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Today, Mackenzie turns 8 years old. She has been a wonderful blessing to us. She is developing into a beautiful young girl with a caring, sensitive, and servant heart. I love her compassion and helpfulness towards others. It is hard to believe that she is already 8 years old. Let me remind (or share) how her life began. Bethany's 2nd pregnancy was going well. I remember getting the call at work when she was 32 weeks pregnant that she did not feel right. She went to the doctor and she was having contractions. They gave her medication to stop the contractions and put her on bedrest. Thanks to our wonderful parents who came and picked up Mitchell and cared for him in KS while I took care of Bethany (and she was able to take it easy without chasing a toddler around). Our church (GracePoint Community Church in Littleton, CO) was a loving and caring church and helped us in many ways through prayers, meals, and activities for Bethany to do while in bed. The doctor was pleased w

It is time to share again what books I am reading right now. Why? Because hopefully one of the titles might interest you and you would pick up the book and be challenged. One of things I learned early in seminary was that I needed to be a lifelong learner. What this means is that even though my formal education at Denver Seminary ended, I needed to continue to grow in my knowledge and experience informally. For me, I do this through conferences and observations from others in ministry, but more consistently through reading. Sidenote : I hated reading until I graduated from seminary, but now I love sitting down with a good book to help or challenge me in ministry. Here is what I am reading right now: Home Improvement: Eight Tools for Effective Parenting by Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller Spiritual Milestones by Jim & Janet Weidmann & J. Otis & Gail Ledbetter The Blessing by John Trent & Gary Smalley Unfashionable by Tullian Tchividjian The Treasure Princi

Last week, I had the wonderful opportunity to go on vacation to Branson with my family. God blessed us with two warm, sunny days at Silver Dollar City. Also know as " dolla , dolla city" by Molly. It was such a great time to relax and have fun. Our car ride down to Branson went very well and we arrived about 9:30 p.m. Then we were up and ready to head to SDC . We headed towards Powder Keg first and Mitchell and I were able to ride quickly. The girls waited and when I got off, Molly told me "I not like the fire." For those not familiar, powder keg shoots out fire when you take off. It is one of the best roller coasters I have ever ridden. We then headed to Wild Fire. Mitchell was too short last year to ride this one. He was a little nervous, but excited too. It goes upside down 5 times. He loved it! We rode it twice in a row. It was then time for the girls to pick so we headed to the Grand Exposition which has 10 family rides. There are tons of ride

In our family worship, we are focusing on God's Word. As I reflect on churches and society, one of the most disappointing and discouraging things I see is getting rid of absolute truth. What is absolute truth? Josh McDowell defines it as "that which is true for all people, for all times, for all places." So, as we talk about truth, we have been reading from Psalm 119 which focuses on God's commands and precepts. After singing together, we then moved on to our teaching time. On the first night, we focused on why we have rules. We went around the table and allowed each family member to make a rule for the table. It worked well for awhile and then the rules started to rub against each other. For example, Bethany said we must have one hand on the table and I said we needed to hold hands. The kids figured out how to do both, but these rules were starting to be a challenge. So, I asked why parents have rules? Then, I followed it up with why God has given us rules

This morning, I was reading from Numbers 11 where the Israelites complain about life. Why don't we have tastier food? This manna is getting dry and a little old day after day. God was not impressed by their complaints. It reminded me of another Scripture in Philippians 2:14 which says, "Do everything without complaining or arguing." This is a some great advice from Paul, but sometimes difficult to live out. So, are you a complainer? I tend to be a positive person, but occasionally I begin to complain to myself or to my wife. My kids (like most kids) complain about food and other things off and on throughout the day. As I read God's Word this morning, I started to wonder why we complain (we are no different than the Israelites--we would have been complaining too). What makes us complain? Here are a few things that came to mind. I complain when I feel like I am not getting what I deserve. It usually has to do with being selfish. I want something, don't g