Category Archives: General

In Acts 8, we see the story of Simon the sorcerer. In this passage, Simon apparently believed the gospel and had been baptized, but it’s obvious he didn’t get it. He wanted what the disciples had, he wanted to be able to lay hands on people and see them receive the Holy Spirit. But why?  WeContinue reading “What’s My Motivation?”

Why is it that we worry so much about what others think? I know I’m one who probably cares less about what others think of me than most people do, but I still struggle with it at times. It seems like we spend a good portion of our lives just trying to be accepted byContinue reading “Being Accepted and Accepting Others”

We live in a day and time where church isn’t always a priority for believers. There are many reasons why this could be: for some, it might be the busy-ness of life; for some, it’s not a high priority; and for others, it’s the belief that they can experience church without actually going to church. Continue reading “Being the Church”

Every Monday, I receive an email that’s sent out to encourage pastors. This week’s email was titled, “Pastor, You Don’t Need to Have It All Together.” It was a simple reminder that, as pastors, we can’t forget that a title doesn’t make us better than the people in our church. And it’s ok to admitContinue reading “Nobody Has It All Together”

I recently had someone share some scriptures with me. The person told they knew the scriptures were definitely for them, but they felt they might be for our church as well. The scriptures were all from Galatians 5, but the ones that stood out to me the most were verses 14 -16.  “For the entireContinue reading “There’s More to the Story”

In Mark chapter 8, there are a couple verses that tell of Pharisees coming to Jesus and questioning Him. And it says that to test Him they were asking for a sign from heaven. In other words, they were saying do something amazing and miraculous right now and prove to us that You are theContinue reading “Simply Seeking Jesus”

This week’s our Children’s Pastor shared a great devotion with our church, so I thought I would share it on my blog: The Oregon weather during the past number of weeks has gone from warm and sunny to cold enough for snow flurries! I have loved the extremes here, and it has really made meContinue reading “Be Prepared”

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”