The Gift Part 1
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Six years ago on this very stage, sat three comfy chairs occupied by a pastor and a married couple, all completely unaware what God was about to unfold. A few weeks before, pastor Aaron asked if he could publicly interview us about our story. Honestly, my first response was an emphatic “NO”. He asked me if I would pray about it and the next thing I know I’m choosing to be…
read moreThere aren’t many things more powerful than a second chance extended and a second chance redeemed. This story of Maurice Alexander is an amazing picture of what can happen when we seek to be people of the second chance.
read moreA few months ago, I was running late one morning (not unusual) and needed to swap cars with Trish before I could head to my meeting. Trish called me and said, “Your car needed gas, so I am filling it up for you. Why don’t you meet me at Kroger and you can leave from there. It will save you from having to stop and get gas.” You are thinking…
read moreWe all have a list. You know that list. It is that mental list of all the things your husband does wrong. It is that scorecard you keep so your wife will know how much she owes you. It is that list you have carefully saved and tucked away so you can pull it out at just the right moment in your next argument. Our list is our ammunition. Our list is…
read moreWhen you grow up in church, there is really only one unpardonable sin. The Bible says that it is blasphemy, but in the church world I grew up in, it was adultery. When Trisha and I left ministry in 2005 due to my affair, I had no idea what the future held, but I was sure of one thing: God was done with me. Over the next three years, God began to…
read moreIt began with a race. In 2012, a friend asked me (Trisha) to run a half-marathon with her on behalf of Natalie Grant and Natalie’s organization, Abolition International. Abolition International exists to fight human trafficking. A major partner and sponsor of the race was a radio station in Florida, TheJOY FM. The fact that the race took place at Disney World and was for a good cause was a win-win…
read moreI spent most of my Christian life feeling like God was getting a pretty good deal with me. I accepted Christ at church camp when I was 10 years old because the speaker told us if we didn’t we would go to hell. I didn’t want to go to hell, so I raised my hand. I grew up in church, went to Bible college and became a pastor. God saved…
read moreThe word, “unconditional” is an amazing word. It isn’t dependent on performance. It isn’t dependent on ability. It isn’t biased. It doesn’t have favorites. It isn’t based on what one deserves or doesn’t deserve. It can’t be earned or paid back. Unconditional is without conditions. It isn’t dependent on anything. Most of us can’t comprehend “unconditional”. We think we can, but most of the time we attach conditions to God’s…
read moreA few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to read and review the book Sons of Grace. Then last week, I sat down with the author Mark Hughes and discussed the book, the concept of grace and how he avoided divorce in his own marriage. You can check out the interview here. The book is a collection of stories of grace, redemption and second chances. It points our heart to…
read moreEvery few months, we get emails from different publishers or literary agents asking if we would be willing to review a book that their author has published. We only say yes when the book is something we are interested in or could be a resource for you. A few weeks ago, we got an email about a book called Sons of Grace. Honestly, I had never heard of the author,…
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