I have always found it amazing when I hear comments from people which expose their self-centered perspective. For example, it is pretty amazing when someone says, “Why can’t that person speak English?!” The most appalling part of this is that they are saying this not in America, but in a foreign country! (I still shake […]
The Burden of One Man
AP Photo Yesterday’s inaugural ceremony was pretty impressive. You can truly feel that something incredible was happening. Not only was history was being made, but there was a sense of unity in the National Mall. In all the news reports and even on the radio, people were commenting about how things […]
The 2009 Presidential Inauguration
AP Photo The tides are changing. The thought of having our first African-American president was unimaginable 20 or 30 years ago. But here we are making history. These are exciting times. Today was the inauguration of our 44th president, Barack Obama. Due to our global staff meeting, I was not able […]
MLK 2009
This year’s Martin Luther King, Jr’s celebration will be like none other. It is amazing how key moments in history intersect with current events. With the inauguration of our first African-American president tomorrow, King’s dream of equality and freedom is becoming a reality. Who would have ever imagined that on the nation’s capital, where King […]
Reflections on the 2009 Retreat
We finished off the retreat today. As I was driving back home with my family (the 2 ladies were sleeping), I had some time to reflect on the retreat. First of all, I was thankful for our worship times. God graciously allowed us to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (Jn 4:24). There is […]
HMCC Joint Winter Retreat 2009
I’m pumped for our annual congregational winter retreat. We will have HMCC of Chicago join us again this year. The theme for this year is, “Poured Out.” We have been praying that God would pour out his anointing over us at this retreat so that we can then, pour ourselves out […]
History Will Tell a Different Story
White House Press President Bush gave his farewell speech tonight. I was able to watch it via the internet several hours after it was delivered. It was very interesting that in light of all the criticism he has received over the last 8 years of his presidency, he wanted to somewhat define his own legacy. […]
The Chosen Vessel
Painting by Muncie Indiana This morning I came across a poem that reminded me that God is in the business of dumbfounding people. Sometimes we think we are smarter and stronger than we really are – talk about the need for a reality check. This is why, after all our calculations […]
Family, Faith, and Football
US Presswire Tony Dungy made it official. He is retiring. After 13 seasons of coaching (6 years with Tampa Bay and 7 years with Indianapolis), he decided that it was time. He was so well liked and everyone spoke so highly of him. He ranks 19th in the all-time coaching list […]
Some Thoughts on Fasting
Ever since college I have made fasting a regular part of my spiritual discipline. It really has been a journey for me. The journey has had lots of ups and downs. It ranged from hating it with a passion to enjoying the time of purification and dependence on God. Now that we are fully underway […]
Gator-Nation?
AP Photo I did stay up and watched not only the championship game, but I watched the post-game interviews and comments. There were the black strips for the eyes with John 3:16, the “I want to thank Jesus, my Lord and Savior” comments, but the thing that captured my attention was […]
A Leadership Moment
AP Photo As President Bush is coming to a close of his tenure in the Oval Office, he called together all the living president together with the president-elect Obama for lunch at the White House. Regardless of your political persuasion, what President George W. Bush did yesterday was a powerful illustration […]
Photojournalism at Its Best
There is something powerful about photos and pictures and how they are able to capture a moment in history. The famous phrase, “a picture is worth a thousand words” is so aptly used to describe how a single picture can tell a powerful story. When a single picture is able to move me, then I […]
Preparing for “The Awakening Movement”
There has been a lot of discussion on this journey that our church will be taking with other churches around the world. For 21 days, we will join the movement of God’s people fasting and praying together. As we start off this new year, we are reminded that we need to depend on God for […]