I don’t 
usually post twice in one day but today is a bit different. This morning I was flooded with emotion and memories as I walked down the sidewalks of The Ohio State Medical Center Campus. I was there to pray with a man getting ready for surgery.
As I walked down the sidewalk and breathed in the cool fall air just after 6am, I remembered that 5 years ago to this day I was walking these exact same sidewalks. Continue reading
I 
love to work off site. After all, who comes to a church during the day on a weekday? If you’re scratching your head for an answer, it’s no one. And I have to be honest, I’m an extrovert and really need to be around people. One of my favorite off-site locations has to be Panera Bread. I used to fill up on the carbs but not so much anymore. I go more for the atmosphere. Let me explain. Continue reading
There are basically two types of people in the world. When it comes to our dealings with one another we are one of two things. The first is a filler while the other is a spiller. We either fill one another or spill one another out. Which are you?
Most likely we’re not one of these all of the time, but more realistically we bounce back and forth. Let’s take a closer look at each of those so we know what to look out for in our lives. Continue reading
Want to know what works? It’s easy to sit back to be an armchair quarterback and have no skin in the game. But the real work happens when you put into action all the things you’ve been thinking and talking about.
I recently picked up a book written by a young lady who was trapped in a bad situation. Her young years were horrific. Then she began to believe that’s all she was worthy of receiving was horrible things. Her name is Polly, and she has an amazing story to tell. I’m not an emotional guy but I was emotionally wrecked as I turned through the pages of her book Cherished: Shattered innocence. Restored Hope. Continue reading
You can probably tell that one of my passions is reaching people who are disconnected from Jesus and connecting them to his love. You probably can also see that there is a bit of a frustration at times, and disappointment too, that the local church has quite frankly failed in its attempts to reach the world that is right in its own 
backyard. If you sense this, you are absolutely right. But I also love the church dearly and believe that the church is the tool that God has established to bring his forgiveness and truth into the world today.
Ever heard of the Choluteca Bridge? The Choluteca Bridge is in Honduras. When it was built, it was an architectural marvel. It was designed by some of Japan’s top engineers. The design was important because the area was known for its hurricanes and massive rain storms. The bridge was massive! It was built to last forever, well nearly forever.
I remember growing up going to Sunday School. Most of the time as a child I really wanted to go, but even on the days I didn’t there was no question! Mom and Dad made sure I was there. One truth kept popping out week after week. The answer was always Jesus. It seemed that the questions always were structured in a way that led us to answer Jesus, with the occasional bible or God thrown in for good measure from time to time.
When did we get away from that? I don’t know when it was, but as I look back there seems to be a point where the answer is less & less Jesus and more & more tradition or how we do it. I can’t put my finger on when it happened, but I remember when I first realized it. Continue reading
I recently had the opportunity to perform a wedding ceremony for some friends of mine. The theme of the wedding was admittedly a first for me. You see the bride was a huge fan of Disney Princesses, and absolutely loved Rapunzel. The groom however wasn’t much a princess man, well with the exception of his bride! His passion was superheroes, and specifically Spiderman. He believed that Spiderman was the best superhero ever. 
The other unique piece for me was our conversation prior to the wedding ceremony. They both indicated that they would like to have a simple ceremony and not too churchy because we’re not very religious people. My wheels started spinning right away. What was I going to do? I believe the purpose of a marriage is more than a tax break and it’s far more than a secular event. I firmly believe that we have a wonderful example of a marriage in the life and teachings of Jesus. So I stayed attentive to see where Jesus was already present in this conversation. Continue reading
I
‘m a preacher, a communicator. I use words all the time. I believe in the power of words. They can evoke emotion and elicit response. They can build someone up, and they can tear someone down. But there is a time when words just don’t work anymore. There is a time when a word must become something more. It must become an action.
It seems that for far too long, we as church leaders have let this happen. We’ve even done it many times ourselves. As a matter of fact, it just happened a few minutes ago. I was chatting on the phone and all that was happening was an exchange of words. The comments started flying back and forth, until finally it happened – Let’s find another time to talk more. When can we continue this conversation? Do you have a book I can read about that? Continue reading
I was recently at a great conference that had a tagline of “Start new to reach new.” The conference was called #wiki14 by a group known as the FiveTwo Network. It seems as if some people were having a hard time understanding why we need to start new things, after all if it ain’t broke – don’t fix it. Right?
Well, the challenge is, the system is, well, broke! We can’t continue down the same path expecting to make a significant impact when there’s only one way to access the path. I know what you’re thinking, this is all a bit abstract, so let me put some imagery together for you. Continue reading
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