Encourage one another… “When do I feel most encouraged? What’s happening to me and around me that creates that sense of being encouraged?” I feel most encouraged when someone takes a moment and reaches out. They enter into my world, and they say with words or actions. “I care about you.” “I am with you.”... Continue Reading →

I enjoy asking questions. I enjoy listening to what others say in response to those questions. I’ve never met any person who didn’t want to talk about themselves or express their opinion when given the chance. Asking questions and listening to people gives me a little window into their soul and about who they are.... Continue Reading →

"When I felt secure, I said, 'I will never be shaken.'" (1) When everything goes smoothly or is going well, I have noticed a decrease in the intensity and frequency to which I seek the presence of Jesus. The easier and more comfortable my life becomes, the less I pray, the less I read Scripture.... Continue Reading →

Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remold your minds from within and change the way you think. Romans 12.2 (Phillips) Do your utmost to enter through the narrow gate. The wide gate is easy that leads to disaster and most people are going that way. The... Continue Reading →

Written by a Friar in a Nebraska Monastery If I had my life to live over again, I’d try to make more mistakes next time. I would relax, I would limber up, I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I know of very few things I would take seriously. I would take... Continue Reading →

Mal McSwain and I were sitting in rocking chairs at Windy Gap. We were watching children play.    “Eric, if you want to know what joy looks like. Go watch children play.” So, I did. I paid attention to children playing. I paid more attention to watching my own kids play. And when I looked,... Continue Reading →

So, my family collects animals. An outsider would think we are a black market, underground animal rescue mission that has set up a front posing as a white, middle class, suburban family. It goes like this:             "Can we get this kitten at the humane society?"             "No. No way. Hell no. No." Two days... Continue Reading →

When a friend calls to me from the road And slows his horse to a meaning walk, I don’t stand still and look around On all the hills I haven’t hoed, And shout from where I am, What is it? No, not as there is a time to talk. I thrust my hoe in the... Continue Reading →

I had been on staff with Young Life for about six months, when I picked up the phone. The shaky teenage voice on the other end was “Paul”. Paul was in 11th grade, and as best he could, he told me they just found his mom and she had taken her own life. My heart... Continue Reading →

Thoreau wrote about how he would need to go stand by a fire every night “to burn off the dross of the world that had collected that day.”  Whitman speaks of trying to get away from “the clank of the world.”  The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome warning it of how the... Continue Reading →

You can throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon him, for you are his personal concern. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Anxiety and worry are the result of fear rooted in pride. Worry gets heavy when you try to carry your own burdens rather than letting Jesus carry... Continue Reading →

Where our presence loves better than words... A few years ago, I sat in rocking chairs on an old wooden deck with a group of high school guys. Then Tyler began to talk about his mom and her battle with cancer. And how, like Sherman’s campaign through Georgia, it had marched through his family’s life;... Continue Reading →

I want to write a little about knowing and being known. This is part one. These posts will be short since most of us have the attention span of a goldfish…22 seconds. (According to Ted Lasso) Jesus answered, “Don’t you know me Philip, even after I have been with you such a long time?” I... Continue Reading →

Then Jesus asked him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another all will be thrown down." Jesus is most likely giving them a heads-up about what is going to take place around 70 A.D when Rome attacks and completely levels Jerusalem. But my thoughts take me to... Continue Reading →

While thinking a little more deeply about my life…peeling back the layers, I wonder how much I have missed, taken for granted, or not even noticed at all. Routines and habits set in and become stiff and cemented…ways of perceiving life get skewed and fragmented. I need to get my work done, to get through... Continue Reading →

In order to walk closely with Jesus I must make it a habit of looking for him, knowing where he is, and being aware of his movements. Paying attention allows me to see and hear more clearly. I must use every option I have to remove unnecessary distractions that keep me from seeing and hearing…that... Continue Reading →

Jesus never became a Christian nor asked anyone else to become one. He didn’t come to start a new religion called Christianity. Jesus came to draw all people to himself. There is no other name under heaven in which men can be saved. No work in the New Testament was ever performed under the banner... Continue Reading →

What is a Christian? It is a person in whom Christ dwells. Christ in you. It means that you have a personal intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. You have believed and put your faith in Christ as your Savior. It means your allegiance and loyalty is completely placed in Jesus. And your new identity is... Continue Reading →

Currently, I am understanding more and more that the goal of my life is about intimacy with Jesus. It is Jesus; nothing more than that. So, I long to make Jesus the focal point of my life with all other things being an outflow of that relationship. And when I’m in his presence there is... Continue Reading →

I am writing this blog…somewhat reluctantly. I honestly didn’t want to do it…or to give anyone the idea that I think I have something so important to say about anything. But a few close friends have bullied me and harassed me to do it. So, in order to get them to shut up and leave... Continue Reading →

Nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus. At the end of the day, if God is for us…with us…in us. Who, then can be or stand against us? Who can intervene or screw up this truth? No one. Nothing. No thing. Nothing...not…      The loss of your job Another month of wondering if... Continue Reading →