Psalm 119:105 - Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. This verse from Psalm 119:105 reminds us that God's Word is our guiding path in life. What does that mean? How can we apply this? I believe there is a simple yet not so simple answer to these...

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it...

Jesus was a master storyteller. Jesus knew that the mystery of The Kingdom of God was not the easiest to understand, particularly as it was so counter to the religious culture of the time when Jesus walked the earth. Jesus's parables are seemingly simple and memorable...

I re-watched the Lord of the Rings movies a couple weeks ago and parts of it have been rolling around in my head ever since. If you are not a fan, please stick with me for a bit, I promise you don’t have to know the story to understand my point. But I’ll give you the...

When life gets hard, who do you turn to? When you are afraid to do something that you know needs to be done, what do you do? When a hard choice has to do made, how do you make it? Over the past week, these have been questions that I have been asking, trying to wrap my...

For our Prayer & Praise devotional this past Wednesday, I shared the following C.S. Lewis quote from Mere Christianity. “Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the...

Have you ever looked out into the congregation and thought to yourself, “man I wish I could worship like that.” Most of us have said this a time or two, while others may feel this daily with some form of worship. We feel that because we don’t worship the way that...

I've spent the last three days with over 10,000 students and sponsors at Nazarene Youth Conference (NYC) in Tampa, Florida. I spent the three days before that at the National Bible Quiz with approximately 80 of the best quizzers from the USA. It has been an incredible...

I’ve been listening to a devotional app called Lectio 365. Lately part of the opening prayer states, “I have set my heart on pilgrimage, so challenge me and change me, cleanse and rearrange me, until the fire that burned in St. Aidan’s heart, burns brightly in mine.”...

We are spending the summer walking through many of the parables of Jesus. The definition of parable is "a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels." Jesus uses stories such as these to help us understand more about...

We have all had those moments of in between - moments when you are not here nor there, moments of waiting for the right timing, God’s timing, and moments of trusting. We Trust in the plan that God has for not only us as individuals, but also as a whole. We all have...

"We are equipped to serve, not warm the pews." ~ Dr. Gustavo Crocker This was a phrase we heard during Saturday evening's General Assembly service. Dr. Crocker's message was on the priesthood of all believers and how we are all equipped by God with a gift for service....

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “To be simple is to fix one’s eye solely on the simple truth of God at a time when everything is being confused distorted, and turned upside down.” Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor known for his theological writings. He was also known...

Can you imagine being in the room that day? What confusion there must have been? The sights, sounds, and feelings? I'm not sure that I can truly imagine all the wonder, confusion, chaos, joy, and amazement that day, but it is sure fun to think about. If you haven't...

As we move into the growing season I have begun to spend more time in the garden doing the hard labor needed to get the garden ready, sometimes underneath the hot sun or even on the cold and windy days. I have spent many hours in the garden doing the work that simply...

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. Psalm 143:10 Sometimes when I need encouragement I head to the Psalms. Today's verse on the YouVersion app was Psalm 143:10. This verse is both an encouragement and a...

Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you will get neither. ~ C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity This is a simple statement, and yet I’m not sure we truly understand it. Or perhaps we understand it but we don’t believe it. Some might find it too...

If you've been around the Wisconsin District Church of the Nazarene over the last several years, you likely heard the phrase in the title in this blog. Our former district superintendent, Dr. Kevin Donley said this phrase just about every time I had the privilege of...

We all have come to know that a relationship takes two people. We know that just as one gives, so must the other. There is a constant working between the two, yet does this hold true when we think about our relationship with God? We pray with God and lay all of our...

Today, I greet you in the name of Jesus with “He is Risen!” And I pray you answer with “He is Risen Indeed!” It is Easter Sunday, the very height of the church year. We celebrate Jesus’ resurrection as the event that so changed our world it split time into BC and AD....

Triumphal entries were nothing new. People would have been used to seeing war heroes riding back into Rome and being celebrated for their success, for their killing off the enemy. They were a big deal. However, in Matthew 21, we see a very different type of triumphal...

Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. (Isaiah 64:8) Who am I? It is a question that many of us have asked at times. It is a question that burns in our hearts. It is one that we try to answer while we are...

We are in the season of Lent and over the last several weeks we have talked quite a bit about allowing the Spirit to continue to transform our lives to look more like Jesus. Our message this weekend will be no different, as we look deeper into Jesus's encounter with...

Something I do from time to time is re-read the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis – all seven books. I began that this past week. The prequel to the well-known The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe is the lesser-known book The Magician’s Assistant. The “magician” is...

The Philippines, Uganda, Puerto Rico, Baylor University, Texas A&M University, and Asbury University are all places around the world connected by one thing. Revival. And more may be on the way. Yet it may be surprising to say that revival has started in the most...

This week we will celebrate Ash Wednesday, the start to the Lenten season. Ash Wednesday reminds us that we are but dust. Genesis 3:19 says: By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are...

Have you ever heard the saying, “Sometimes you’ve just gotta be the buffalo.”? I used to think it was goofy. But recently I heard Fitness Trainer Andrea Allen explain on her podcast why it’s a motto that she lives by. It’s because of the way buffaloes handle storms....

Let me tell you a story. A pastor went to a church in order to teach three of the members of the church. One the pastor gave a difficult topic to understand. Another the pastor gave a hard topic to understand. The last one the pastor gave a simple topic to understand....

Many of us have probably heard someone say at some point that repetition and ritual gets boring or loses its meaning. I certainly think this is something that can happen in the church as well. We can get caught up in "doing" church and often it is the same routine...

So we are a couple of weeks into 2023 and all the hubbub is beginning to die down. Celebrations are over and we’ve taken down the decorations. We’ve either ditched our New Year’s resolutions or we’re starting to get into the swing of them. Our lives are “returning to...

This is how God showed his love among us; He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live for him. 1 John 4:9 Can you imagine loving anyone enough to give up your own son? It is hard for us to fathom this kind of love in our human minds, however, it is...

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus....

I've been fortunate to have received many great gifts over the years. As a child, I remember one Christmas where my siblings and I all got a big gift - a Nintendo. (Yes, I no I am dating myself). It was an original Nintendo and we thought that it was the coolest thing...

Author Ann Voskamp has been publishing Advent devotionals titled “A Spacious, Non-Anxious Christmas.” These are brief, daily videos on her social media to remind us to slow down and make room in our hearts, minds and lives for Jesus. It’s a sad but true irony that we...

This season of Advent is one that I have really come to enjoy in the church calendar. I came across a blog from Rachel Held Evans that has some reflection questions that are good for all of us to consider individually. 1. Why do I need a savior? Which areas of...

You know that moment that you are talking with someone and then the conversation backfires on you? Well this is something that has happened to me many jobs, such as when I have a conversation/disagreement with Pastor Todd. This is also something that happened to me in...

Advent. A season that comes this time every year between our Thanksgiving holiday and the celebration of Christmas. However, it is a season that gets passed over by our culture today. All of the focus on gifts, shopping, Christmas music, and decorating assists in...

This past week was filled with loss. We lost Todd’s great-Uncle Harold. He was 87 and had a good, long life but his health and mind failed him in his last years. We lost our friend Russ, who at age 65 seemed to have more than his share of heath struggles. And then...

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 We are in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, which is less than two weeks from now. However, it seems that yet again, we are...

Recently, I have been reading a devotional by Max Lucado called “They Walked with God.” The very first devotional in the book takes a look at the story of Abigail, talking about how  she went out of her way to change David’s mind and spare not only her husband, that...

So, I can confirm that God has a sense of humor. On Wednesday night, I shared a devotion (inspired by Undistracted by Bob Goff) about how we aren’t failures, just because we fail at something. He says, “[Y]our failure was an event, not your new identity…A distraction...

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. James 1:5 Have you ever been in absolute pitch darkness? Several years ago, Pastor Cindy and I visited the Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. During our cave tour, there is an open area a...

Have you ever had one of those times in your life that you felt like something was missing? One of those times you spend all day trying to figure out what it is, you never can? It is like you know that something can not be missing, because you do that same thing...

Somewhere along the way, the Christian church has lost it's way. We tend to be comfortable and not like when things are not going the way we think they should go. However, when we are following Jesus and obeying what we are called to do as believers, we are not...

We’ve seen the recent signs of fall.  The leaves have turned and snow is coming our way.  We recognize these signs of change.  Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 4, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a...

Over the last ten days, one particular event has taken much of the media attention and Monday will be a day where all eyes will be on this event. Of course this event is the death of England's Queen Elizabeth II, who was much beloved by many all over the world. The...

Have you ever felt like God is always scratching at the same spot? You know, the spot you thought that was something that you have already worked through, that everything was done and you were healed. Then God comes along and just starts scratching, saying “hey this...

Have you ever thought about prayer and become frustrated that you don't seem to know how to pray like some people you know? They seem to have a gift for it and seem to pray all day long for anything and everyone? I know I have at times in my life. In fact, I think I...

A couple of week ago, in one of our bible studies, we talked about how we have a hard time believing that miracles can happen. A lot of us say it is because we have never had to experience them before, but we have everything that we need. We do know that miracles can,...

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 As people of God, we also need to...

I read a blog this week by author Scott Sauls, who pastors Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville. I haven’t read it yet, but he recently released a book Beautiful People Don’t Just Happen: How God Redeems Regret, Hurt, and Fear in the Making of Better Humans. I’m...

This last week I was able to hear a very interesting testimony from someone that many Christians might have turned away. In fact, a group of them had already. I got to hear the story of a young man that was raised in a very strong Christian household.  This young man...

I’m not sure if it’s my stage in life or some recent changes that have been happening in our extended family, but I’ve been thinking recently about legacy. Those thoughts have been amplified this week as Todd and I have attended the Q2022 National Quiz event where we...

Some of you have heard my story about a friend that I had while in college, one that was a deist. Though she did start out as a atheist, today I think she still boarders on deist/Christian. Yet, though many of you have heard her story, you may not know why it is that...

We live in a day where there are so many divisive topics. It seems as if there are two distinct sides (at least) to every issue and no one will listen to anyone else because their side can be the only right side. It is difficult to have a civil conversation these...

This has been an emotional week as a pastor and a person. Pastor Todd and I sat with two women who many would call “Saints of the Church” who were nearing death. It makes you think, and it makes everyday things seem somewhat profound. God gives each one of us life and...

We all recognize Easter and if we have been in the church long we likely recognize Pentecost, which is the day we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit onto the church. There is another very important day of celebration that often gets overlooked, Ascension Day. This...

God. Father. Dad. Abba. Mother. These are all words that we use in order to talk to God, but there are moments in which these words seem like they don’t do the job. For some weird reason they don’t express who God is to you in that moment. This happened to me a couple...

Matthew 13 - a passage many of us are familiar with, yet also one that we do not always truly apply in our own lives. Friday evening at our service during Celebrate Life, the speak spoke on this parable. His message has stuck with me all evening and all morning. The...

I was recently given a copy of the 350th Anniversary Edition of The Book of Common Prayer. If you are unaware, this book was written in England by the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cramner. It contains many prayers for different times and seasons, as well as...

Much of the church throughout the west is in decline. The Church of the Nazarene in the USA/Canada is no different. Our new Regional Director for the USA/Canada region, Dr. Stan Reeder invited all Nazarenes to join in the Half Million Mobilization. This is a prayer...

It is to no surprise that I love Easter. It is my favorite holiday out of the whole year. Most people though, are surprised to hear this, they all tend to think that I, as a pastor, should love Christmas more then Easter. Yet, for me, my love for Easter has to do with...

We've journeyed through Lent. We experienced the tension of Good Friday. We've sat in the uncomfortable silence of Holy Saturday. And now it is Resurrection Sunday. The Sunday each year that we focus on celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the...

There were a couple of times this past week our Lenten devotional These Forty Days referred to a work that Christians need to do in order to please our Lord. I found these words convicting and pray I will live up to them. Matthew 7:24-27 talks about The Wise and...

I am writing this on Saturday, after I read the Lenten devotional for today in These Forty Days. It is based on Matthew 6:19-34. Dr. Rowell talked quite a bit about what our choices look like and how we exercise discipline in how we choose to spend our time, or when...

We have heard it said that we are to love our enemy, yet that is something that we as people can find to be really hard. No one wants to love, or even help the ones that have caused them harm, yet that is the very thing that God is calling us to do. To love those that...

Today's Lenten reading is from Matthew 5:23-26 and deals with the idea of forgiveness. Jeren Rowell writes, "forgiveness can seem a scandalous response to the abuses we sometimes suffer. Yet there it is at the heart of the gospel, calling us to lay down our rights and...

Most Christians have long recognized that marriage is a metaphor throughout Scripture to describe the relationship between God and humanity. We see it in both the Old (Genesis, Hosea, Song of Solomon) and the New Testament where Jesus himself often refers to the...

The first day in our Lenten devotional These Forty Days, the following prayer was shared: Father, as we begin this Lenten journey, we pray your watchful care over us as we seek to overcome evil by the power of and grace of the Spirit. Through our sacrifices of self,...

When I was younger I always wanted a best friend. One that was always up to hang out with me, come to every event with me, and one who shared my likes and dislikes. A friend that was there with me to the end. Yet as I got older I soon realized that my childhood...

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord." Hebrews 12:14 This was today's verse of the day on the YouVersion Bible App. This verse is one that sounds so simple, but as I was thinking about it today is...

I saw an ad this past week for the Door County Reads Festival. The featured author this year is Michael Perry, a New York Times bestselling author, playwright and radio show host from New Auburn, Wisconsin. If you’re thinking, “I’ve never heard of New Auburn,” that’s...

As we are heading into this season of love, growth, and rebirth, and as stores are filling with the commercialized good of this season, I have begun to ponder of the verses of 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7: 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast,...

So it’s that time of year…when we struggle to write the date correctly and are reconsidering the lofty New Year’s resolutions we made. It’s dark when we get up and dark long before we go to bed…and all we want to do is stay on the couch. But I read something this week...

Next Sunday, we are going to start a 7-week sermon series preaching through the book of James. James is a book that is consistently focused on practical action in our lives of faith. Faith does not come by works, but our faith should drive us to practical action...

The past week Disney+ released its new movie Encanto. Lets just say that I was super excited to watch it, and if you haven’t watched it, this may spoil it for you. In the movie Encanto there is a message that we as Christians, we as people need to hear - we see a...

I preached the Advent sermon on joy last Sunday. And wouldn’t you know it…this week has been one of those ride the struggle-bus, emotional roller-coasters – for no apparent outward reason. I know it’s just our enemy Satan trying to make me betray my words. If he can...

On November 20 the you verse bible app’s verse of the day was Romans 12:2. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”...

It's the Sunday after Thanksgiving. If they were not already doing so, Christmas preparations are beginning for many. In fact, I find myself lamenting most years that it starts earlier and earlier each year. As Christians, however, we should not be so quick to jump...

In April 2020 when most of the world was on lockdown and all things seemed uncertain because of the first global pandemic in 100 years I listened to a webinar by author Lara Casey. I can’t tell you the title or most of what she said, except one thing that stuck with...

As followers of Jesus, it is imperative that we are continually in the Word of God. It is important that we fill our minds with things that are beneficial, otherwise we will fill them with whatever it is we spend our time doing. We can slowly begin moving away from...

Its that time of year. The time of shopping. The time of presents. The time of decorating. Yet it is also the time of panic, the time of frustration, and the time of depression. You can see it everywhere you go. People are shopping around franticly, trying to find the...

If you have been with us for a while, you know we've been working through a study on the concepts of "Embracing Exile." In his book by the same title, Dr. Daniels writes, "so the mission of the church in exile is not just to have a message but also to become the...

Proverbs 9 personifies the ideas of Wisdom and Folly as two women who offer people different things. Wisdom has built her house; she has set up its seven pillars. She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table. She has sent out her servants,...

Lately, I have been stuck with a idea in my head, something that God has really been laying down hard on me, and that is the concept of rewriting. Yet for me, this is not something new. When I was in ministry school one of my professors talked about rewriting our...

In Matthew 6:28-34 we are reminded to seek God first and to not worry because God loves and cares for his children. Listen to part of this familiar passage – the words of our Lord in The Message paraphrase. If God gives such attention to the appearance of...

I know it seems like a cliché, but each of you is uniquely created by God. Each of us has our own personality, our own talents, and our own gifts. But did you also know that you are unique for another reason if you are a Jesus follower? You are unique because you...

  For the past several years, God and I have been communicating about my call. Through God I have been able to understand it in an entirely different light. I must be able to see that my call might be leading in multiple different directions, but only one will be the...

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20...

Rodney King was a victim of police brutality in the spring of 1992. The four Los Angeles police officers who beat him were acquitted of nearly all the charges. Riots ensued in the city and lasted six days. King appeared on television calling for an end to the...

Last week I had the opportunity to go the New Mexico Church of the Nazarene Family Camp. Though I had a great chance to see my Friends and Family, it was also a moment to really take a second to really listen and reflect with God. More importantly it was a moment to...

We just wrapped up our series on Dangerous Prayers here at Hope Community. It was a challenging series, even for me, as we think about what it looks like to totally surrender ourselves to God and his leading through our willingness to pray dangerous, God-sized...

Most of you know that a few weeks ago Pastor Todd and I took vacation in Myrtle Beach. What you may not know is that this Midwest girl has come to love being around the water. I find it very calming. So as we spent time on the beach I was relaxing and reflecting. I...

The past couple of weeks have not been easy, as many of you may know. They have been trying, and I have spent many hours talking to God, trying to figure things out. Yet I have also been looking ahead and behind me at the same time. I have been looking forward to...

Over the last few days I have been reading Growing True Disciples by George Barna for my current class in the Masters of Arts in Pastoral Leadership program at Olivet. This book is almost twenty years old, but summarizes some significant research about the church and...

Soren Kierkegaard was a favorite of my college Philosophy professor. Prof. Craig insisted that we learn about his major works and how to correctly pronounce his name! You say it Keer-ka-gore. If you’re not familiar, Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher who wrote...

In college one of my professor had us read the poem “I stand by the door” by Sam shoemaker, which reads: I stand by the door. I neither go to far in, nor stay to far out. The door is the most important door in the world - It is the door through which men walk when...

This morning we are starting our summer sermon series Dangerous Prayers. We start with the idea that we need to be willing to pray dangerous or unsafe prayers, not just the safe prayers such as protect us, bless our food, keep us safe, etc. As followers of Jesus, we...

I watched a webinar this week from ONU with Rev. Tara Beth Leach and her mentor Dr. Scot McKnight. I’ve not had the pleasure of meeting either of them personally but have read some of their writings and listened to several of Tara Beth’s sermons. They are both...

It's Pentecost Sunday. We celebrate Pentecost every year in the church, but it does not get the same attention as Christmas, Easter, or any other number of occasions. I have been pondering that this week, as I am more and more convinced that we short change ourselves...