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Today was all about Jesus, experiencing his world and his ministry. We could not have asked for better weather. It was in the 70s and sunny. We began this morning visiting the Mount of Beatitudes, the traditional spot where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. Because of clues in the text, and it being a logical place for a crowd to gather, the side of this mountain between Capernaum and Magdala is likely the place where he delivered the sermon The Bridge is in the middle

Today’s sites included a couple of very old Old Testament spots and a couple of places that hosted significant events in Jesus’ life and ministry. We started off with a beautiful sunny and much warmer morning, heading to northern Galilee. Our first stop was the ancient city of Hazor, one of the cities conquered by Joshua, and then under Israel rule for the next thousand years. Hazor had been home to ancient civilizations for over a thousand years before Joshua, and the layers

For over a year we’ve been planning it and 45 of us are now in Israel.With umbrellas in hand and ponchos draping our bodies, our journey began with amazing sights. Israel is in the middle of a drought and so the rain we brought with us is a blessing to these people. But we are also thankful that the forecast promises warmer and dryer weather for the rest of our week. Yesterday started with beautiful Caesarea, the Roman seat of government on the Mediterranean Sea. Here, Peter

17 dead, mostly high school kids. Horrible. Tragic. Terrible. Evil.There’s a lot of really bad stuff in the world. Right now it seems to be concentrated in Parkland, Florida. But not really. We had the heroic Chicago police commander who was gunned down Tuesday. So far this year, there have been 60 murders in Chicago, alone. Again, that’s just this year and it’s only mid-February. In reality, horrible things are happening every day around the world. The earth is filled with t

You read about people in the Bible praying for long periods of time and you wish you could do that, but how? Stories of prayer warriors like “Praying John Hyde" and George Muller intrigue you, but you think that kind of praying is only for the super spiritual.How does anyone ever pray for more than ten minutes at a time? I hear Christians commonly saying, “I run out of things to pray about and my mind wanders after more than ten minutes.” And for some, even ten minutes is a s

I was 17 the first time I preached. The youth group I attended had a special night for young guys who thought they might go into the ministry to preach to the youth group. There were three or four of us scheduled to speak that night and we were given 10 minutes each. I still remember the message that I gave and I hate to admit it, but it was heresy! But when I was about half-way into the message, one of our youth leaders, who happened to also be my speech teacher, leaned over

There is no such thing as a mature Christian who does not actively love in tangible ways. I’ve known older Christians who carried big Bibles who were full of knowledge, but were sour, legalistic and selfish. But they weren’t mature Christians. And the faith that they claimed to have was not real, Biblical, Jesus-pleasing kind of faith.Here’s what Paul wrote in Galatians 5:6, “ For in Christ Jesus… the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love ” (NIV).Jesu

When our kids were little, we used to have a simple phrase that reminded them of our expectation, “first time obedience.” We’d say it when they seemed to be delaying their response to us. For example, if Linda said, “Kids, turn the video off and come to the table for supper,” and they did not move, I’d say, “First time obedience,” and they’d remember that there were consequences to not listening right away.We were never proponents of the “1-2-3” method of counting while the c

The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People changed my life 25 years ago. I read the book in two days on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, 1992-1993. Before that, I had made meager attempts at setting goals, but starting that Friday, January 1, 1993, I became very serious about it. I set 4 lifetime goals, about a dozen long-term goals (10 years), and another dozen 1 year goals. And my life was changed in a big way. So I’m a believer in New Year’s resolutions…sort of. I thi

2017 might have been a great year for some, but for others, it was a year to forget. Some of you went through a painful divorce this last year. Some of you lost your job. Others had relationship failures, family drama, personal defeats and health challenges. For some, this was a year that you want to put behind you. But how? The Apostle Paul gives us a hint in his famous words used by many as a motivational speech, “Not that I have already reached the goal or am already full

Christmas is supposed to be a wonderful time of the year. So how come you are so stressed?You can be at peace this Christmas and you can find that peace now, so that you actually enjoy Christmas this year. It’s not complicated. I’ve got three simple steps for you. Take these steps seriously, and follow them, and they will give you the strength to not just survive the season, but to thrive in it. List your stressors. Put them down on paper. Don’t just list them in your mind.

Did you see on the news the story of the college graduate in Indiana who took to the streets in search of a job? With a jug of water and a folder full of resumes, he stood at busy intersections wearing a sandwich sign that read, “College Grad Looking For A Job.” The headline on the story was, “College Grad Wears Resume.”That shouldn’t be a headline. In truth, we all wear our resumes. No big news in that. If you are applying for a job, your paper resume means only so much. If