As we walked down the trail I found myself engaging my kids with one single, focused message: “stay out of the mud!” Rather than enjoy the beauty around us, defeating the mud became my top priority. Fortunately, as we made our way deeper into the forest, something caught my eye above the gurgling creek off to our left: a majestic hawk perched calmly on a tree branch, quietly surveying the surround...  Read More

Being Real About Our Struggles   I sometimes find it difficult to be real about my struggles. Perhaps you do too. This is a common experience, for we fear that if others knew our struggles, then they may not accept us, or worse, they may outright condemn us. In the first several verses of 2 Corinthians 6 Paul communicates very vulnerably about his struggles. He says his “heart is wide open” toward...  Read More

These simple words carry a lot of weight, weight that is hard to describe and yet extremely real. Failure is something few like to talk about and even fewer like to admit. I find it odd, though, because it’s all around us on a daily basis. For example, I set my alarm this morning for 5:00am but hit the snooze button multiple times. Now that seems really knit picky and harsh but it’s a small exampl...  Read More

Understanding “Glory”   The word “glory” can be one of those Bible words that runs the risk of being used all the time in Christian circles, and all the while no one really understands what it means. In 2 Corinthians 4:17 Paul tells us that “light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” This sounds pretty great, but how are we to understand Paul’...  Read More

As we are all aware, the entirety of our gatherings (i.e. corporate worship, Sunday School,  shepherding groups, kids and youth) were all forced into virtual modes for the entirety of the spring this year due to COVID-19. As we began looking at regathering, first for our services over the summer, and then for additional activities starting in the fall, we as the staff felt much uncertainty about w...  Read More

The Treasure of Light   In 2 Corinthians 4:6-7 uses two metaphors to help followers of Christ understand what happens once they receive Christ by grace through faith. The first is the idea of treasure, which he says we contain as a result of our faith. And what is this treasure? It is the reality that the sin-filled, self-centered darkness of our hearts has been overcome through the light of Chris...  Read More