My boy’s can “fondly” remember the time we drove from our driveway heading to an undisclosed location on vacation. I decided in advance not to tell them where we were going, but to let it be a surprise. We were actually heading to St. Louis, but to complicate the situation, I decided to drive all side roads. We went through what seemed to be every back road between our house and the hotel. What should have been a four and half hour trip ended up being an eight-hour trip. The boys complained frequently, which I expected, but when the trip was over, they realized we had experienced a great time just being together.

The people Joshua was supposed to be leading were not going in the direction he was supposed to be taking them. The Israelites had fallen to the ways of the world, following other gods, and choosing to reject their commitments made to God and to Joshua.

Thanks to Cross Point for allowing our team at Grace Community Church to learn from them. Pete Wilson and Jenni Catron have assembled a superstar group of people that love Jesus and truly desire to reach their city for Christ. Today we brought our staffs together for a joint staff retreat.

When you worth is in held captive by an imperfect person, you will find yourself facing unmet expectations many times. While I believe strongly that each spouse has a responsibility to develop him or herself personally, the fact remains that your spouse will never totally meet all your needs.

Last Sunday I spoke about the real meaning of worship. Here’s the message in case you’ve missed it.

Today I have a fun dream stretch. I am curious what some of these dreams will be. At my church, Grace Community Church, we are seeing God do amazing things. This post is a result of that activity of Go

Stop for just a minute and think of one couple whose marriage you would love your marriage to look like. Ask them if you can hang out with them, exchange emails with them, or if they will make themselves available to your marriage. Let their iron sharpen your iron.

If you follow my blog regularly, then you know that I’m trying to spur people to dream bigger dreams. Not only do I believe dreaming is a healthy practice, but I believe we need your dreams. Obviously we cannot life in dream world all the time, and I spend far more energy writing about accomplishing dreams than dreaming dreams, but I believe the world needs some more dreamers. I believe God encourages this process. If you don’t believe me, read my first post on this issue HERE.

In my opinion, if a person is concentrating more on the discipline and his or her ability to keep a rule then he or she is still living under the law system. If, however, one is concentrating on the focus of Christ then he or she is truly living by grace. That should always be encouraged.

That’s one reason I was motivated to promote a new ministry venture I recently learned about. My blogger friend Kent Shaffer’s wife, Evie has assembled a creative initiative to allow artists to use their talent to help other charities. A Beautiful Idea (ABI) allows artists to showcase and sell their unique product, with 100% of the sale of that item going to charity. This can be ongoing, or a one-time deal.