One of the things about writing a weekly blog post that has been tough for me is getting it into my weekly routine. If I don’t do this thing on Mondays, more than likely it’s not going to get done. And Mondays are normally a short work day because I try to take at least 1/2 of the day for time off.
Straight gospel…that’s the way I would describe the last two weeks of sermons. It’s fascinating because often as a preacher, I find this temptation to make the gospel “more exhilarating” or “more interesting”…and then I think about that again…slowly…and I realize how dumb that is. The gospel is “the power of God for salvation”. It’s the dynamite of God. It hits the
Yesterday morning, as I prayed for our Sunday gathering, I was overwhelmed with gratitude as I thought about all the servants at CLF. The joy that our people take in serving each other and making Sundays happen so that we can gather to worship Jesus together is simply remarkable to me. As I quoted to the church on Sunday from Philippians 1, the people
Well, last Sunday we finished up our Esther series. With the holiday this week, I gladly took a couple of days off and so I’m a tad behind in my writing musings. So, maybe this week’s addition should be Weekend Wonderings (or Wanderings, depending on where I end up). So here it goes: From the cutting room floor: One of the things that really stood
Preaching from narratives are a lot of fun for me. One of my favorite series that we’ve done at CLF was our series through Judges. I loved it because of all the strange characters, twists and turns, and seeing God’s hand in all of it. That’s why I have loved preaching through Esther. The genius of the book is that God’s name
Often in my sermon prep, I come to the end of each week and I think, “I have no idea how the Lord is going to use this awful manuscript.” There are very few times when I finish writing that I am completely at rest about what I wrote and what I think the Lord wants me to say to our church.
Personal thoughts: The last couple of weeks have had all sorts of emotions for me. As most of you know, my dad passed away on December 1. This was not necessarily unexpected, but his Parkinson’s did hit him harder in the last 9 months than anytime in the previous 3 years. It was so good to be in Texas with my family
Here are some random thoughts from this past week & Sunday, in particular. Hope you enjoy! With a heavy heart Many of you have asked how my dad is doing. Well, today I received word that Parkinson’s is in its final stages with my dad. He’s no longer swallowing and hospice has been called in. It’s with a heavy heart that I
Hey CLF, This edition of musings is a bit different. Since I didn’t preach yesterday, I thought I’d just shoot some random thoughts your direction. I hope this is fun for you. It’s been helpful to me to get a few thoughts off my mind. Where were you guys? This past weekend (Wednesday-Sunday) our elders and wives were gone to Brookings for
Here are some rambling thoughts from Sunday’s sermon (and really from the weekend)… Men’s Breakfast I am still thinking about the thought provoking time from our men’s breakfast on Saturday when James Ellis, Todd Crouse and Mike Keller shared. The highlights for me were that these guys are dear friends who are trying to live their lives for Jesus as best as
Our church campout’s purpose is to literally hang out with our church family in “uninterrupted” fellowship together for a week. The last five years we have done this at Lone Pine Group Campground, which is the most fantastic group site on the planet! A paved circle with 11 different campsites allows for our kids to ride bikes easily & room for over
This past Sunday we started a new sermon series on the Sufficiency of Scripture. It was fun. There are times and themes that we teach on periodically that are just a blast to talk about. And this one is one of those themes for me. I can’t wait to learn throughout this month how Scripture is sufficient to equip me, help me
Jesus’ famous words ring in my head, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29, ESV). How can a yoke bring rest? A yoke implies woak…hard work. And yet, these words from Jesus declare something that we all long for…rest for our souls.
Part of my morning routine is reading from Mornings and Evenings by C.H. Spurgeon. The January 6th morning read was another reminder of how caring God is for His people. Maybe you’re like me and you’re a bit of a worrier. Most of my worry comes in the form of stress. I worry about my health, about my kids, and about church-related things.
The start of the New Year is always interesting for me. Like most, I spend some time reflecting on the past year and wondering what was good and what was not good. I examine what spiritual disciplines I should change and what routines of life I need to adjust. And for the most part, this usually leads me to something new that
This past Sunday we studied Hebrews 5:11-14 in our series through this book. So far in this book we have studied three different warnings and each warning has caused us to take time to do a spiritual check-up. This past Sunday was no different. These type of texts in Scripture are challenging and convicting. In these texts, we see places in our
Recently as I was reading through John 13, I was struck by John 13:3 and John 13:5, which says, “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands…began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.” This text tells us that although Jesus knew that “all authority in heaven and
Like many people, several years ago I really got into the digital craze. I got my first iPhone was given an iPad. I love using these devices. From everything from keeping up with my mileage, expenses, reminders and my calendar. They were very helpful. I began to read my bible from my devices and wrote notes on my iPad or iPhone bible
At some point in all of our lives we will all be faced with teh challenge of things not going the way we we had hoped. It could be a job promotion we lose, an award that we thought we deserved and someone else receives, or something we diligently work for and it flops. How do we handle this type of thing
YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS OUT ON THE FELLOWSHIP.
