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Visiting Churches

Make a Difference Wherever You Go

My wife and I are on track to start our “52 Churches” adventure this coming Sunday—look for my first update on Monday. As friends prayed about this, they prayed that we would have a positive impact on each of the 52 churches we visited. This surprised me. Though it is generally my goal to make […]

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Visiting Churches

52 Churches: The Journey Begins

For an Entire Year, We Visited a Different Christian Church Every Sunday Next week, I will begin reposting a thread called “52 Churches.” It reflects on my church experience when my wife and I took a year to visit a different Christian church each week. The journey begins—again. Each week it will be of a […]

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Christian Living

Have You Had A Desert Experience

From time to time, I’ve heard people say they’re “in the desert.” They are speaking figuratively, of course, but nevertheless it is a dry place, a barren wilderness, an unhappy situation to be sure. Their desert experience is not a literal place of residence, but a spiritual condition, a state of being. For them, the […]

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Personal Posts

The Long Term Problems with China’s One-Child Policy

one child policy

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Christian Living

What Do You Think of The Spiritual Realm?

A friend of mine once startled me by saying, “Sometimes I think the spiritual realm is more real than the physical realm.” That gave me a start, but I understand what he meant—and yearn to understand it more fully. It’s been said that “we are a spirit, we have a soul, and we live in […]

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Christian Living

Watch Your Language

Avoiding Christianese I once shared a story with a new friend and fellow followers of Jesus about a young boy praying for his teacher. My friend was perplexed and silent for a moment. Finally, she stammered out an explanation, ”I’ve never prayed for people before.” I didn’t know how to take this. Did she mean […]

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Personal Posts

What Happened to Spring?

Yesterday was the first day of spring—and the temperature hit a record-breaking 86 F. The average high for this time of year is 48. That’s an astounding in 38-degree difference. And today, the high temps pushed 90. Interestingly, the average high temperature for us in three months, the first day of summer, is only 84 […]

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Christian Living

A Missed Opportunity to Help

Last week I attended a convention and gave a couple of presentations. Traveling is not an adventure I enjoy; instead, it is a duty I endure. Knowing this—and that self-focus is not God-honoring or kingdom advancing—I asked God for opportunities to interact with and help others during my trip. This did indeed happen, especially after […]

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Personal Posts

Dealing with the Daylight Savings Time and Jet Lag the Same Weekend

I’ve never been a fan of our twice-annual time change, in and out of daylight savings time. My perspective is to pick a time and stick with it. This is in part because of the hassle of resetting clocks, but also because it takes my body about a week to fully adjust. I also struggle […]

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Christian Living

Are You a Disciple or Believer?

Those who follow Jesus used to be called “disciples” but that term has fallen out of favor. Now the common label is “believer.” It is easy to believe; it takes a lot more to be a disciple. To believe is essentially a one-time act, a singular decision made at one point along life’s path. To […]