Born to be Free

Currently I am in the throws of preparing for a season of camp ministry close to St. Joseph, Missouri.  This will be my fifth (and final) summer doing so. It would be a lie to say there aren't many mixed emotions involved in the process of preparing. I am choosing to make this my last time there not because there are some "divisions", "quarrels" or "scandals" about the place. It served me well, and I have given my all serving the people there. I am leaving because the direction He intends me to pursue with my life now lies elsewhere. But please, do not let your eyes glaze over at my reasonings. I am writing you today because I want to assure you that although life changes - and we may feel both vastly in awe of what is ahead and astounded at how we shall rise up to meet these new callings: What is necessary is not that we should have every issue resolved or each doubt silenced. If we are to step out of the wardrobe and into a world as wild and wondrous...

Those who know me well, know that I choose a new word at the birth of each year. A word to guide, empower, and challenge me. Twelve months ago, I had been convinced by the Spirit through prayer and study that HOPE - for whatever reason - was to be the word that belonged to me in 2021. Now, you don't argue with God when He shows you your need, but that doesn't mean you don't end up trying to at least once. At the beginning of this past year, the best definition I could raise for the word HOPE seemed to live along the lines of chaotic optimism. It was to me a word that was only spoken by those who closed their eyes to the real possibility of pain, failure and rejection. But the lesson I received was far weightier than this supposedly trite principle. The Gospel instructs us to live in HOPE. Paul tells us in Romans 5 that it "does not put us to shame" (v5). Matthew writes that in the name of Christ "the Gentiles will HOPE" (12:21). In Ephesians 1, we read t...

If you've been online at all over the past month, you will have noticed there's a crisis occurring in the Middle East. As soon as American soldiers headed for home, Taliban forces moved in and took over the country of Afghanistan. I know a lot of people who are upset.   There are those who are angry that troops were removed from the Middle East; others become defensive over the idea of having to share their "home country" with refugees; some are simultaneously grieved and inspired by the stories coming from within the country's border; and there are those who wish they could live in their own native land in peace, free from the tyrannical authority which threatened destruction and drove them out. I am not inclined to sarcasm.  It is not a natural function for me.  So please trust me when I say - there are many who are labeling this current point in history as "the end of the world", and I do love them. But I feel like we're missing the whole point. H...

I've never found myself so taken by the night skies as I have been this summer.  The openness and dazzling lights have ministered to my soul in ways I'm not sure I possess the words to explain. I cannot help but look up. There are patterns of living in which we can fall into.  Things which may not be inherently evil, but have tamed our souls in ways which we must not allow. This past Sunday, I was privileged to attend a Sunday morning service at a church local to the area I am currently serving in.  The pastor's sermon was regarding how we as Christians may look back to the past and long for "the old days" when we felt more comfortable, secure or in control - instead of holding fast to the God of the past, present and future. "God isn't the one playing hard to get here," he said. Have we allowed ourselves to slip into patterns of thinking which inhibit our abilities to trust our everyday to the One who holds every single particle of the universe toge...

Today's post is a bit different from what you may normally see around here - but I'd appreciate your bearing with me, as it is a topic I have been longing to share about with you all. The purpose of Juvenile Justice Ministry (JJM) is to form relationships with young people in many different types of youth-serving institutions (detention centers, probation, correctional facilities, group homes, residential treatment centers and emergency shelters).   It is through these relationships that the Gospel is being shared with teens that are otherwise largely shut off from the world, and life skills training is offered which aids these young people in being able to reenter society successfully.  This is happening all across the nation!  Sounds like a great thing, right?  So are you wondering why you've never heard about it? Well, the harsh truth is that although there are almost 1,300 juvenile detention facilities of some sort in the U.S. - only about 30% of them have a...

Once about seven years ago, I stumbled across a slim paperback entitled something along the lines of  Can I Know the Will of God? ... It's a topic you either hear about every Sunday or not at all when you "grow up in church".   Those who don't talk about it are perhaps a bit intimidated at the idea of making any claims as to what the will of God is..... Those who talk about it all the time tend to speak of it as a rather abstract principle - something only the Creator knows about, which somehow we must stumble along in pursuit of with little knowledge of just what it is we're looking for. I'm sure you can look back on your life (or what you've lived of it, so far) and take note of things or opportunities which arose that were doubtless brought about only by the work of God.  A new job popping up out of nowhere, a physical healing, the chance to finally pursue the dream that had been on your heart for years... A couple years ago, I found myself with such an...