“Remember…the first thing you do when you get to Fairmont is fill up with gas.” Dad handed me the keys to his 1978 Oldsmobile 98 Regency.
“Yeah, Dad. I know. I’ll remember.”
It was daylight when I left for Fairmont, the closest “big town” for us just across the Iowa state line into Minnesota. I was 16 [...]

When’s the last time God stretched your ideas of what worship can look like? And whatever your idea of worship style is, when’s the last time you experienced something completely different?
Perhaps more importantly, when’s the last time God stretched your thinking about how He can speak to you?
I grew up in a Baptist church in [...]

What are you good at?
Do you have a green thumb and grow beautiful plants? Are you a whiz in the workshop, building lovely pieces of furniture? Are you a talented public speaker or a great cook? An expert teacher in your discipline?
How did you become good at what it is you’re good at?
Whatever it is [...]

It’s been said a picture is worth a thousand words.
For this Minnesota Vikings fan, the two pictures I saw recently were worth at least that many. And no small number of them were cuss words.
No worries. I didn’t say anything. Not out loud, anyway.
I was hanging out with my daughters at The Main Event. After [...]

How do you worship God?
Do you sing? Do you play a musical instrument? Do you pray? Do you read the Bible? Do you dance?
These are all appropriate expressions of worship. (Yes, my Baptist friends, even dancing.)
Yet it seems that the best act of worship is one we often fail to do. Or even think about.
Our [...]

During a phone conversation with an old college friend, we got into a “do you ever hear from so and so?” stream of thought. One name mentioned would spark another name. Some we’d heard from or knew their whereabouts. Others we had to say, “Haven’t seen them in over 20 years.”
Reflecting later on our visit, [...]

(This evening I had the honor of officiating the wedding of my friends Lindsey Colvin and Philip Ramirez. A beautiful ceremony in the Colvin’s backyard vineyard under the big West Texas sky.)
It is an ordinary moment in the kitchen. Standing and talking around the island. We should probably sit down in the living room for [...]

In the days following several recent celebrity deaths I observed more than a few Christians wondering out loud about eternal destiny. In Sunday morning church lobby conversations, Facebook posts, and face to face talks over soup and salad, I listened to Christians making the assumption that Michael Jackson didn’t go to heaven.
Some said it was [...]

You can see what is going to happen.
The guy in the parking lot is carrying a lot of stuff. Too much stuff. Under each arm and in both hands. As long as he doesn’t lean too far side to side, forward or back, he will keep his balance. But he’s starting to lose his grip. [...]

The morning begins with their beautiful faces. “Here, Daddy. We have something for you!” Two Father’s Day cards. One store bought and one homemade. “Daddy, see how I did the design around the hearts?” They are no longer the little babies I used to carry, one in each hand. I remember how natural it felt [...]

Remember the old joke about the guy who lost his wallet on the street?
A passerby asked, “Where do you think you dropped it?”
“Oh, I didn’t lose it here.”
“If you didn’t lose it here, why are you looking for it under this street light?”
To which the man replied, “Because the light is better here.”
In our pursuit [...]

Nobody knows the name of the New Orleans French chef who sold his recipe to Vernon Rudolph back in 1937. But the millions who have had the delightful pleasure of biting into a Krispy Kreme doughnut over the decades would like to say thank you.
I can’t point to chapter and verse, but my conviction is [...]

Where she came from, I don’t know.
Why she picked that road, I don’t know.
And why she brought her kids along was beyond me.
From everything I could see, she didn’t have the sense God gave a goose.
Eastbound on the frontage road at the perpetually busy intersection of Loop 289 and Quaker. I’m braking quickly for one [...]

Last Thursday morning before driving the twins to school, Annie and Emma and I had a quick prayer time.
On the way to the fireplace bricks, where we like to sit for such moments, Emma bumped her knee. It wasn’t even a scratch or a scrape and certainly nothing that merited the drama she was presenting. But [...]

My friend was upset.
“Why is it so hard for people to just admit they were wrong?”
He was venting over a recent situation in his consulting business. Someone had scheduled an appointment with him, several appointments actually, and no-showed every time. For him, as for everyone in business, a no-show costs double. The lost opportunity of [...]

In a letter written some 20 years ago to a group of our close college friends, Bill Swart (Now Dr. Bill Swart of Augustana College, South Dakota) eloquently and profoundly describes the paradox of the Christian life.
“It was the evening of February 3 and I had spent the past 36 hours or so traveling from [...]

The story you are about to read is true. The names have been changed because who you are in grade school isn’t necessarily indicative of how you’ll turn out as an adult.
For a short time as a first grader in Edith Johnson’s class, I sat next to Billy. Rather, Billy sat next to me. He’d [...]

“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” According to the Gospel of Luke, these are the first words spoken by Jesus while on the cross.
For the Roman soldiers walking the perimeter, it’s all in a day’s work. Some people push pencils and keep records for a living. Others sell groceries in the [...]

Funny thing about God. When you ask Him for opportunities to be a blessing, He gives them to you.
The trick, at least for me, is learning to hear His voice. To see what He’s pointing at. Or feel His poke on the shoulder.
At Turning Point Church we’ve been challenged as individuals to find ways both [...]

Have you noticed all the quizzes on Facebook lately?
What Star Wars character are you?
Where in the world should you be living?
What historical figure are you?
What Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Flavor are you?
What are you born to do?
What is your Smurf name?
Which Peanuts character are you?
Which Superhero are you?
What color are you?
I wonder…do these quizzes [...]

Have you resigned yourself that your dreams will never come true?
That those impossible circumstances you’re facing will never be resolved?
Are you settling for what you see?
Or are you trusting God for what you can’t see?
When Abraham answered the phone, God was on the line. “Abraham, I want you to move out of town. I want [...]

Are you staring down an impossible circumstance?
Have you dreamed and hoped for something for so long that your soul is running on fumes?
Does it seem like God is not taking your calls?
They were by all accounts an extremely successful couple. Well respected in their community and at the top of everyone’s dinner guest list. Abraham [...]

One of my seminary professors, Dr. Steve Tracy, earned his doctorate at the University of Sheffield in England. For part of his degree program he relocated his family to the UK.
When Thanksgiving rolled around, they had been there for some time. Long enough to be missing home and family in the United States. They thought [...]

They say Chicago has two seasons: winter and road construction. In Phoenix, unless you count the 20 minutes in January where you put on a sweater, there is no winter. Which means that in the Valley of the Sun, orange pylons, barricades and flashing yellow lights are always in season.
One wouldn’t think opening a new stretch [...]

It’s Friday afternoon around 5:00 PM. “We’ll be back tomorrow. I’m going to wear my purple dress.” In her good-bye to the nurses at Vista Care, Emma informs Annie and me of her plans for our Saturday morning.
Way back when, it was Emma’s idea to come here for the first time. We were replacing the [...]