It’s interesting how much weddings have changed over the course of my ministry.  Among other changes, the marriage age is increasing, the cost-per-guest is increasing while the size of wedding is decreasing, fewer weddings are taking place over the summer, social media is a critical component of most weddings, and weddings are increasingly casual.  However, the most noticeable change to …

It’s a peculiarity of human psychology we strongly prefer what we know to what we don’t know. In fact, we favor a bad situation that is known over a possibly good situation that is unknown.  It’s an old idiom: “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.” We tend to believe that it’s better to deal with a …

As Christmas is mere hours away now, our church has filled my heart yet again by your commitment and desire to be the kind of community in which Christ is proclaimed and the gospel lived!  I can’t begin to tell you how much I enjoyed our Advent Bible Study this year!  It was so encouraging and exciting to have over …

Advent is more than just an accessory to December on a religious calendar. It’s a season of anticipation that puts your grandmother’s Christmas Eve countdown clock to shame. It’s not just about decking halls, ringing bells, and gleaming lovelights. It’s a month-long journey toward remembering something incredible… something miraculous. Each week of Advent has a theme. Think of it like …

When does Christmas come to town? For me, it’s at Jingle Jam. If I haven’t told you lately, I had a great childhood. My parents made every birthday, every holiday, really every single day special for my brother and me. I am so grateful to them for all the amazing memories. But I’ll share a secret…Christmas was my favorite. I …

I think my kids are learning a different language at school, and I don’t mean French, Spanish or Latin.  Gen A (the generation born in or after 2010) has thrown convention to the wind and collectively decided to change the meaning of words entirely or come up with completely new words through a combination of abbreviations and slang.  Here’s a …

One of the struggles I have with holidays as a pastor is the fact that there is little left to say that hasn’t already been said better than I can say it. In the seasons when I’ve been a solo pastor, I secretly dreaded Christmas, Easter, and every other special day on the calendar. All the good stuff has already …

I have the worst memory.  More specifically, I have the worst long-term memory.  It’s easy to remember where I’m going in a sermon or facts and figures for a meeting (obviously maps fall in this category!).  It’s an entirely different story when it comes to childhood memories, collegiate adventures or life with two under two.  I’m sure there’s a reason …

I recently rediscovered a collection of letters that my father wrote during his time overseas during the Vietnam War era (he served in the Air Force in parts of Thailand).  It’s a fascinating, strange, wonderful and heartbreaking thing to read letters from a loved one who passed.  To be frank, it took me a little off-guard because I’m surprised at …

The Bible has a lot to say about pride.  ‘Pride’ or ‘proud’ appears about 120 times in the Old and New Testaments, and not much of it is positive.  James offers a representative sample: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).  The general sense of scripture is that God hates pride and we should do …