Wow, just when you think you know what God’s up to, He completely surpises you.  It’s no secret the economy has been tough on churches, ours being no exception.  I read something a couple of weeks ago that talked about how much charitable giving accross the board has tanked in the U.S., especially in Southeastern Michigan.  But this past weekend God came through in a big way.  Read the rest of this entry

This is certainly bound to be a sensitive topic.  “Giving in a tough economy”.  I can almost hear your thoughts. “Giving must be down, so the church is asking me to give more.”  Let me challenge that thinking right off the bat.  Read the rest of this entry

Lots of really cool things have happened over the last year… moving into our building, all the people getting connected to Christ, baptism services, Christmas Eve Candlelit service, more and more people attending growth groups, real relationships forming, just a ton of great things! Read the rest of this entry

Job said “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.” I have had reason as of late to really ponder those words. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t compare my life to Job, that would be silly. Compared to the persecution of our brothers and sisters all over the world who are literally dying for Christ, my life is of no comparison. Yet we would all agree that life often gives us great difficulty, much of it beyond our ability to handle. So when that happens what do we do? Read the rest of this entry

Every so often you come across a song that God uses to seriously altar your perspective. Mercy by Kristene Mueller is such a song for me. Ever since discovering Kim Walker at JesusCultureMusic.org, I’ve kept an eye out for new music from them. Kristene’s album, ‘Those Who Dream’, came out a couple of weeks ago when I was really needing a word from the Lord. When I got to the track Mercy, many things came into a new perspective as God spoke powerfully into my life. Read the rest of this entry

I heard a great quote the other day while watching House M.D. I just got hip to this show a few weeks ago and fell in love with it. I think Hugh Laurie’s character is a riot. Anyway, it was actually Robert Sean Leonard’s character that said this, and what a great quote it is: “You can’t punish the man without punishing those that love him.” Read the rest of this entry

I’ve had a lot of time recently to reflect on what it means to live life to the fullest. There are 2 main reasons I think it’s hard for many to live life to the fullest. Read the rest of this entry

I count myself fortunate to have experienced many different modes of church. In my early life I was part of a fairly liberal church where, with the exception of church traditions such as the way you dress, and the type of music used, there wasn’t much legalism. In this environment, anything went. There wasn’t much said about the Bible’s stance on moral issues. These ideas were left completely to the individual to sort out. Of course with this, was a complete lack of biblical teaching on moral issues. Then later in life, I attended a strict, legalistic church where the pastor was in charge. From the pulpit we were indoctrinated with every form of church legalism known to man. We were told how to dress, what music to listen to, what moral decisions to make on just about every topic you can think of. Read the rest of this entry

I was at Willow Creek’s Leadership Summit this year and WOW did God ever speak to us. In times like these it’s very easy for people to become self-focused. Money’s tight, people are losing their homes, jobs are tenuous or nonexistent… times are tough! So yeah, it’s very easy to be self-focused. And truth be told, being self-focused isn’t a bad thing…it’s often necessary. Read the rest of this entry

I’m gonna be a bit selfish for this blog entry. But I want to speak about a very important word in the Bible: REDEMPTION. When we think of the word REDEMPTION, we often think only in terms of being redeemed from the threat of hell and receiving eternal life, which we also often call “Salvation”. However, this isn’t the only redeeming activity the Lord is up to. God desires to redeem us, not only for Heaven’s eternity, but for the here and now. We often forget that our relationship with Him is about living in the here and now, not just worrying about whether or not we’re gonna make it to Heaven. Read the rest of this entry