I attend and serve in a small rural Alliance church in Iowa. While our town looks very much like it was an inspiration for one of Norman Rockwell’s paintings, looks are deceiving. Drugs run rampant in our little town. Brokenness and trauma mark nearly every family and person in this town of 5,500 people. Our…
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I’ll admit it, I’m a chronic over-thinker. I spend way too much time overthinking. Sometimes, I overthink about really good things like, “What do these kids need to know about Jesus deep in their beings that will keep them walking with Him forever?” Other times, I overthink about really dumb things like, “If I paint…
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Did you know that all kids grow up with an understanding that love has conditions? The love they receive is often directly related to what they do (or don’t do), what they say (or don’t say), or what they believe (or don’t believe). The simple fact of that matter is, that while we as Christ…
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January is a great time to take a fresh look at things. Often in our church buildings, we forget to look around with the eyes of a visitor. After a year like 2020, my guess is that your building could use a fresh set of eyes. Let me encourage you to take a few minutes…
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Don’t you love the story of the birth of Jesus? For me it’s like a favorite blanket I get out every Christmas to wrap myself in. It’s familiar, it’s traditional, and it’s one of my favorite stories. If you’re like me, you’ve most likely heard it so often you could recite Luke 2 without even…
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I’ve been talking to many pastors and individual families recently who are dealing with quarantine and new shutdowns and restrictions. It seems especially hard as we look ahead to the Advent season. Perhaps, like me, you’re grieving the sense of normalcy that typically comes with the traditions of the Christmas season. It’s hard to imagine…
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