Stopping to Think

I ought to be in bed right now, being as I have a presentation to do in the morning, but alas, I am suffering some insomnia.  So, I will share with you all something of what I will be talking about tomorrow morning at the Rocky Mountain Bible Mission's Shepherd's Conference here in Missoula.  Wayne and I are splitting a session, sharing with people something of our philosophy of youth ministry.  Youth Ministry takes a lot of shots from more conservative, reformed, and rural people (not because any of those are necessarily connected or related).  Much of this, honestly, is fair criticism.  I recently read the book "Giving up Gimmicks: Reclaiming Youth Ministry From an Entertainment Culture" by Brian Cosby.  Excellent book, if you can get past a little Presbyterianism.  I wasn't quite sure how infant baptism worked into youth ministry, but anyway.  The gist of his book was that youth ministries cannot be divorced from the local church.  N...

Rain drops falling hard and fast It seems that spring has come at last The old barn boards grey with age Here sit and soak up another page Another season that has come and gone This last Winter didn't really stay too long Right now the creek out front is overflowing Where has gone the sun with it's warm glowing I suppose we'll see it more around July We might even see ninety for a high But honestly I sure do like the rain It seems in a way to melt the pain The downpour on my roof is soothing When my heart it seems beyond amusing Yes there is a reason for all sorts of weather Perhaps the sunshine would not be better I know that you my friend may prefer it But that I fear is by no means a deterrent To me from thanking God for the damp Cold soggy air as I sit by my lamp I love that sound of rushing water Even if my friends it does bother So let's enjoy and soak it up while it lasts For we know that all the...

The title describes exactly what I want to do.  Two years ago today a young man who has left an undeniable mark on many lives, was taken home by his Heavenly Father.  Why God decided Alex needed to go so soon, I honestly have no idea.  But the impact he made and the lives he touched in his short time here, is undeniable. Now I realize, as I hope you do, that Facebook is a poor measure of reality.  But I could not help but noticed as I pulled up my home page today, the number of statuses reading something to the affect of  "Alex, we love and miss you, RIP."  Obviously everyone put their own twist and touch on it, but that was the sentiment.  How does one person touch so many? Part of it was simply a function of his personality.  The dude was a show-off.  And he was good at it.  He loved attention, he loved the spotlight, and more than that, he loved to make people laugh and have fun.   Making people smile was something Alex absol...

Death. The mere fact that the title of the post along with it's first word consisted simply of that one word will have a good many of you considering the writer to be a person or rather morbid character. It's not a popular topic. On the one hand, we glory and revel in it, just so long as it is confined to our video games, TV shows, and movies. But do we want to have real conversations about it? Do we want to delve into the reason it exists, how it affects us, what happens afterword, and so on? No. We embrace the idea in our entertainment because it is “real”, yet this same reality is something we are constantly running from. There is no end to the number of ways in which we are trying to extend our lives, make our later years more painless, and eliminate from ourselves the appearance of being old. Most of us want nothing to do with the idea that one day our life here on earth will be over. Furthermore, even those willing to entertain that notion and consider will very rarel...

Gently on my roof I hear the rain It drips on down the window pane My weary eyes gaze through the glass I wait and hope this storm shall pass This falling flood reflects my soul Where deeply I have sensed a hole It has come to where my body aches Because so oft my heart does break They say out yonder looms the sun Oh I pray those days would come That grey times from me would flee And my heart instead be filled with glee But indeed I know my need is more Than my circumstances have in store My deepest longing is for joy But life's schemes are so coy They steal from me that which I seek And make my place here feel so bleak In spite of this I thank the One Who gave for me His only Son And so I need not clear skies I need the One who for me dies To wreck my joy pain may endeavor But my joy in Him endures forever In circumstance it's found no longer So even when the storm grows stronger I know that I can still find peace For at last I've been ...

“Honor all people.  Love the brotherhood.  Fear God.  Honor the king.”  1 Peter 2:17 I love that verse.  It’s in the middle of a section where Peter deals a lot with submission.  Submission to government, submission to masters, submission of wives to their husbands, and so on.  And I love this verse because in 11 words we’re told basically what we need to know in order to live our lives in a godly way. “Honor all people.”  Do we do that?  No.  We judge people for the simple fact that they are different than us.  We condemn people because of their outward appearances.  We call people -who God created- ugly; or refer to them as a “waste of air.”  Really?  Is that congruent with how the Bible would speak of us?  Genesis 1:26-27 talks about God doing what?  Making man in His own image.  And in verse 31 He refers to that as “very good.”  Interesting.  God has declared that man being made in His...