When it comes to our modern-day ideas about kings and kingdoms, experiences vary. For those of us born and raised as Americans, kings are something from our Revolutionary history lessons, or from popular fictional TV programs and tabloids featuring William, Harry, and Kate.…
We live in the Kingdom of God, even when pain overwhelms us. Christine’s mom had been sick for a long time, so hospice sent her home to be comfortable and surrounded by family. We’d had numerous conversations with Christine and her siblings.…
Season 2, Episode 41: Daring to Live Supernaturally Welcome to part three of our series on the supernatural. We started off by defining the supernatural. Then last week we tackled the ugly underbelly of the supernatural, plus how you can spot red flags.…
How do we build and nurture a relationship with a person we can’t see, touch, hear, smell, or (!) taste? We’re told the goal of the Christian life is a close relationship with Jesus, but how do we do that without the benefit of our senses?…
Knighthood. Kingdoms. Castles, kings, and queens. They’re all very noble—very The Crown. After binge-watching that show on Netflix, I spent some serious time on Google to discover what it actually means to be knighted by a royal. Because if the Kingdom of God is, well, a kingdom, then surely some parallels must exist.…
Season 2, Episode 40: Spotting Supernatural Red Flags From gold dust falling from the sky to people giving a word from God without permission, encountering the supernatural can be confusing (and even hurtful) sometimes. This week we kick-off part 2 of our series on the supernatural (Missed episode 1?…
“I still tell people about how great and accepting our youth group was,” a 30-year-old recently shared with me. When I was his youth pastor years ago, “Mike” never took the big step of becoming a Christian. Back then he described himself as an atheist-meets-Wiccan.…
When our teenagers graduate from high school, our “shepherd” calling means they don’t graduate from our lives. Most churches offer very little for college-age students—that means your voice and presence in their lives is still primary. We care and connect with our kids, no matter how old they get!…
In this week’s Whiteboard Wednesday experiment, Rick explores five crucial practices that make it possible to “go into the cave” on behalf of students or their parents—five things that give us the foundation to offer real help in times of great trauma, tragedy, or challenge.…
Revisiting a Whiteboard Wednesday experiment, Rick explores five crucial practices that make it possible to “go into the cave” on behalf of students or their parents—five things that give us the foundation to offer real help in times of great trauma, tragedy, or challenge.…
