When I was in high school, I got the best job opportunity. It was the opportunity to work maintenance at the school. Doesn’t that sound good to you? Then you are not a 15-year-old boy with a driver’s permit and the hopes of driving the school’s truck and tractor all summer before he turned 15 years old. I figured I would be driving the tractor out on the fields to pick up the watering apparatus, a...  Read More

INTRODUCTIONThe following is a guide to help facilitate discussion. Feel free to add or subtract or change questions to fit the conversation, and pray for the Spirit to lead in all things.OPENHow would you describe your relationship with God right now? What are some verbs that describe your current level of faith? How does this season compare to other seasons of your life? Why?HEADWe covered sever...  Read More

Happy are those who make the LORD their trust, who do not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after false gods. —Psalm 40:4Have you ever felt like going to church was a little like going to school? That was my experience growing up. I had the privilege of going to a church that was connected to a University, and was taught by pastors who were erudite, deeply read, and pretty significant theo...  Read More

Trust is hard. It is difficult for us to trust one another, to trust institutions, to trust our spouses even. When I do premarital counseling with a couple we talk about intention and how they need to always trust the intention of their partner. While their partner may do something terribly painful to them, if they trust the intent of the other person who made the mistake, they will get through it...  Read More

Let me be CLEAR, we should think about God, and we should even seek to think correctly about God. But we are super complex beings. We have big brains, and we have deep spiritual thoughts and experiences. We ponder things like the meaning of life and what Cheetos are actually made of. We seek the divine and the profane all at the same time. We struggle with sin and we triumph over it. Some of you r...  Read More

Here is a question or two to ponder; does our understanding of God limit God? Is God beholden to the words that we say about God? I guess another way to ask the question is to ask if we create God in the image of our words, or even our own image. What?I know that is confusing. We clearly don’t make images or idols of God for ourselves, but sometimes, our words try to capture God just as much as wo...  Read More