Yet, I wonder if young people at large really do want that kind of service. If so, why do they flock to the “hip” services? Why aren’t young people abandoning these hip services and starting their own, if they really long for them? I think this article generally reflects the frustration of a few, probably including the author. But as a whole, I don’t see it. However, as a church leader, I think my time is more well-spent investing in this minority. Where are these people who desire authenticity and knowing Christ in a real, deep way? Let’s come together and do something substantial for the kingdom of...

You know, some days are good, others are bad. Yesterday was a good day. Yet, even in good days, we can think about all the things we want to get accomplished but don’t have time to do. Or we consider things outside our control that we wish we had control over. Or our minds can race to a million different things that can consume our thoughts for hours, the whole day, or several days. But I’m reminded of our worship service last Sunday at church. At any point, we can turn off the noise, get away with God, and remember that He’s our Father. We can remember that everything in this life is temporary. We can be assured that one day, this will all be over, and we will be with God forever, and none of this stuff will matter any longer. Is that a great comfort to anyone else? The cool thing is that we don’t have to wait until then to get a taste of how this will be. In our time of communion with God, we can experience this reality right now. Granted, we don’t experience it in all its fullness, but it is enough. God gives us enough to continue on, and to rest in our relationship with Him. Be reminded today that this the only truly important thing in this life–your relationship with God. Protect it. Nourish it. Appreciate it. Don’t let it go to waste. And don’t let this life steal it away from you. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, but lose his...

A few days ago, I was reflecting on the period of my life beginning when I knew I needed to step out in faith and resign at my former church and ending at the point where we moved to Colorado. And a thought came to me. Surprise, surprise… I felt like that was a very difficult, yet exciting period of my life. Yet, when I look at the circumstances, they weren’t really mind-blowingly difficult compared to what people face all the time in their lives. It was actually pretty mild, if you look at it objectively (although that’s hard for me to do, since I was the one who experienced it). That made me feel kind of bad. How would I have handled a much greater crisis? Something that could be genuinely labeled a crisis? But then I continued thinking about it. You know, it was like I had a taste of having to trust God during a relatively minor unsettling time. It was just a taste. Kinda like a vaccine. You know what I’m talking about. When they give you a vaccine, they give you a taste of the virus or whatever in order to trigger antibodies to build up in your body so that the full-blown virus won’t be able to overcome you if you come into contact with it later in life. And then it dawned on me…faith is the antibody. For some odd reason, my faith in God has intensified greatly over the past period of my life–disproportionately, I would add, to the circumstances. It’s like a little hardship came my way–and I reached down deep, and found God, and a whole bunch of faith was released. And so now I feel I have all these antibodies in my system disproportionate to the injection of the vaccine’s virus. That leads me to believe that there’s very good reason for all these antibodies. I’m going to need every single one of them. God knew that, and gave me a vaccine so that I would be prepared for what lies ahead. The task set before me right now–without the type of faith I have in God right now, I’d be turning to this or that to grow...

The past month, the leadership team at our church has been going through a time of praying and seeking God as to how He wants us to move forward as a church. It’s been exciting to see God working in all our lives. I see with eyes of faith what our church is capable of in the power of the Holy Spirit. In earthly terms, many people would probably dismiss us. We are small in number, and we don’t have anything “exceptional” or “noteworthy” going on. To put it plainly, if our churches explode in numerical growth in the next couple of years, there is nothing to put your finger on to say why it happened. It would have to be a move of God’s Spirit–like the stuff you read about in the Bible. And I guess that’s what I feel I’m being tested to believe can happen. I’m tired of standing around while people try to play the church game. I’m frustrated that so many church leaders can be simply concerned with church growth, and then put a spiritual spin on it, to make it look like it’s a “God thing.” Or that leaders can feel confident they can achieve a successful church by following this method or that one. I don’t want that to happen here. Yet, I’m tempted like everyone else. That’s when I need to go deep, and test if I’m for real or not. I know myself and I know my church. We aren’t anything special. I’m not a gifted preacher; we don’t pride in ourselves in being talented at anything. Of course, we really don’t know these things yet, as we’ve not explored them. But I’m also not so sure that trying to explore them is the way to go. Deep down inside, I want to set up an experiment. An experiment where a church puts their entire faith on God and Scripture–on the power of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit. And then prove that all this modern thinking about successful churches is bogus. And more importantly, prove that we can be, and must be faithful to God, and that He is a faithful God himself. I want us to return to...

So, Sarah is here and everyone is doing well! Naomi is very motherly, and loves to spend every waking moment with Sarah. Rachel, on the other hand, is content to play by herself when Naomi is “taking care” of Sarah. Rachel always said that when baby Sarah comes, she wanted to name her “Sweetheart.” Too funny. Anyway, when Audra was in labor, a thought came to me that I admit is a little weird, but I think it’s a good analogy. This Bible passage came to mind: Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” His disciples replied, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus answered, “With man this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.” I was watching Audra in labor, and thinking in my head…”this baby won’t be able to come out…there’s just no way!” (Sarah obviously did come, and she was 9 lbs. 7 oz.!) As I was thinking about that verse, I adapted it for the moment: “I tell you the truth it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a baby to be born.” “Then who can be born?” “With man this is impossible, but with women, all things are possible.” OK, I told you this was weird. But when you look at both quotes, they really are the same. After all, Jesus said to enter the kingdom of heaven, you must be BORN again. I was reflecting on the mission we have before us in the churches of Ault and Nunn, and considering how our situation is similar to a woman in labor. It’s a lot of hard work to have a baby, and oftentimes, you just don’t want to push any longer. There are times when you feel like the baby will never come out. But we must have faith in God and believe that with him, all things are possible. It may seem impossible for that friend or family member to be born again. The circumstances may seem insurmountable. But hey, if God makes it possible for Sarah...