Occupied by the Word

Have you ever been so consumed by something that you are not even aware that someone is speaking to you?  Most of us have.  It’s an intense level of focus that literally tunes out distractions.  It happens when something complete occupies our brain and all of our attention.  This is the level of focus Paul

Three Levels of Leadership

There is no shortage of info on leadership available.  It seems every where you turn, you find books, pod casts, writings, training and even sermons on leadership.  My goal is not to compete with that large sea of information, but perhaps to add one perspective to the mix.  In my experience I have seen three

Truth or Fear?

Everybody knows the game, Truth or Dare.  You either tell the truth no matter what, or you take a dare.  There’s no in between.  I want to talk about something close… Truth or Fear. When you are challenged about what you believe, about your faith or convictions, how will you respond.  There is no in

I’m not religious!

A statement that is quite popular her in the Northwest is this.  ‘I am spiritual but just not religious.’  What’s amazing is how misguided yet right on this statement is.  The misguided part is the fact that it is typically said in defense as to why they don’t believe in Jesus.  But it’s right on

Just prayer?

I’m guilty of this one and my guess is, you are too.  Someone is facing tough times and you want to offer help… and you say… ‘Is there anything I can do besides prayer?’  I know what I meant when I’ve said it.  What I really mean is… of course I will be praying, but

A grafted family of faith

If you have ever grafted plants or trees, you may be aware of the process, if not, this concept may be new.  Grafting is the practice of taking a part of a plant that is no longer rooted in the ground… and permanently connecting it to another plant that still is rooted.  The process involves

Giving proper credit

Anyone who has watched football has seen the celebrations for a job well done.  Many times it is about the player himself, jumping and yelling or dancing and celebrating what they have done.  But many players choose to celebrate like this, thanking the one who really made it happen.  I’m not saying that God made

Be the blessing

Anytime you portray God in a movie, you’re gonna get it way wrong.  But I do have to say that I enjoyed the Morgan Freeman version.  The quote above is related to a line from the movie Bruce Almighty, ‘Be the miracle’.  The focus was that we are called to do things to bless others,

From divided to Christ

The second genealogy mentioned in the Bible is the descendants from Noah who spread nations across the whole Earth. Anytime there is a genealogy listed, I’m always fascinated with the names that have commentary or footnotes. One such name in Genesis 10 is Peleg.  “To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one

Gossip

Over twenty years ago, I wrote a poem about gossip.  It started with this: Rumors and gossip, why do they have to be? Why do they start Where are they from Why do they bother me? Gossip is such a dangerous thing and unfortunately so prevalent and easy to fall into.  There are different types.