As you may have noticed in the last several days, I am trying to be more intentional and frequent in my blog posts. I wanted to take a few minutes today to reflect on this summer.
I am sitting here asking myself, “Wait! Is it really August 28?” I find it hard to believe that in [...]

This morning I am sitting in Tony’s lake house on Eagle Lake, watching the sunrise and reflecting on the week. It seems like this week has been much longer than seven days. We started out with a weekend retreat at Luther Seminary where we spent a few days with Sara Barton. It was a chance [...]

I have not blogged in a few weeks, so I am going to try to reflect on what I have experienced over the last couple of weeks…
From August 7-14, I was in Cincinnati with 26 RCC students, a handful of adults, and a team from the Warrenton (Virginia) Church of Christ. It was an incredible [...]

Why do we have such a hard time controlling our tongue? This week in reCharge we considered James’ words about this subject. Here is what James had to say…
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in [...]

What is the relationship between faith and works? As we look at what James says in James 2:14-26, we need to begin by seeking an understanding of salvation. Salvation is already, right now, and not yet.
When we are baptized into Christ, we experience the already sense of salvation. In baptism we receive the Holy Spirit, [...]

This week in reCharge, we focused on James 2:1-13, where James discusses the idea of favoritism. Here is the text we considered…
My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?
For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in [...]

I have spent the last week on campus at Rochester College for Elevate. In one of our evening youth group devotionals, we discussed the fact that we are in a spiritual battle.
A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be [...]

I just finished reading a book by Richard Foster titled, Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of Christian Faith.  In this book, Foster examines what he calls the six great traditions of the Christian faith: Contemplative, Holiness, Charismatic, Social Justice, Evangelical, and Incarnational.
I appreciated the level of research and reflection that was obviously [...]

I have been reading the book Do Hard Things by twin brothers Alex & Brett Harris. After reading this book, I feel that it should be a must-read for all teenagers. One of the amazing things about this book is that it is written for teenagers by teenagers. It is a call for a teenage [...]

Last Sunday, several teens and I led a class for some of the elementary-aged children. One of the songs we sang with the children was “The Lord’s Army.”
This got me to thinking. How many of us really are in “The Lord’s Army?” You might wonder what I mean, so let me explain.
When you are in [...]