For the first time in years I stayed up to make sure 2020 was really leaving the building. It was a moral victory if nothing else.
The new year always marks a new year for me because it’s my birthday.
Read moreYear end thoughts
For the first time in years I have kept a paper calendar (more as a diary) consistently. I let it be a place I recorded what I did rather than things to do. So, I took a look back.
Read moreTeach us to mark our days
A prayer given at the graveside service for my father-in-law:
O God, whose days are without end, and whose mercies cannot be numbered: Make us, we pray, deeply aware of the shortness and uncertainty of human life; and let your Holy Spirit lead us in holiness and righteousness all our days; that, when we shall have served you in our generation, we may be gathered to our ancestors, having the testimony of a good conscience; in the communion of the Catholic Church; in the confidence of certain faith; in the comfort of a reasonable, religious, and holy hope; in favor with you, our God; and in perfect charity wiht the world. All this we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The silliness of sports
I watched the Super Bowl for only one reason on Sunday: My beloved Kansas City Chiefs were miraculously in it. Fifty year drought. No lie. This was a once in a lifetime event for me and I decided not to miss it.
Read moreFocus
It’s a bad pun and I fell into it before I realized it. Looking ahead to next year I have realized that the Lord has brought me a gift in this time period. The past two years and the year ahead are pivotal.
It is a moving away from the hectic scramble and stress our current culture has fallen into and a move into the purpose of what the end goal is all about. In the next 20 years, what will be the work the Lord has for me? How am I to finish well?
Of course, the word that comes to me is: “Focus”. Then, the realization that next year is 2020, and, well, you see where the pun lands.
Yet, is that not a great theme?
Read moreOne year
One year ago we walked out of our house in Minneapolis for the last time. Our truck was packed and headed to Alabama. Life was about to shift in a major way. Read more
Reflecting on reading
I read or listened to 37 books this year, if I’m counting correctly. Here are a few that stood out to me. Read more
Four key questions about life
What is reality?
Who is well-off or blessed?
Who is a truly good person?
How does one become a truly good person?
None of these questions Dallas Willard posed in his life are about the “most sacred contemporary idol, feelings.” It is about the realm of knowledge. Knowledge was what Dallas was after.
— Becoming Dallas Willard by Gary Moon
Day One
When we began this journey away from Heights Church and ministry in the Twin Cities, I thought about Paul’s journey to Troas in Acts 16. Initially, I thought the journey to Troas would include the move to Alabama. A few weeks ago the Lord let me know the journey to Troas was the four months of preparation for this move. The move to Alabama is the next step. Read more
Some last words
We are now down to TWO DAYS before movers show up and haul out the last of our worldly possessions.
Tomorrow… Sunday… I get the privilege of preaching one last time at Heights Church.
I have talked about how I have loved the city where I was able to live the past 20 years. But to pastor this church for almost 20 years… I need a book to explain how I love this church! The change that has happened in that time period… and all that is possible in the days ahead as they ready a transition to their next pastor… my heart is full.
All that God has done in the lives of these incredible people, and what that will mean in Columbia Heights for years to come, creates thankfulness in my heart.
Thank you, Heights Church.
