Starting tomorrow, we will have the honor and the privilege of hosting Pastor Robert and Karyn Barriger at HMCC. Pastor Robert leads Camino de Vida (The Way of Life) in Lima, Peru. It is an awesome church; and they are doing some great things, not just in Peru but all over […]
2008 Christmas Wish List
Yesterday after dinner, the family and I worked on our wish list. I printed out the template that we use every year. The whole family has the freedom to write in their wish list whatever they want to… but we make it very clear that there are no guarantees that they will get everything on […]
L3 Part Three
We had another one of our Leadership Lesson Luncheon (L3) gatherings. We have been discussing and dialoguing about various leadership principles. So far we have covered the principles of influence and integrity; and today we discussed the principle of illumination. One of the biggest struggles for college students is trying to get a God-centered vision […]
The Gangster Life
Christina and I went out to see American Gangster for our date night. It was a pretty decent movie which tries to tell the true story of Frank Lucas. After the movie, Christina and I were talking about why people are so fascinated with the gangster and mafia lifestyle. We came to the conclusion that […]
A Joy-Filled Weekend
Today as I am reflecting on this past weekend my heart is filled with joy. It was great having our last ACCESS meeting of this semester and spending some good time in prayer for one another. Then on Saturday morning we had our separate Men’s and Women’s Gathering. I think there is something about a […]
The Trans-Cultural Church
Several weeks ago, I introduced a new term in our church in Ann Arbor and this coming Sunday people in Chicago will hear it for the first time. The term is, “The Trans-Cultural Church.” We have heard a lot of the multi-cultural and multi-ethnic church, but we are trying to create a new ethos within […]
Rebuilding Community Through Nehemiah
We will be finishing off the first section of the Book of Nehemiah (chapters 1-7) at ACCESS tonight. Then for second semester we will finish off with chapters 8-13. It has been encouraging to study the Book of Nehemiah. The amazing part of the Bible is to see how biblical principles apply to the situation […]
Urgency to Pray
Recently, in light of everything that is going on in our church, I felt a greater urgency for prayer – not only in my life but corporately, as a whole church. Prayer is one of those things that do not need any explanation but it is so hard for believers to engage. It is not […]
Discernment Time
Pastor Ben and I just got back tonight from our campus scouting trip. It was great spending some time together. Now, we will go into some time of fasting and prayer to discern the will of God. More than anything else, I was reminded about the crucial piece that college campuses play in the bigger […]
Six Seconds of Fame
Some of you might have heard about the CNN/YouTube Democratic debate that happened on July 23rd, 2007. Now the GOP are having their YouTube debate tomorrow on November 28th. One of our church members decided to submit a question… AND guess what? He got 6 seconds of fame on CNN Jeanne Moos’ presentation of videos […]
Another Scouting Trip
Pastor Ben and I will be heading out to the airport in about 3 hours. As you know, we are trying to secure another campus location for a future church plant. Part of the joy in going to other campuses is to just see what God is up to in that area. Even in our […]
The Christmas Tree Tradition
Today we put up the Christmas tree. It is a tradition for us to put it up the day after Thanksgiving, but since it was so busy this past weekend we finally did it today. One of the unique things of our tree is that all the ornaments are from various nations around the world […]
1st Snowfall of 2007
Yesterday night it snowed enough where the fields were blanketed with the good white stuff. Even though people complain about how cold it gets in the Midwest and particularly in Michigan, there is something about the four seasons that I love. Although I love the warmer weather in California and down South during the winter […]
Staying at Home
Tonight I am staying at home watching the kids. They are already washed up and ready for bed. Christina and her mentoring group are going out to have dinner together. Originally, I was going to meet with the group of men that I am discipling but due to a miscommunication (or lack of), our group […]