Dear Friends, Recently some challenges have come in our ministry that have been a wake-up call for me. And what these situations have “awakened me to” is the reality of where I’ve been placing my trust. I like to say that my trust is in God, and God alone. And not only do I like to say it, but I like to preach on it as well. However, as these recent situations have shown me - I might SAY my trust is in God, but the reality of how I’ve been operating is that my trust has been spread between God and other people - and other things - and finances - and my own ability to get things done. The problem with living this way is that it’s not what God wants for me - or for any of His children. Pr
Dear Friends, When I was in high school I had a t-shirt that said, “Don’t sweat the small stuff”. It was very much a product of its time, with tie-dye coloring and a large peace sign behind the words. I wore it proudly, thinking it reflected the laid-back, 70's mentality well. As the world changed, my mindset did as well, and I eventually got rid of the shirt. But over the years, I've often thought of that shirt, and have come to the conclusion that the message it proclaimed was actually very good advice. The reality is, our everyday lives are full of small frustrations and set-backs. And as they come up, we have two choices: we can get frustrated, or we can let them roll off our backs.
Dear Friends, A friend of mine had a catastrophic stroke a few years ago which left him paralyzed and angry with the world. I met him shortly after his stroke, when he started to attend our church. Over the past few years God has been healing his heart, even though his physical condition still makes his daily life overwhelming challenging. Each week I bring groceries to his apartment, since shopping is very difficult for him. Recently we were chatting as I dropped off his groceries, and he told me about an experience he had with a neighbor in which he helped them take out their trash. For those of us who have full use of our bodies, it wouldn’t seem like a big deal, but because of my fr
Dear Friends, This week I’m attending a conference in Los Angeles. It’s been a good opportunity to get out of my routine and hear what God is doing in other parts of the country - and so I’ve been encouraged by the time here. But it’s also been fun because I’m a former Southern Californian, so it’s been good to get back to my old stomping grounds. Yesterday over the lunch break, the organizers of the conference took us to Venice Beach. If you’ve never been there, it’s a historic beach community that is probably best known for being home to Muscle Beach - the place where men and women lift weights, and where the body builder-turned actor-turned-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger first got his
