When Faith Feels Like the Hamster Wheel to Nowhere
Rainbows and Leprechauns Growing up, I used to love hearing stories about leprechauns and their hidden gold held at the end of a rainbow. I admit, there are times today when I’ll see a well-formed rainbow and only the adult pressure of responsibility keeps me from throwing caution to the wind and trying to find the end of the rainbow. It’s not that I actually expect to find the end or gold, but there’s still that little boy inside wanting to try. Now, I know that finding the end of a rainbow is impossible. No matter how fast or far ...
3 Questions Every Volunteer Asks
The moment someone signs up to serve on a team, the clock begins to tick. With every passing moment initial interest in your team begins to fade. So, the question is, how do you capture new volunteers and turn them into a fully engaged member of your team? Communicate! When someone signs up for your team, the most important thing you can do is communicate with them! Call them and introduce yourself. Also try to introduce yourself in person so you each have a face to go with a name. Communicate how your team works, the process to get involved, ...
I Dream of Pants
Getting the Mail Getting the mail often feels like an exercise in moving paper from my mailbox to my trash can. Every once in a while something breaks through and catches my attention. That’s exactly what happened a few days ago. This one advertisement sucked me in, and even after I threw it away, has continued to haunt me. Who knew one advertisement could hold such power. Here’s the advertisement (The first pic. is from the Gap webpage, followed by the advertisement we received in the mail which I had to save from the trash for the photo): The Jeans I’ve ...
The Prayer That Changed My Life Forever
Perspective is a funny thing. In some ways it’s nothing more than meaningless whispers in our mind, calling us to believe something that may or may not be true. But, in other ways it’s the most powerful force we hold, defining who we are and how we act. I never knew how much my perspective on my dad’s death affected me, until the day my perspective changed forever. I remember the night I said goodbye to my father. It was May of my third grade year. My two younger brothers (7 and 2) and I took the elevator up to ...
Setting Spiritual Goals and a Hot Date
Hot Date Last week I sat across from my wife on a hot date at the Cheesecake Factory. We were about to order our favorite foods when she asked what goals we could make for the new year, which I thought was awesome. Every new year is a new chance to become a better person. It was fun to dream about our upcoming year, including 5k’s, inviting more people over, and finding new ways to give. We’re still trying to nail down the specifics, but it was great to get the conversation started. Thinking I’ve ended up thinking a lot ...
Top 5 Posts of 2014
I started this blog a little over a year ago to share my thoughts on church, life, groups, and leadership. It also gives me an outlet to share some of the things that make me laugh. Since I began, I've looked forward to writing every single week. I thought I'd share the top 5 viewed posts of 2014. What's your favorite? 5. "Christianese": Not Suitable for Small Group 4. You're Not a Robot: 7 Ways to Experience God 3. 5 Ways My 9 Month Old is Like a Puppy 2. 15 Animals Helping Other Animals And the winner for most viewed post of 2014 is...... 1. 5 ...
How Leading a Team is a Lot Like Cross-Country
I was never very good at cross-country in high school. Any time my picture was taken during a race, I looked like I was passing a kidney stone or had been kicked in the face repeatedly. I may never have won a race, but did learn a thing or two about running one. In any race, you have to pace yourself. You can’t sprint the entire time and must know when to push a little harder and when to rest. It’s the same with leading a great group or team. There’s a time to plant and push and a time to ...
5 Music Videos Every Christian Needs to See
Remember what it was like to feel far from God? I was talking with a friend recently who described feeling like "something" was missing from his life. For some people it's a distant memory while for others it's a daily reality. The truth is, the further we get from the time we felt far from God, the easier it is to forget what it was like. Every once in a while a song comes out that immediately makes me remember. If you're a Christian, I hope the messages in these 5 songs will help you remember that everyday people are searching for.....something. ...
Friedrich Nietzsche Helped Me Believe in Jesus
I remember walking out of a Philosophy class one day during college and feeling like my head was going to explode. Our class had spent the previous hour arguing against the existence of God and the ability to truly know anything at all. It's always an interesting adventure for a Christian to have to argue against the existence of God which I had to do that day and gave the exercise everything I had. After class I walked into the school cafeteria, sat down with some friends and said, "Please tell me that God exists." That happened numerous times that semester ...
The Best Part of Leading a Group
I remember this past fall, peering around the room at my new small group. I wondered how well this group was going to go. Yes, I’d been through this many times before, but sometimes you wonder if this is the group that just won’t click. Connection was slow the first few weeks, but people consistently came. Everything was fine but not necessarily great. That is, until the night we began to talk about family. As I asked a question about how our family has influenced who we are today, one of my group members took a deep breath and said ...