It’s been quite a week. It included a rich, fruitful time at the Church Leaders Conference held annually at Watermark Community Church in Dallas. Monday night, I had drawing class. Admittedly, I didn’t feel very inspired when I arrived at class. Honestly, I felt like I was in a pretty crotchety mood. But, I painted anyway. As you reflect on what lies in store for you in the week ahead, what is one way you can seek to embody God’s love in your interactions with others? Our Father who art in Heaven, As I gather my thoughts and quiet my heart on this peaceful Sunday evening, I come before You wi ..read more

The Serenity Prayer quickly reminds me that the only person I am in control of is myself. God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference. The Serenity Prayer It’s a sobering thought, especially when you feel disrespected. I’ve shared with people publicly that I struggle with lust, anger, and envy. God has done a miracle work in me. No doubt. The transformation that my life has undergone is amazing! Yet, I still struggle with stuff, particularly lust, anger, and envy. I’m grateful for the patient wo ..read more

Today the Supreme Court will review a case that asks if it is cruel and unusual punishment (a violation of the 8th Amendment) to fine and criminalize homelessness. My “hot” take is that homeless people aren’t an issue to address or a problem to be solved, but, rather people to be helped. What good does it do to penalize someone financially—or worse—lock them up for being poor? If you’ve ever seen a crane rip away all of someone’s earthly possessions or bulldoze their makeshift home then you know how cruel it is to criminalize and demonize being homeless. That’s messed up. At the drop of a hat ..read more

Preparing for my first solo art show and working in and on a homeless ministry has yielded some interesting opportunities to learn more about who I am and more particularly, how I see myself versus how others view me. It’s a cathartic journey in many ways. In other ways, it’s been like peeling an onion—sometimes unpleasant and certainly guaranteed to make you cry. Creating and selecting visual artwork to share with an audience is a lot like making a record or writing a book—both of which I know something about but haven’t found much success in doing. Working with homeless people and working on ..read more

One way we unwind is binging on new shows. We first discovered binging a decade or so ago, starting with binging The Closer and Downton Abbey on DVD. Of course, we really got into streaming with shows like “Stranger Things” and “The Killing”. Terri and I love binging. Perhaps, this seems strange to you. Maybe, you do it, too. We’ve also watched series that drop weekly, but that’s not nearly as satisfying. Binging a show is very similar to sitting down with a good book and reading it front to back over the course of a few days. The sea of streaming services have tweaked our collective televisi ..read more

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."Psalm 46:10 A cacophony of ceaseless pursuits of progress and productivity disrupt our daily life with God. Quiet time is relegated to a brief tip of a few precious minutes, if at all. We are always busy doing something. There is always something to draw our attention from our affections for our God, the Most High. The wisdom of Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk known for his profound spiritual insights and contemplative practices, invites us into the sacredness of stillness. Thomas Merton u ..read more

I came home from work yesterday, exhausted. I was so tired I went to bed before 6 p.m. and slept the whole night through. Hence, the late morning post and lack of posts the past couple of days. It’s been all I can do to tread water. This is also true for Terri. Please pray for us. It’s a difficult season on many levels. Thankfully, we have each other and aren’t left to navigate it on our own. I’ve spent most of this week reflecting on how we see one another. What does it mean to cultivate a biblical view of others? Seeing others as image bearers of God recognizes the profound dignity and worth ..read more

Like lost sheep longing for their shepherd, I believe we have a deep desire to be in God’s presence. A lot of people I encounter know about God but lack any significant personal experience investing in a genuine relationship with Him. I was talking with a friend the other day about spiritual things and he said he found his own way to Jesus and that he believes that experience can be true for everyone. Be a good person (works). Stand up for others (justice). Learn to be comfortable in your own skin (mercy). I agree that our individual Damascus Road experiences in getting to know Jesus are diffe ..read more

Welcome my fellow Christian blogger (or follower of Christian blogs)! Coming out of a period when door-to-door evangelism was not really allowed due to the restrictions of the recent pandemic, digital evangelism plays a significant role in influencing the future of evangelism. Evangelism is proclaiming the Gospel – the good news about Jesus Christ which is God’s power to save all who believe it and turn from sin to follow him. Richard Coekin—an essay about Biblical Evangelism shared on The Gospel Coalition Technology impacts every aspect of our lives including spreading the word of God and en ..read more

Like you, I get these daily prompts. Lots of times, I skip over them. Occasionally, I run across a prompt that piques my interest but that I want to tailor to my Christian blog. If you could be a character from a book or film, who would you be? Why? In response to this prompt, I decided to rephrase the question and ask if you could be a character from the Bible (apart from Jesus, obviously), who would you be and why? A rough estimate counts over 3,000 distinct individuals in the Old and New Testament. Do you know how many books are in the Bible? This is a question our homeless guests often a ..read more