This coming year we have committed as a church family to grow together as disciples of Christ. We are embarking on a year long endeavor to read through the Bible. We are using the ESV Daily Bible Reading plan and I am encouraging every one to journal their daily devotionals using the R.E.A.P. (Read, Examine, Apply, Pray) Bible study method. Both of those items can be found on a special micro-site we have rolled out here.

Yesterday was one of those bittersweet moments in life as it concluded a chapter for my family and I. It was my last Sunday on staff at The Gathering Place. A place I have worked at and served for the past ten years. A place where my family and I received healing, new life, new relationships, new direction and vision. I don’t think I have fully absorbed the moment but I am sure it will hit me fully in the coming days.

This new chapter of my life following Jesus involves …

J.J. Abrams, mastermind behind the hit TV series Lost, Alias and Fringe and the reboot of the Star Trek empire, wrote a fabulous essay in the May issue of Wired magazine on the Magic of Mystery. You can read the article in its entirety here.
J.J. writes that we are in the middle of the “age of immediacy” where wonder and mystery are lost because of the instant access to information that will, at best, give us a satisfying understanding. Because information is ubiquitous, knowledge a mouse click away, true understanding …

Mark Batterson shared a brilliant post here, about the need at times to “cut the lines to the lifeboat” instead of playing it safe. Sharing from the story of Paul’s crash landing in the Island of Malta, the decision to throw everything overboard, cut the lines to the lifeboat and stay on the ship, saved their lives. That story rivals anything on this season of Lost.
Mark observes wisely, “we like backup plans. We all want a lifeboat. But there are moments in life when you have to cut the lines …

John 4:31 I can imagine this scene in which the disciples are urging Jesus to eat because they got him the pita and hummus combo at the local fast-food joint in Samaria. They didn’t know he had been ministering to a woman while he was waiting for them and at that precise moment a mini-revival was starting in the town.
How funny that the things that we pursue in life apart from the will of God leave us empty, unfulfilled and unsatisfied. When we are in the arena of God’s …

John 3:30 Got to love the confidence of John the baptizer as he was told that Jesus was baptizing and all of his congregation was going to Jesus. John understood his purpose and vs. 29-30 in The Message declares that John said “That’s why my cup is running over. This is the assigned moment for him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines.”
Do we get jealous when others succeed and we don’t seem to have the same measure of success? This passage convicted me of …

John 2: 3-5 Big problem — the wine ran out! No problem — Jesus to the rescue! I love how Jesus responds to his mother when she asks him to troubleshoot the problem. His answer, “this has nothing to do with me, not my fault they didn’t stock up!” Yet she persists because she knows he can! She tells the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do. Her belief moved into action, she set it up for the miracle to take place.
We need to live our lives this …

John 1:10-12 It’s amazing how those closest to Jesus did not perceive him to be the messiah. As a result they could not receive from him. My prayer is that I never become so familiar with God’s presence and His power that I lose the ability to perceive who He is and what He is doing that, I do not receive from Him. John echoes that sentiment in vs. 26 when he puts the smackdown on those sent by the pharisees, when he tells them that “among them stands …

Our church began 21 days of fasting & prayer themed, Hosting His Presence. Information on the corporate fast can be obtained here. We’ll be reading a chapter a day from the gospel of John. I’ll be posting my daily reflections. I really expect God to do a deep work in my heart and in our church throughout this time.

1 Chronicles 12:32 (ESV) “Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.”
In my previous post I shared about the importance of being able to hear the voice of God as the Holy Spirit prompts us. This is ever so important as the landscape of our culture has changed. Reference points of the past may or may not be there so it is imperative that we learn to live the Spirit-led life. As evidenced in the New Testament where the apostles and other …

1 Chronicles 12:32 (ESV) “Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.”
Recently I felt impressed in my heart (I could say the Lord told me, but that would be very Charismatic of me) that the current climate that we find ourselves in is one in which the old maps we have used are no longer going to get us where we need to be. Hearing the voice of God, that still-small voice on the inside that is the Holy Spirit leading us, …