Living Unfiltered for God

There’s something about the end of a calendar year that tends to make us very introspective. This day – New Year’s Eve – is traditionally the day I spend the most time thinking about where I’ve been… and where I’m headed. My wife and I enjoy remembering the “highlights” of the year as we prepare to embark on a brand new 12 months! While today marks the height of this process of reflecting, for us it typically starts a week or so before Christmas. Things will pop up that we’d almost forgotten, and it gives us time to digest what it all means and perhaps, what we were supposed to learn from it all. Last night, I had a thought not from 2017, but from 1987. New Year’s Eve 1987, to be exact. I was reminded of something that took place 30 years ago today, which I will share in a minute. Some other thoughts followed – what it might mean and why, that I feel, the Holy Spirit brought to mind. I’m still not entirely sure why. I was just sure that I needed to write it down. If I’m honest, I’

In recent years, there has been a lot of controversy about whether we should say, “Merry Christmas” or, “Happy Holidays” this time of year. Unfortunately, like so many things these days, it has become a divisive, political issue. Let me say from the outset, I’m solidly in the “Merry Christmas” camp. That said, I recognize that, at least from a purely religious standpoint, it does not apply to everyone. I have Jewish friends for whom, “Happy Hanukkah” would be more appropriate. But, also non-believing friends who, while they may not be followers of Jesus, still celebrate Christmas in its secular form (if that can really be a thing.) And of course, many others that fall across the spectrum. I’d like to offer here, though, a different way to think about all of this. Will you give me a few more minutes? Sitting in church this morning, as our Pastor was talking about Jesus being the fulfillment of certain Old Testament prophecies, I was struck with the following thought, “ Don’t just s

I've been reminded this weekend of one of the very first times I remember being actively aware that I was being obedient to one of God's promptings. And actually, I don't even feel like I can "take credit" for doing so, because I truly believe that I had no say in the matter. It was a situation where God literally "took the wheel", as they say. Let me explain... Many, many years ago, after a few years of floundering in college, I knew it was time for me to get my act together. I had taken a year off of school - my mother had been diagnosed with cancer an the outlook was not good. I decided to go back home to spend some time with her as well as figure out how I was going to get my schooling back on track. After she passed away, it was time. No more messing around. I needed to finish my degree and get on with my life. It was a definite 1 Corinthians 13:11 moment, although I didn't necessarily think of it as such back then. When I was a child,

We just returned from our annual trip to Florida Family CFO, a Christian family camp that my wife and I have been attending for the past 12 years. I say my wife and I, but there are lots of other family and extended family that are always there, as well. And, as the camp name implies, even a first-timer who has come by themselves becomes family very quickly. It is one of the highlights of my year to go to this place. It was there at camp four years ago when God gave me the idea to write this blog and to generally live, “Unfiltered for God.” Every year there are many stories and situations that occur that we end up talking about throughout the year. When we came back a year ago, I wrote about having Communion at 7:30 every morning on the dock with the Youth of the camp. I was blessed this year to be able to do that again, and it is a story that originated on that very same dock that I am going to share here, now. Unlike last year, I knew that I was going to be spending this ti

What is your favorite day of the week? Is it Friday? The end of the work week (for many), time to get ready for the weekend! Or maybe Saturday? You can sleep in perhaps. Spend the day with your family and maybe get some things down around the house. What about Sunday? You get to go to church in the morning and perhaps have a day of rest before the new week starts. Or, if you're a little different, Thursday is your favorite day. The whole weekend is still in front of you. There's a spring in your step on Friday, then Saturday and Sunday have all the benefits and goodness about them that I mentioned above. The best time of the week for me is actually Thursday night. I love looking forward to things so Thursday night puts me right at the precipice of all these good things to come. Given this is Easter weekend, though, I've been thinking a little differently about this. During Holy Week, Thursday night was rough, to say the least. That was when Jesus was betrayed with a ki

“If you don’t have to fight any battles than you don’t have to learn to trust.” This is just one of the nuggets of wisdom that was injected directly into my soul the other day, when I listened to a message by Erwin McManus, the lead Pastor at Mosaic Church in Los Angeles. I was led there by a couple of posts I happened to see on social media about a "very important message" that McManus was going to preach this past Sunday. In the message, he told his church that he has been diagnosed with cancer. It is one of the most moving messages I have heard in a very long time. The title and theme of the talk was "Battle Ready". The guiding verses were from the beginning of Judges 3 . The idea McManus focused on was that God brings battles into our lives so that we learn to fight, because in fighting, we learn to trust Him more. The greater the battle, the greater the trust. Obviously, he used the commencing of his battle with cancer as his object lesson. “God wil