Writing to Help You Find and Share the Hope of Jesus
Posts related to sharing, teaching, and communicating the truth of the gospel to others.
As my daughters get older, I’m increasingly aware of my decreasing voice in their lives. Other influences (friends, media, etc.) are becoming more prominent. My dad jokes aren’t funny anymore. (Well, they’re still funny, they just biologically won’t be able to laugh at them again for probably another 15-20 years). Yes, I realize I still … Continue reading Wrecking Your Witness – 6 Ways to Make Sure Nobody Listens to You
It is the Lord who goes before you. - Deuteronomy 31:8 “You go first.” This is a statement my wife and I have heard frequently over the years from one of our daughters to our other daughter. From jumping into a lake to trying new food, our youngest has often served as a guinea pig … Continue reading “You Go First” – Giving Others the Gift of Going Second
In my part of the world (rural Minnesota), we are now over a month into this COVID-19 crisis that has gripped much of the world for even longer. If you haven’t been paying attention over the past month, then you’ve likely missed some important information. Because one thing a crisis will reveal to us is … Continue reading Faith at Work in a Crisis
Yesterday I finished reading The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson. This insightful book provides an intimate look at British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, his family, and his cabinet during the German bombings, or “Blitz”, of England prior to the United States’ entry into World War II. One of Churchcill’s most remembered traits, of … Continue reading The Right Words for the Right Moment
At our ATLAS Mentor Workshops we often talk about examples of mentoring found in the Bible. We’ll talk about elements from different relationships like Jesus and his disciples, Paul and Timothy, Jonathan and David, Priscilla and Aquila with Apollos, and others. These are almost always entirely positive examples. But I’ve been in the book of … Continue reading Mistakes Were Made – Examples of Mentoring Mistakes in the Bible
“Let us therefore strive to enter [God’s] rest”Hebrews 4:11 “We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” (Hebrews 2:1) “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3) In other words, don’t miss this. That’s the urgent cry of the book of … Continue reading Strive to Enter God’s Rest – 5 Helps to Continue Believing the Gospel
“But Dad, it’s only 9 o’clock!” That was my daughter’s excuse one morning when I asked her to do something. In her mind, listening to dad wasn’t something she was obligated to do until maybe 10 or 11am at the earliest. I must have missed that fine print in the parenting manual. Making excuses is … Continue reading Excuses, Excuses – When Our Fears Steal God’s Glory
For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.”Ezra 7:10 I love to study and teach. I love sitting down with the guys I mentor to help them unpack and apply Scripture to their lives. I love the … Continue reading Do As I Say, and As I Do
So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked,“Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.Acts 8:30-31 In this perfect example of a divine appointment, the Ethiopian Eunuch invites Philip … Continue reading Help Me Understand
Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.”Psalm 55:22 Growing up, my brothers and I spent many summers at my grandparents' trailer at the Old Mille Inn on Green Lake near Spicer, MN. If my grandpa didn’t already have us out in the boat … Continue reading Learning to Cast
A Thrill of Hope 