“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. (1 Co 6:12). I've finally done it.  I have deactivated my "smartphone" phone, at least for a while.  So this is goodbye games, goodbye navigator, goodbye news flashes, goodbye Google Sky, goodbye in store price-checks, goodbye  Facebook updates, goodbye  Twitter notifications, goodbye email, goodbye calendar, goodbye  weather reports, goodbye  verse of the days, goodbye  YouTube on the toilet, goodbye location check-in, goodbye  lightsaber-phone, goodbye blinking light, goodbye obnoxious chime.  I won't miss you, I am going back to "dumb". Why would I do that?  Frankly, I think I was becoming enslaved to technology. And though there are perhaps a thousand arguments as to why people might "need" their phone, I think we all might be a bit delusional. We've been fished in, hooked on, and otherwise persuaded to believe we need a bunch of APP crap that [...]

As I am preparing to preach a couple of sermons on marriage, I found this old gem. Who knows when it was written but it reminded me of how I must fight to keep my marriage from getting "stinky." And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  - Ephesians 5.2 What does you marriage smell like?  Although this sounds like a strange question, the relationships with our spouses emit some sort of aroma that everyone can smell.  That smell is either a fragrant offering to God or it’s a putrid stench we try to hide like a Grandma wearing too much perfume—no one’s fooled, everyone smells it.   Sadly, married couples ignore or tolerate the obvious lack of health in their marriage far too long.   If change doesn’t occur, couples find themselves with a growing aversion for one [...]

I’m not really sure when I became a “man”.  I was born male, if being a “man” means being male then I have been one for 37+ years.  If being a man occurred when my Dad gave the “sex talk”, then I’ve been a man for about 20 years.  If being a man means I’m an adult, then the government says I became a man at age 18.  Some would say you become a man when you become self-sufficient and committed. Perhaps that is when I got married, so I guess I have been a man for 16 years.  Others will tell you that you aren’t a man until you have children—so maybe I’ve only been a man for 10 years.  If being a man is the is the same as being “mature”, where you stop enjoying toys at Christmas or cartoons on Saturday morning, I’m screwed. There is a [...]

This blog is a great example of irony, so bear with me. It's been some time since I blogged last.  I'm not sure exactly why, well, that's not entirely true.  I know exactly why but it feels better to refrain from self-deprecation for at least one more sentence.  The truth is I stopped blogging because I could feel myself becoming idolatrous about it.  Mind you, this is not because there are fifteen thousand (or even 15) of people waiting on and worshiping every word I write (Sadly, takes far fewer for my dark heart).  No, it has little to do with anyone else but me.   The more I wrote blogs, the more I began to feel myself overwhelmed with concern about what others thought.  I'd check the blog, Facebook, or twitter wasting hour upon hour counting views, waiting for comments, and reveling in my own personal cleverness.  Perhaps I am the only "blogger" [...]

I love our church. When I say that, I don't mean that I simply love our name, building, music, or whatever parts you might consider make up the "church" and its "steeple."  What I love are the hearts of our people, and the love they have for one another.  Though I have been a part of many churches, this is the first time that I have experienced the church as a genuine family of families (this new experience is more about my own sanctification than it is about any church's past failure).  This has not resulted from some master leadership plan I had when planting the church.  It is a gift from the Spirit of God. Last week, after what is often coined as another "Sunday hangover", I lamented about all of the things that I should have said, shouldn't have said, or would say given another chance in the [...]