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It’s December and Christmas is almost here. I’m a huge Christmas fan. I love how neighborhoods and shopping malls explode in color. I walk through the shops savoring the decorations and soaking in the holiday music. For me, there’s a silent “wow” about the whole season. I know some downplay the pomp of Christmas. They’re concerned that we’ve bought into the values of our consumer culture. I say, “Bah! Humbug!” Let’s enjoy the wild frenzy of lights and decorations. Let’s be generous about giving gifts….

I’m an HGTV junkie. I love watching home remodeling shows. No matter the quality of the home about to be “flipped” there’s typically one thing you can be assured of — there’s always a hidden cost to the home. Termites lie hidden in the walls, the foundation is sloping, or mold is covered by wallpaper. These hidden costs build anticipation to the show’s plot line but they’re disappointments to the remodelers. Disciplemaking has a hidden cost. We rightly extoll the thrill of the Great Commission…

Disciplemaking is like ballroom dancing. There’s an elegance and structure to this beautiful dance of growth. In traditional ballroom dancing, there’s an established leader and a follower. In traditional disciplemaking, the “disciplemaker” typically takes the lead while the one being “discipled” follows.  Just as ballroom dancing differs from couple to couple so no disciplemaking ministry is exactly alike. Like the dancers we have varying styles. One disciplemaking style follows a structured, logical approach to helping someone grow. There’s almost a prescribed choreography to this dance….

A Gray Hair Manifesto Movie westerns traditionally have this iconic scene — the hero slowly rides off into the sunset never to be seen again. As we age, it’s easy to think that’s how our lives will be — we retire and slowly ride off into the sunset never to be seen again. Instead of embracing our age we depart from life, looking for the sunset to retire to. There’s no sunsets in the future for this gray-haired alongsider! We will all face a sunset….

“Trump!” you yell as you triumphantly lay down your hand of cards. You win the hand  and the game is over. Our Lord has a trump card to play when it comes to leadership. Winning at His leadership “game” requires a different “hand” than is typically played. What’s the trump card that wins His leadership game? The card may surprise you. If leadership is defined by whether one has a following then this leader was head and shoulders above everyone else. He took a group…

Finding a radio station in my new car shouldn’t be hard. The car is great but the salesperson didn’t tell me how to tune to a radio station. I discovered that listening to the radio required an owner’s manual. In my 2014 car, you push a button for AM or FM and find the channel by turning a dial. In my new one, you first go to the home screen, pull down the menu, select AM or FM, and scroll down all the available channels…

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. You know those missionary letters and updates you receive from people like me? We follow a simple formula describing a dramatic ministry success story that encourages you to keep praying and giving.  While it’s important to celebrate God’s successes we seldom talk about our missteps or failures, our OOPS. After all, who wants to give to a ministry that broadcasts failures. Fifty years of experience has taught me that failures lead to wisdom. In fact,…

This was my dream job. I was invited to join a city-reaching team and teach at a Bible college. It would require a move from the midwest to the northwest. Peggy and I flew out to meet the staff and experience the setting. There was just one small problem. This particular city was notorious for its rain. Rain isn’t so bad, it’s the mould that moisture produces and Peggy has a severe mold allergy. By the third day of our visit, she was in bed…

Death can be God’s classroom for learning.  When my mother passed away a decade ago, one verse lingered in my mind. It’s a little obscure passage in 1 Thessalonians 4:11: “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and to work with your hands . . . so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders” (NIV). What was God’s lesson for me? My parents “lived in the quiet” literally “working with their hands.” My dad was a butcher and my mom…

My son gave me President Obama’s recent book The Promised Land for Christmas. I asked for the book out of curiosity. I wanted to know, “What’s the story behind the man?” I was pleasantly surprised. I discovered a leader who was honest, principled, and a good father and husband. While I disagreed with some of his policies and political assumptions, he was operating from a patriotic desire. I concluded that he was neither the savior that the liberals hoped for nor the devil-in-disguise of conservatives….