
Learning
Growth
Unity

It’s Simple: Stay Plugged In
Here's a memo to many of us, who at times just plain forget: We don't get to heaven by doing good things for others and the world. We can't earn brownie points with Jesus if we toil in selfless service. In fact, there is an argument that there really is no such thing as pure altruism, since, the theory goes, that any good done has a motive to make the giver feel better along the way.
My, that's an upbeat thought...

Shackles
Recently, I read Psalm 2:1-4 which says,
“Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, ‘Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.’ The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.”
These verses centered me today and calmed me in its reminder that God is sovereign.

I Like Clouds
I like clouds. As a young boy, living on the far west coast of Canada, I remember coming out of our house on the hill and seeing a beautiful dense fog covering the water below. Above, a radiant blue sky. Below, a calm blanket covering the troubled sea. Fog, to me, speaks of peace, tranquility, God's presence. It quiets the heart and obscures every distraction.

A Secular Creed (Part 3)
This is part 3 of my Secular Creed series, in which I present practical strategies for engaging the secular culture around you. Start by praying and evaluating the gospel’s importance in your own life. Then you will be prepared for the next two, as follows.

Talking To Myself
In our adult class at church we are studying a different Psalm each week. After a bit of background and teaching about the content of the song for the day, we gather at tables to discuss observations, questions, and applications for us today. It always proves to be a rich time of dialogue and insight. Recently, we looked at Psalm 57 that relates a time just after David, who was being hounded and tracked by King Saul, hid in a cave in the Engedi.

He Passed
I'm going to die. Well, maybe not this afternoon but eventually. And when I do, let no one say, "he passed". To me that sounds like I passed gas. While I may do a lot of that in my final years, it's not something I want to announce to the public, particularly at my funeral.

Don’t Pray for Strength
You can stop praying for God to give you the Holy Spirit, for God to be with you, to have more love for people and God, or for strength. Yes, really. Here’s why.

Now Powered By Then
My faith journey began in June of 1970 at a Young Life Camp in the California gold country NE of Sacramento. Over the course of a week the camp speaker led us to see Jesus like never before, as God's answer to our most intimate and immediate and eternal needs. At the end of the week, the camp held a time of silence for each person to contemplate what we had learned. I found myself behind our cabin sitting on a stump.

A Downtown Prayer Walk
“A heart for Bend in the heart of Bend.” This is a motto of Foundry Church as we are situated in the middle of downtown. God has used Foundry over the years to impact Bend, and we wanted to continue living that legacy. We decided on an evening downtown prayer walk to start.

One Thing That Helps Me Enjoy the Bible
In danger of adding another thing to your overfilled life, I wanted to share about a resource that I have found valuable for my Bible reading and study, The Bible Project.

A Secular Creed (Part 2)
In Part 1 of this Secular Creed series, I defined a creed as, “a set of beliefs or aims which guide someone's actions." Creeds are evident all around us in lawns, bumper stickers and social media, yet increasingly in these creeds God is alarmingly absent. How do we engage with a culture like this? How do we share the good news of Jesus? In this post, I will share the first two of seven strategies.

It’s The Little Things
Here's a line that I wish was original with me and is so good.
Any person who says they are never bothered by the little things has never spent a night in a tent with a mosquito.
I like to think of myself as mostly easy going in the sense that I try not to get worked up over a lot of small things...but there are a few little matters that flat drive me up a wall.

Does Knowing You’re Dying Change Anything?
In her book Be the Gift, Ann Voskamp wrote about a close friend who was losing her battle with cancer:
“My friend Elizabeth was dying, and she still hadn’t any idea how much time she actually had to live. Maybe knowing you’re dying changes everything—while actually changing nothing. Because we all know it every single day, whether we have a diagnosis or not: We all get one container of time—but no one gets to know what size that container is.”

Hawaiian Doxology
While Carolyn and I are on the Big Island of Hawaii for 4 1/2 months, we attend a small Calvary Chapel Church. By small I mean about 20 people. Visitors may increase this to about 30 for a Sunday service. Kind of like a large Life Group. It is impossible to catch that dreaded disease of Spectatoritis.

A Secular Creed (Part 1)
Seen these “We Believe…” yard signs around your neighborhood? They're hard to miss. One writer called them "a secular creed." A dictionary definition of a creed is "a set of beliefs or aims which guide someone's actions."
Christians have creeds. Maybe you've heard of the Apostles' Creed or the Nicene Creed. A creed distills down to the essentials what a person believes. And like the definition says, a creed should guide our actions.

Reflections on Sunday's Sermon and Psalm 90
It was September 1992. We were high up in a Pakistani hill station, attending a field conference. At over 5000 feet, it provided a cool retreat from the oppressive heat and humidity of the valley. It was also known for torrential rainstorms and today we were having a huge one. But we were safe and dry in the home of a doctor. At break time I wandered to the front window to view the rain and the water cascading down what used to be a road.

Life Together
Once a month I gather with a bunch of old coaches down at the D and D for breakfast. My former boss, the retired head football coach at Bend High, reaches out to other guys who are done working and live in Bend. We are from all over the region. High school and college guys who ended up here assemble and I try not to miss it. I enjoy these get-togethers and recently we had 17 men who talked loud and laughed louder and shared life for a couple of hours, taking center stage in a local's bar. Times like these remind me of the important role community plays in our lives, and how alone and lonely life can be without a tribe to do life with.

Finding the Gospel in the Classics
This is a book recommendation, or a review if you like, for The Jesus I Never Knew written by Phillip Yancey. More specifically, it is a recommendation to consider a particular chapter of the book.

HEAR The Bible
I don't know about you, but from time to time I find myself stuck in a rut with my personal Bible study and devotional time. I recently attended a women's conference, and while there I learned about a new (to me) Bible study method that I thought I'd pass along. It's called the HEAR journaling method, but you don't necessarily need to write things down, you could do it mentally. The acronym HEAR stands for highlight, explain, apply and respond.

An Idea For The New Year
I ran across this a while back.
Andrews University professor Heather Thompson Day starts every new class the same way. Once her students have filed into the room and taken their seats, notebooks and charged laptops splayed on their desks, Day welcomes them with these words: "The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.