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You know those verses where Jesus tells us to “keep watch” or to “stand guard?” (Matt. 25:13, etc.) I think I have a better understanding of what he meant now that I have a child. No, I’m not talking about baby-proofing the house so that Caleb doesn’t try to make our pots and pans his…

At what point does a regular email become spam??? I have signed up for so many emails at one point or another only to end up deleting the email from my inbox without even opening it. Hello…I asked to receive the email! And now I am deleting it without even opening it! From Jos. A…

Have you seen “The Book of Eli?” I’m still not sure how I feel about the movie as a whole, but it contains some awesome illustrations for us in the church. Emily and I generally do not watch movies that are rated R, but I had heard some good things about this film from some…

June was a great month in the life of Solar Student Ministries! We saw students travel to Costa Rica to help build a church and they returned with great love for the people to whom they were introduced while sharing the love of Christ! They even got to experience their first exorcism during one of…

I was recently reading the newsletter from a staffer with Campus Crusade for Christ and she told the story of one young college student that she had recently met. In telling her story, the staffer explained an all too typical experience for young college students. She wrote, “Lynn grew up going to church, but she…

I recently attended the Drive Conference at North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA. Over the course of approximately 48 hours, I heard their staff speak about partnering with parents, attracting great volunteers, learning how to accept correction, developing small group leaders, missions, developing a healthy staff culture, developing worship, managing healthy tension, and student…

For my final RIOM (Residency In Ordained Ministry) meeting, I was asked to write my vision for the United Methodist Church. I’m not sure if this is vision, but when I sat down to compose my thoughts about the church, the following is what proceeded: The mission statement at Denver UMC is “providing exciting opportunities…

“I know God has a plan, but what is God’s plan for me??” This is a question that I hear repeated again and again from people who want to be stronger in their Christian faith. There are several different ways to approach this question. On one level, the answer is not that difficult to find,…

As the church today, we cannot afford to ignore what those outside of the church have to say about Christianity. unChristian is a book that has greatly influenced the way I view both the church and those outside of the church.  unChristian is the story of “what a new generation really thinks about Christianity and why it…

What do you think of when you hear the word “clique?” Many people immediately have a negative view which includes the idea of small, intimate, unfriendly social groups. Rather than use the word clique, I prefer the term “affinity group.” Affinity groups can be good or bad. They are a negative thing when a person’s…