Instead of our normal Friday night ACCESS meeting, we had our all-night prayer gathering. It was encouraging to many people who were willing to sacrifice a night sleep to seek God and pray. We were able to pray for various topics but the most significant part was when we prayed in our small groups. As […]
Meeting the Mayor
This morning, I had the privilege of meeting up with the mayor of Ann Arbor. I went with Pastor Kirk Schneemann from Frontline Church and one of his church members, Jim Zahner who set up the meeting for us. I found out that he was a friend of the Mayor Hieftje since high school. We […]
Daylight Saving Time (DST)
As many of you know, this early Sunday morning at 2AM, we are going to observe the Daylight Saving Time. This will be probably one of the earliest times in history to observe DST. So my mind began to think – what are the motivations for changing the DST? It just left me clueless until […]
Recapturing the Heart of Prayer
I remember the countless number of hours that were clocked in the early stages of our church here in Ann Arbor. We just knew that without God we would not be able to accomplish anything – that was 10+ years ago. There is something about “success” or being “more established” that causes us to pray […]
Meeting with the Mayor
Tomorrow a handful of the pastors in the Washtenaw County and I will be heading over to City Hall. We were able to get an appointment in Mayor John Hieftje’s schedule. Our goal is to simply go to his office and ask him if there is anything that the Christian community can do to be […]
A Sad Day in the Superhero World
I grew up reading and watching the various heroes that were portrayed in the Marvel Comic books, Justice League and Super Friends. There is something about a kid’s imagination that helps fuel the fire for wanting to be a superhero. One of my favorite characters has always been Captain America. He was always known for […]
Baptism Like None Other
Someone just recently forwarded a YouTube video of a water baptism to me. At first I was a bit skeptical in the e-mail because the person getting baptized was blind and deaf. But after watching it, it messed me up… for some reason in the quietness of my office chair, I started to cry. First […]
In the Zone
Monday night is a sacred night for Christina and me. I don’t know how I got hooked on the T.V. show “24” but we love watching the show together and just hanging out – it has been my semi-sabbath throughout the week. Yesterday, Christina had a meeting with the women’s ministry ladies therefore we decided […]
Fussing Women
I was driving around in my parents’ car as I was going to a meeting today and I just happened to be scanning through the various Chicago radio station channels. I came across a hip-hop station that was talking about women who “fuss” in the home – translation: women who nag and give men a […]
Youth Group Days
As I look back to my youth pastor’s days, I have a lot of fond memories. I remember how amazed I was that I would get paid for playing basketball and just hanging out with the kids. I guess all the times that I paid for their meals it all balanced out 🙂 This morning […]
Worship Celebration in Chicago
It was encouraging yesterday to be part of the Sunday Celebration without having to preach a sermon. I took a break trying to get ready for the Naked series. Pastor Jimmy preached on the importance of our mind and how it needs to be transformed by God. This was our second week in Fisk Hall […]
Breakfast and a Movie
This morning, we had our church staff over for breakfast. Some time ago, Christina and I talked about having the staff guys come over to our place for food and fellowship. It is easy to always be in a certain context with the people that you work with that once in awhile it is good […]
Reflections on Worship
All throughout my Christian life, praise and worship have played a central role in my spiritual journey. I remember the times when God spoke to me in various ways through the times of lifting up praises to Him. There were times of tears as I reflected on songs that talked about God’s love and forgiveness. […]
Workaholic Anonymous
I might have to enter into a 12-step program. This week I did not have to prepare any sermons and my meetings with people settled down a bit due to UM’s Spring Break. At first, this weird feeling came over me (withdrawal symptoms?). But then it hit me that I was not doing some of […]