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This is a now a regular feature on the blog.  Usually on Mondays, I get caught up on my favorite podcasts and this usually results in a lot of tweeting on that day.  However, if you are at work and not checking Twitter during that time, you might miss some of the great truth being shared by others.  So, I am sharing some of best tweets from the previous week which include great wisdom and truth. You Are Not Condemned: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” (Romans 8:1) @JL_Martin  Yesterday at @SDYCJKC a few mods chanted "SC Warriors" for me on Tabor campus to go to lunch quicker. :) @SterlingCLife @TaborCollege If Jesus drank down the cup of God's wrath for sin on the cross, there is no wrath left to pour on sinners who are in Christ. You are free! @ZackJamesCole The gospel is not about what we have done or are called to do, but the announcement of God’s saving work in Jesus Christ. @MichaelHorton_ Will I see...

Do you remember your first date with your spouse?  I do.  It was today (January 28, 1995) when Bethany and I had our first date.  I remember it well because as a man I was a little slow knowing it was even a date. Interested?  Keep reading. Bethany and I met the first day of orientation at Sterling College in front of Culbertson Auditorium.  We spent a lot of time together because Bethany knew my roommates.  I would have started dating her immediately, but she was not as easily convinced.  Therefore, I determined that dating was out of the picture. However, during interterm we had a class together called "Civil War" and we were out of class before any other interterm class so we spent a lot of time talking, playing ping pong and pool in the snack bar, and sitting on the couches in the Student Union.  I had a job interview in Wichita and so I had asked Bethany (since she lived in Wichita) if she would ride along to get me to my interview and fo...

Do you think that you are unable to study God's Word?  Are parts of the Bible difficult to understand?  Do you look forward to Bible Study or Sunday so you can learn more from the Bible?   What if you did not have to wait until someone taught you the Bible, but you could do it on your own?  You can do it!  The same Holy Spirit who guides me into all truth is dwelling inside of you as well as a believer.  If you still have doubts, a great book to help you become more comfortable with studying the Bible on your own is The New How to Study Your Bible by Kay Arthur.  It goes through the inductive Bible study method that I learned at Sterling College from Erma Prutow and I also teach in the Go Deeper Hour.   I would encourage you today to start in John or Ephesians and begin studying His Word throughout the week so you can grow in your relationship with Jesus and be empowered to make decisions throughout your day.

Last week, I was reading several books.  One thought jumped out at me because of the different perspectives/backgrounds of the two authors.  My wife reminded me of a saying we learned from Erma Prutow at Sterling College.  Erma said "Truth is truth."  She meant the source does not matter because all truth is God's truth. Here is the summary of what I learned from these authors: in our battle against sin and behavior, we have the order mixed up in the church.  We try to fix behavior so that we can better focus on God.  Whereas, God's Word teaches we need to fix on our eyes on Jesus first so that behavior will be fixed.  Here are the quotes from Matt Chandler and Joseph Prince: "What ends up happening to so many of us is that we spend so much time trying to put sin to death that we don't spend enough time striving to know God deeply, trying to gaze upon the wonder of Jesus Christ and have that transform our affections to the point where our love an...

Here are pictures from Sterling College Homecoming 2011.  All of the ladies in this picture were roommates during their years at Sterling.  Ed & I roomed together all 4 years.  Ed, Barry, Jenia & I all were business majors so we had a ton of classes together.  Robin & Barry have an RP Church connection.  That is all to say, we were connected to each other in many ways and are good friends. These are the kids from these 3 marriages.  Molly & Gracie (in green Sterling shirts) & Sydney (red Sterling shirt on right) are Barry & Jenia's kids.   Caden (only other boy except Mitchell), Lydia (in pink on front row) & Kelsey (back row in red shirt) are Ed & Robin's kids.  The other four are mine.  They had fun playing together today on inflatables, games on Cooper Lawn, at petting zoos, at a football game, and a cookout after the game. It was a beautiful day to spend with friends.  Needless to say, the ...

I am so excited to be headed to Sterling College Homecoming tomorrow.  My kids are just about as excited as we are.  We didn't make it back last year because Bethany had to work at Fall Fest which is Bethel's Homecoming.  Boo! It just felt weird to be on Bethel's campus when we really wanted to be at our alma mater.  Tomorrow will include a parade, pancake feed, games for the kids on campus, football game, cookout at friend's house, and of course seeing friends from the college days. Sterling will always hold special memories for me.  It was where I met my beautiful wife the first day on campus and experienced love at first sight.  She was a little slower to realize it about me.  This is where my faith in Christ grew deeper.  It is also where I received a great education in business/accounting as well as a great foundation in Christian Education.  It is where I made some of my best friends.  It is where God orchestrated a call into min...

Today we were supposed to fly out of Atlanta at 4. Our first flight was canceled & I quickly got on my phone & rebooked a later flight on an app on my phone. While waiting we met a group from CrossPoint Church who were returning from Kenya. We started talking because I had on a Sterling College shirt. The guy asked when I graduated because his brother went there. Found out it was Lance Albin (brother of Curt & brother in law of Katie). They had already missed one flight & were ready to be home after a 2 week mission trip. It was fun talking with them & we offered to give up our seats if it would allow them to get home. We went to our gate but found out we were confirmed but did not have seats. Therefore we were eligible to receive $400 in Delta dollars, a hotel, & food vouchers. Now we hope to get home & see our kids but glad to meet new friends in the body of Christ.

Today has been one packed today. But even though it was very busy, it has been a blessed day too. This morning, I had a meeting at Tabor College to discuss Junior Camp activities. I went to my closet and the only long sleeve shirt I had was a Sterling College shirt. I proudly wore my Sterling shirt to my meeting and laughed to myself while on campus. It was a good meeting and a good reminder about how the Body of Christ must work together and use the gifts God has given us. We made a lot of progress and I left blessed. Another part of the blessing is the prayers that I was able to pray as I drive. I must focus better as I drive because I have some of my best conversations with God while in the car. I was able to get back to Hesston in time to get some exercise to play noon basketball. Busy day, but so far so good. Then I had the opportunity to head to the elementary school to see Mackenzie's Shop. For those not from Hesston , the 3rd graders do a unit on money and get to...

15 years ago today, I took Bethany on our first date. Let me share the "complicated" story. I can honestly say that I experienced love at first sight when I saw Bethany on the first day of orientation at Sterling College. She did not have the same reaction as I did. However, I really had decided after hearing about Bethany from my college roommate that she was someone that I could be interested in. But you might be thinking, "Does orientation begin in January?" The answer is no. I was very interested in Bethany from day one, but I had a lot of changes that needed to occur in my life personally before she would ever be interested in me. I learned a great deal from Bethany over the coming months. She explained that she would never date anyone that she could not marry. Wow! That is serious. And at the time, I was not the kind of guy that she was interested in marrying. Spiritually, I was not very mature. My worldview was a little skewed. This forced me t...