“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” One of the main battles of grief is this feeling struggling within your soul telling you to get over it, to move on. This feeling produces guilt. It lays a burden on top of the grief which already seems too much to bear. And, at … Continue reading The Struggle of Grief: Matthew 5:4 and God’s blessing of comfort
Five Years Without You
Five years seems like yesterday. Five years seems like an eternity ago. The language of loss never seems sufficient to the reality. There is no way to truly communicate the grief of a heart that has lost one so close. That phone call five years ago that pierced my sleep to announce that my Mom … Continue reading Five Years Without You
Another Day
Morning Before the sun even rises I lay in bed and the burdens and the joys of this calling fill my heart and mind. I swing my legs over the side of the bed and pray a quick prayer. “This is your day, Lord. Give me eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart … Continue reading Another Day
Advice On Ministry For My Younger Self
One of my favorite podcasts is The Calling produced by Christianity Today. Every episode the host, Richard Clark, ends the interview with one question, “if you could go back in a time machine and tell your younger self one thing, what would it be?” I have been thinking about this question lately. I … Continue reading Advice On Ministry For My Younger Self
A Message To Small Church Pastors: Your Ministry Matters!
Small church pastors I want you to know you matter. Your ministry matters. Your church matters. We don’t hear this affirmation much in our church world where it seems bigness is next to godliness. Ministry success to many is defined by how many people attend your church and how big your “platform” can be. We … Continue reading A Message To Small Church Pastors: Your Ministry Matters!
God’s Faithfulness In Our Obscurity
Luke 2:52 says, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” This verse is the bridge between the early life of Jesus and His appearance on the scene for His three years of ministry around age 30. We have no record in the Bible of what happened in … Continue reading God’s Faithfulness In Our Obscurity
Competing Voices
When we read the first chapters of the book of Genesis we are confronted with what I believe is one of our most basic temptations. Whose voice will we listen to? We know the story of Genesis 3 and the Fall. Eve is tempted in the Garden by the voice of the serpent. “Did God … Continue reading Competing Voices
To BGCT and SBTC Leaders
An Open Letter To Texas Baptist Denominational Leaders: As a pastor I receive both of our state conventions publications including The Baptist Standard*(The Baptist Standard is not technically a publication of the BGCT) and the SBTC Texan. The magazines and papers you create and the websites you run are all informative and helpful for knowing … Continue reading To BGCT and SBTC Leaders
The Idol of Busyness
You are not too busy. There, I said it. In spite of the impression we give to one another. The response most given to a question of how things are going, or how we have been doing is, “I’ve been busy.” It is our go to answer. But are we really that busy? I … Continue reading The Idol of Busyness
The Power of Ordinary Faithfulness
In a celebrity and social media dominated culture we expect to do something big and to do it now. As Christians we are not immune from this impulse and expectation. In fact, the Christian celebrity culture may breed it even deeper than the secular culture. This notion persists in us that in order to be … Continue reading The Power of Ordinary Faithfulness
Rural Ramblings 