Blogs for Christian Living
Read some devotional thoughts from prior church planters & lifelong pastors. Mark & Dallas share what they learn daily in their journey walking with God.
Be inspired to live in the fullness of purity that God has set as the standard for His children. Be encouraged to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and the implications of living in relationship with God.
The wilderness. We read about it in the Bible; Mark’s preached and written on it before; and we’ve experienced our own wildernesses; individually and as a couple. Today, I saw not one but two thoughts on the wilderness. I’ve come to learn that anytime something is repeatedly highlighted, it may be God trying to get my attention. One thought presented the position that sometimes it is our response causing the delay of exiting the wilderness because of complaining. The other posits, “God does not lead us into the wilderness to destroy us; He leads us into the wilderness to deliver us.” (See Deuteronomy 29:5-15.) For the Israelites, God provided while…
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“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:13-14, NIV Come Quick! “Mark!?! Mark!?!” I could hear the panic in her voice even though she was trying to keep herself under control. I opened the door to find our slightly frantic neighbor from across the street. “Hi! Can Mark come over? He’s such a good guy, and we have a snake in the house,” was her desperate cry for help. Now, while I agree, Mark is definitely a “good guy”, I happen to know that neither of us does snakes well. My aversion had some reinforcement when I thought…
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I voted today. It wasn’t a passionate process like some times in the past. In fact, there was only one candidate that I really wanted to vote for, and ironically, that was in a non-contested race for a local position. Most of the people I voted for were either based on best guess or while holding my nose because the other candidate seemed to be a worse option. Regardless of who wins and who loses, not much will really change. The economy will continue to have bull and bear markets. The politicians will throw money at their causes, or really to whatever they think will get them re-elected. The weather…
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Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT) – “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” I was reminded of self-examination in my readings today. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and with that come many slogans to remind women of the dangers of this type of cancer. It is a month where women are encouraged to get checkups and do self examination to see if there is any cancer forming, and if so, treat it before it spreads. There is wisdom here that could be applied to our…
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We were at a hotel some time ago, and after checking in I grabbed a luggage cart and rolled it out to the car. It rolled just fine. I loaded our bags on the cart and then started to roll it into the hotel to our room. It didn’t roll nearly as well. In fact, it was a struggle to get it up to the room. Why? Because one of the tires wasn’t fully inflated. When it had no load on it, the lack of air wasn’t evident. Once I put the weight of our luggage on the cart, without the proper amount of air in all four tires, it…
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The couple had consulted specialists and decided that humanly there was no hope for them to bear a child of their own. But the desire was deep; a longing for something that they couldn’t have. So they petitioned the Lord. Pleading for a long time, until one day, they received the answer. The desire of their heart had been granted by the Creator of the Universe. There was a baby growing in the womb of a woman who was sure that she could not have children. This scenario is repeated throughout Scripture from Genesis to the Gospels. Just a few examples include Abram and Sarai who longed for a child…
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I function best when I work from a to-do list. Generally, I have an ongoing to-do list that I’m adding things to the bottom of while crossing off completed tasks. It gets rewritten every couple of weeks when the paper is filled or enough things have been crossed off that it’s time to start afresh. There are times that I have to create sublists, or separate to-do lists, for specific projects such as we have going for remodeling the house. My lists are not well organized, nor prioritized. However, they are vital to effectively completing the necessary tasks in the ministry and life in general. When I don’t have a…
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I like meat. Meat and potatoes or rice, supplemented with a few vegetables for color. If there is no meat, it does not qualify as a meal in my opinion. Growing up, my mom would plan meals around the meat. For example, if grilled chicken was the meat, then she would plan sides to complement grilled chicken. This has continued to be the pattern for my entire life. The Power of Protein One time while traveling, we were staying with a host that, while not a full vegetarian, tended towards a more vegetable based diet. The meals she made us were good, but after several days, my brain wasn’t working…
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We recently visited some friends. Towards the beginning of the visit, our hosts were wanting to plan lots of activities. They love to share their home and the many incredible things that are nearby. It’s fun to do new things and experience God’s creation in their area of the country. As great as the exploring is, we wanted to just be with our friends. Dallas said to the wife, “It’s okay to not plan lots of activities, we can just be together.” The depth of friendship allows us to be together without having something to do all of the time. Deep Friendships There are relationships that we enjoy because of…
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We got a new air conditioner for the ministry’s fifth wheel trailer that we’ve called home for a while. The unit weighs about 100 pounds. Light enough that I can pick it up and move it around, but heavy enough that I can’t pick it up very high. That’s where the issue came in. I needed to get this hundred pound object onto a roof that is about twelve feet off the ground. I thought about asking someone to help. But before I inconvenienced anyone, I wanted to think through all possible options of getting it done by myself. I knew a dead-lift was not possible. I’m neither that tall,…
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