“The Almighty who blesses you with blessings . . . of the deep that lies below” (Genesis 49:25).Several years ago a good friend called out of the blue to say hello and to see how I was doing. During the course of our conversation he gave me an insight about God’s purposes in allowing us to go through hard times. “If …
I had a hard time preaching this morning.It happened because I forgot to take my reading glasses with me when I left for the conference. And that happened because until recently, I haven’t needed reading glasses when I preach. Until nine years ago I wore glasses all the time. If you see older pictures of me, I’m …
Tonight we had the opening service for the Word of Life Mid-Year conference in Columbus, Ohio. Although I usually stay in hotels when I do a conference like this, this weekend I’m staying with Bill and Mary Jo Price. They are dear friends whom I met through Word of Life a few years ago. Bill picked me up at the airpor …
This morning I got up early with a very long to-do list. It’s already the middle of the morning and I’ve only finished one thing on my list. But some things I have to get done because I’m about to hit the road again. Tomorrow morning I’m flying to Columbus, OH where I’ll be speaking for a Word …
A friend sent this comment after reading Have a Blast While You Last:I have adopted a phrase from your latest sermon, “Whatever turns up, grab it and do it” as my theme for 2008. It seems that’s exactly how most days go. I rarely finish what “I” planned.I agree 100%.
Next month Marlene and I are traveling to Nanchang, China to visit Josh and Leah. We will be spending two days in Shanghai at the end of the trip. Does anyone out there have any hotel recommendations for us? I’d like to find a reasonably priced hotel located somewhere near the downtown area.
We have just posted a new sermon on the website called Have a Blast While You Last. Here’s an excerpt:It happens that I am writing these words at a missionary guesthouse in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. It is instructive to consider the preceding paragraph this way. What if I had been born in a village in Bolivia? My life woul …
We have just posted a new sermon on the website called I Am a Sinner Too. Here’s an excerpt:Those serving in the ministry face many temptations, among them pride, excessive self-importance, power mania, laziness, envy, immorality, insensitivity, cruelty, hard-heartedness, procrastination, bitterness, hypocrisy, foolis …
Just before we left the SAM guesthouse to go to the airport for our trip home, we recruited another missionary to take one final picture of us with Tom and Janine Throssel. We met them in the mid-90s when they attended the church in Oak Park during their student years at Moody Bible Institute. Tom and Janine helped out in t …
On Sunday morning missionary Greg Dahl picked us up at the SAM guesthouse in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. He wanted us to experience a Bolivian worship service at the Luz y Vida (Light and Life) Church in a rural area on the edge of Santa Cruz.This is the new church location.The wood under the tree comes from the old building.Elder …