Photo on allposters.com Recently, my wife asked me when I started drinking coffee. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I started drinking it at a very early age – at the age of 10 years old. Now, before all of you start judging my parents, let […]
What is God Looking For?
Photo from visualphotos.com I still remember the talk that I had with our associate pastor at HMCC of Ann Arbor. We were in the midst of trying to finalize a list of candidates for our leadership team, but then we went on a rabbit trail. Yes, I confess. Rabbit trails are […]
Painful Process of Transformation
Photo from oldpathspaved.org I confess that I am one of those people that do not take things readily at face value. You can call me cynical or skeptical, but it takes a lot of cold hard facts and a good logical argument for me to believe. This has been a weakness […]
The Reward of Reading
Photo on backtothebestbooks.com Recently, the kids and I had a talk. We decided that throughout the summer they will read a handful of key books in exchange for their allowance. I first got this idea from John Maxwell, the leadership guru. I heard a talk that he gave about how his […]
Why New York City?
Some of you might have already heard about the possibility of starting a HMCC LIFE Group in New York City this summer, which will hopefully turn into a church plant one day. One thing I value very highly is the dissemination of information. To be more exact, I value the dissemination […]
A Sinner’s Song
Back in 2008, I was introduced to a song called, “Healer” by our worship team. When I first heard the song, there was something about it that gripped me. Not only was the words of the song powerful, but I realized that there was an anointing on it. Therefore, I told the worship team […]
Paramount Sermon Series
Photo by HMCC-AA Publication Team I am so excited to start a whole new sermon series on the Book of Colossians throughout the months of May through August. It has been awhile since we have systematically studied a whole book together on Sundays. But the more I began to pray through […]
The Pomp, Pageantry, and Preparation?
TIME Magazine Cover It is that time of the year again – the weather gets warmer, the flowers start to bloom, and the winter clothes are put away. This is when you know the spring season has officially arrived in Michigan (people in Michigan have been conditioned not to think it […]
Leadership Lessons from a Navy SEAL
Photo from Courtesy Company There was a point in my life where I would daydream about being part of the Navy SEALs or even part of the Delta Force. There was always something about war movies or even documentaries on war that fascinated me. I think it was the sense of […]
Reflections on Easter 2011
Photo from Widescreen Wallpapers Now that the craziness of this past weekend is all over, I had some time to just sit down and reflect on everything that God accomplished. First of all, my heart is filled with thankfulness. The longer I do ministry, the more I am reminded that we […]
Innovators, Idealists, and Influencers (Pt 2)
I have been greatly encouraged to see God placing many future innovators and influencers in our church. As soon as I posted my entry on “Innovators, Idealists, and Influencers” (I3) yesterday, I received an e-mail with a video link. As I was watching it, I was reminded of several more things: 1) I3’s are […]
Innovators, Idealists, and Influencers
Photo from www.smithsonianmag.com I have an insatiable appetite for information. Couple that with a hunger and fascination with history and you get a person who is constantly reading, discovering, and asking questions. Sometimes my curiosity frustrates people (sorry); and it is often times misunderstood for my knack of “cornering people” to […]
Strategy for Planting Churches
Created by Paul Bulter, an intern at Facebook Recently, there have been an increasing number of people asking me, “How do we, as a church, decide which city or campus to plant a church in?” I think in light of our 2020 Vision, we are trying to come up with some […]
Another Run for the Bulls
In the 1980’s, I grew up watching the Chicago Bulls. After being drafted third overall by the Bulls in 1984, Michael Jordan stormed the NBA. The 1990’s was a special era for the Bulls. Not only did they achieve the best single season record in the NBA (72 wins), but they had two 3-peats […]