Author Archives: asimpleguy

In Luke 9:23, Jesus tells His disciples: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” When He spoke these words to them, they really had no idea what He was saying. But I’m guessing those words took on a whole new meaning as they watchedContinue reading “Good Friday: Taking Up Our Cross”

This Sunday is Palm Sunday and we can read about it in John 12:12-16: “The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him. They began to shout, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is the one whoContinue reading “When God Doesn’t Meet Our Expectations”

I was reading in Luke 5 today where Jesus was calling his first disciples. It’s crazy to think what it would have been like for James, John, Peter, and Andrew to leave their boats—and everything they had known—to go and to follow Jesus. I know it must have been scary, but at the same timeContinue reading “Disciple of Jesus”

My wife shared with me some thoughts that came out of her personal devotions a few days ago. For my blog this week I want to share with you those thoughts from her journal: Matthew 8:28-34 – When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming fromContinue reading “Which is More Frightening?”

This week, my devotions led me to Jeremiah 1:4-9 – The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” 6 “Alas, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak;Continue reading “What’s Your Excuse?”

This week my wife Stacy did our weekly devotional for our church, so I wanted to share it with you: In Acts 1:6-8 we read: Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to knowContinue reading “Can I Get A Witness?”

A pastor I’ve loved and respected for years used to have a saying, “Leaders are readers.” Now I have to admit, this saying drove me crazy. The reason is that I felt like God called me to be a leader but I am not really a reader. And just because I’m not a reader, doesContinue reading “A Life of Learning”

This morning, I read 1 Corinthians 3. If you’re not familiar with this scripture, Paul is talking about how childish the Christians of Corinth were being as they quarreled amongst each other. They would say things like, “I follow Paul.” While others would say, “I follow Apollos.” Paul had some pretty strong words as heContinue reading “United in Christ”

I don’t know how many times I’ve listened to a pastor share a message or read something from a book and thought, “Wow, that was a good word.” We’ve probably all had these kinds of moments in our lives. But the question is: What do we do with what we just heard or read? DoContinue reading “It Requires A Response”

My family and I are huge Pixar fans. Some of my kids’ first movies were Pixar films and one of our favorites is the movie “UP”. If you haven’t watched it, you need to put it on your “must watch” list. The main character in the movie is a man named Carl. The movie beginsContinue reading “Loving God and Loving…SQUIRREL!”