Prayer

When Tradition Gets the Best of Me

I would not blame you if you started reading this post thinking it was going to be about the church practices we grew up with and the grip they can have on us. I would not be shocked if you approached my words with a “haven’t we changed enough” attitude, after all the music in church has been modernized and the dress code revised and the sermons simplified. (more…)

Program Based Faith or Faith Based Programming?

I wonder what a person attending church for the first time would think the church was all about. I wonder what that same person would say Christianity was about after a few weeks attending the church. I even question what long time church attenders would say belonging to a church and following Jesus was about. No matter how many times we say we are saved by grace through faith and how often we claim we only want to do God’s will, we still find it hard not to buy into the idea that we must be busy doing something. (more…)

Chess, Checkers and X’s and O’s

I write blogs, I preach sermons, I mentor and I coach, all with the desire to make a difference. My advice is thought out, I make sure my sermons are well researched and my blogs, I hope, can be applied to the reader’s ongoing journey. Still, there is a limit that must be overcome. All the schooling I can manage coupled with all my life experiences will fall short. Each day I mature as a Christ follower, each year I grow in my faith, but it’s not enough. The way I live my life is like playing X’s and O’s maybe even checkers while the God I claim to know and understand plays chess. (more…)

Sleight of Hand – While you Were Looking Somewhere Else

It is the basis of all great close up magic; the magician gets you focused on what doesn’t matter so you miss what is really going on. Whether you fall for this ploy (almost everyone does) or you are able to remain focussed on what is really happening (very few can) the result is still the same, the trick ends with the desired outcome of the illusionist. Barring some catastrophic failure, what was intended to happen from the moment the trick was conceived will play out in front of your eyes.

(more…)