BLOG

I get it. I’m one of you. I need my time alone. I have to work at being social…and I’m better at being friends with a couple of people rather than lots. I enjoy studying for sermons, and the growth in people as the result, but I don’t particularly enjoy delivering them.So I’m one of you. But I have a caution.I’ve read all the blogs and the articles that introverts post insisting that everyone understand them. I’ve resonated with many of those lists. But I can’t help but think

"The very moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day. Standing back from all your natural fussings and frettings; coming in out of the wind.” – C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity The first time I r

A friend of mine was looking at commercial real estate property he was interested in buying. The seller walked him through the building, which was in pretty bad shape, pointing out many of the needed areas of repairs, promising to fix them, and even offering to include renovation in the sale.Finally my friend said, “Never mind renovation or repairs. I’m not interested in this building. I’m interested in the site. This building is coming down. I’m planning to build something a

I think the reason most people rarely, if ever, attend church is because too many churches are not worth attending. Church can be incredibly boring.I also believe that it’s a sin for church leaders to let things go that way. But sadly, too many do.We aren’t often accused of being boring at The Bridge. Actually, we work hard at bringing music that reflects the excitement and depth of the Gospel. And those who teach spend a lot of time preparing, not just so that we teach the t

Timanthes was an aspiring Greek artist in the Roman era. While studying under a well respected tutor, he was nearing completion of a major painting. Upon arriving in the morning, he found the canvas blotted out with paint. Enraged, he confronted his teacher who admitted destroying his work. He said, “You were spending so much time admiring what you had done that you were no longer improving. This was a great painting for some, but not for you. You can do much better.”Timanthe

My wife was talking with an older woman in our church who has been here for decades. The woman said, “Look at all these stains,” and pointed around the lobby carpeting. Linda acknowledged what was obvious (we have a hard time keeping up on it), and then the woman said, “And I love it!"“What?” my wife asked."It means this place is full of people and it’s being used. I remember when we didn’t have to clean the carpeting very often. I like it better this way."Proverbs 14:4 says,

My wife is the creative one. Every Christmas she brings to our family a new and often creative idea for focusing on Jesus at Christmas in a special way. We do many of the traditional Christmas practices. We decorate a tree (often the day after Thanksgiving), put up a some lights outside and greenery inside. We wrap a few and simple gifts and exchange them Christmas Eve. Because Christmas Eve is an all day work day for me, We have Christmas Eve brunch and later have light but

Some of you are really stressed out.Some of you admit it…and maybe your family, friends and coworkers are even tired of hearing about it. Some of you don’t really admit it. But your sleepless nights, stomach issues, and high blood pressure reveal what’s really going on.Stress is deadly. Mayo clinic claims that it is the chief cause of early onset heart disease, along with a myriad of other health issues. Stress inhibits our bodies' immune systems, complicates autoimmune disea

Paris two weeks ago and this week, San Bernardino. There is no doubt that terror is on the rise, and it is a threat in the United States.Husband and wife, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, both bent on religious Jihad and with terrorist ties, charged into a conference room filled with many of Syed’s co-workers celebrating Christmas. They were wearing body armor and brandishing military guns. They opened fire, killing fourteen and wounding another seventeen.The news in re

I love Thanksgiving and wish I could enjoy it, but the merchandisers want us thinking about Christmas.The truth is, if we lived out Thanksgiving daily, we’d all be a lot happier. Grateful people are happy people. Greedy people are not.But for some reason, even though we all say that we hate the merchandising of Christmas, we give way to it. The message of Jesus’ birth was lost a long time ago and now the greed that took over Christmas has invaded Thanksgiving too. Black Frida

They often are not.I recently visited a couple of locations where television programs are regularly taped for the History Channel. I was surprised both times. Television can be very deceiving. Some of it is due to the nature of camera lenses and TV screens, and the way our imagination fills in what is past the camera’s periphery. But a lot of it is intentional deception written into the director’s instructions to give a desired illusion. All-in-all, these two locations were e

I know that’s not what you really want. Everyone who has ever lived has had an internal desire to make a difference, to live in such a way that their lives will outlast their time on earth. And you’re no exception. But a lot of people go through life without making any kind of impact. In your heart, you don’t want that to happen. But here’s how it often does. No commitment is ever made to anything worthwhile, outside of their own consumption. So they never accomplish anythi