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It’s no fun to be out of work and looking.It’s even worse when you feel like you’ve exhausted your networks and resources…and still nothing.So what do you do with all of your time?This isn’t a “How to Find a Job” post. This is about seeing the opportunity in this season of life that you’d probably prefer not to be in, but seizing it nonetheless.Most of us are more efficient with our time when we are short of it. When we have unwelcome extra time, we tend to squander it. And t

It’s that time of the year again. Time to hype up the players and coaches in the Super Bowl and to hear the nonstop chatter, pro and con of bigger-than-life football heroes.It was more fun for me when the Packers were there a couple of years ago.Now, just a day after the two teams that will be in it were decided, the internet buzz for Christians is all about the two quarterbacks. Supposedly, both are Christians.Bear in mind that I know neither personally, nor have I researche

A sweet little girl came to me last Sunday between the services and gave me a hug. I felt ten feet tall. Then she said, sweetly, “Would you like to buy some girl scout cookies?" She is good. But I’d like to talk about that. Not just Girl Scout Cookies (which I love and buy every year), but many of the other proposals that are sometimes peddled in churches before and after services. Some people attempt to raise funds for a school or charitable cause or promote their multilevel

There are some things that are just stupid to wait on.Sometimes patience is not a virtue.Years ago a small piece of siding came loose on my house. I planned on fixing it. It was a simple matter of putting the ladder up to the house and reattaching the siding. But I put if off.A few weeks later we had a major wind storm and that single loose piece of siding wound up peeling off almost the whole side of the house. What was a simple fix-it job that I could’ve done myself turned

“My co-worker has been inviting me to come for quite a while. I finally relented and wow, I’m glad I did. I’ll be back for sure next Sunday” (from a first-time guest at The Bridge last week).Inviting people in our sphere of influence to church can be a very effective way to witness. Many of the early disciples of Jesus came to know him because they had friends who invited them to to a gathering he was attending. My first exposure to the Gospel came as a result of an invitatio

This could be your year. We all have those things about ourselves that we know need to change. Maybe it’s a habit. Maybe its a relationship. Maybe it’s all-around life transformation that you need. You’ve been thinking about it for a while. Maybe you’ve even taken some initial steps and feel like you’ve failed. Now’s the time to make it happen. 2014 is your year. That’s why we are studying the book of Ephesians at The Bridge for the next twelve weeks in a series called,  ren

Praying in a way that impacts our world is not just for the super-spiritual. I’m not even sure who the super-spriitual are. God wants to engage with every-day Christ-followers like you. He wants you to be a man or woman of prayer. And you can be. If you didn't catch my last post , you may want to read it now before this one. This is part two. I’ve learned that prayer is similar to many other things in life, it’s hard to be effective without a plan. That’s where a prayer list

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

So you’re not a winter person. You endure the cold and the snow, but it’s not something you love. And every year come February, you start thinking about a warmer climate. But that’s not happening. I have friends who hated winter so much that they moved south. Most of them later regretted it. I have a better solution. Make winter wonderful. I’m not a fan, either. I grew up in Wisconsin and have lived in the cold and snow all my life. I’ve never gotten to the place where I’m ok

2013 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 fully mat

USA Today compiled a list last week on the ten news items in 2013 that received the most internet attention (total number of clicks by consumers). Here they are: Miley Cyrus smokes a joint on stage Actor Paul Walker dies Kim Kardashian gives birth to a baby girl Student wrongly tied to Boston bombings found dead Glee star Cory Monteith dies Miley Cyrus shocked even celebrities with her twerking Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashes in San Francisco Shooting rampage in D.C. Navy

Did you see the study that just came out of Mayo Clinic telling us how we can overcome the stress of the holiday season and enjoy it most?Sometimes the world gets it right. This study was just raw science with a bit of pop psychology thrown in. It’s been referred to in news programs this week as a help for people to enjoy the holidays. The findings are being published by Amit Sood, a stress-reduction expert and author of a new book, The Mayo Clinic Guide to Stress-Free Living