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G.R.O.W.

GROW Acronym I had to throw together a speech for a parenting class and for a parenting educators class last week. Both were graduating. The applications were slightly different as were the illustrations, but the outline was the same. Keep growing. You can't be of much use to anyone, your children or your students,…
Pain and Passion

Show me your pain and I will show you your passion. It is the same and it is transforming, first, by transforming itself … into joy! Without the pain, there is no passion, Without the passion, there is no joy. Without the joy … Without the JOY!?!? You must be kidding me! Without the joy,…
Napkin Thoughts — Please Pass the Peas (“P”s) for a New Venture.

I posted this on Facebook for my new friends at Heald College – Fresno, who I was honored to speak with yesterday at the Mentoring group. This is from my napkin … some "P"s for starting a new business or non-profit venture (or any bold initiative): 1. A Purposeful Product — What are you bringing…
These words are a big deal in Ezekiel's prophecies: "This is what the Sovereign Lord says …" and "… you will know that I am the Lord.’ ” Sometimes it is "they will know." Lots of really tough love in this book … lots. It seems like sometimes God is saying, "I will strip you…
Yes, it is Halloween – not my favorite holiday – not my favorite season as a rule —- getting used to things getting darker quicker. It always gets better. All these weird costumes. I can cope with Halloween Baptize it, shake it around, redefine it, utilize it, do what you will. It is what it…
To Blog or Not to Blog

Some say that blogging has faded in impact possibilities with the rise of social networking popularity. I am not sure about that, but anyone who follows me can see that most of my posting lately has been on Facebook where the feedback is immediate and conversation around topics is easy. However, even when I do…
Living Justly in an Unjust World

The blog I've not written, but know that I must has a title and a theme thus, a thrust … to be just. In a word it is to love that which is above us, surrounds us, envelops us, has created and is creating us and to love those who also are created and are…
Reflections on Following Jesus, Culture Wars, Loving People, and Radical Discipleship

Today, I am renewed in the knowledge that my steps are ordered of the Lord. I am in covenant with Him and with His people. I have been called to be peculiar and I have no higher calling than to follow Jesus. That is the choice I make by grace and the identity I bear…
God in the Garden

It is planting season again. It is my third year of gardening and I keep expanding, experimenting, and extending my faith. I find that I pray differently while tending my garden, planting my seeds, pulling my weeds – Yes, MY weeds, breaking the soil, and watering, watering, watering. I look and listen more and talk…
Bearing His Cross – Part 1

I have been preaching a series of series(es), progressing through a continuum of red words that I have called The Red Zone. They are the words of Jesus in the Gospels (and most likely those quoted in Acts and the Epistles). I have come to the Crucifixion and will break it into three or four…