A good friend once told me about a problem he was having with someone close. I won't go into the details here, but what is essential to our topic for this week is my friend's response when I asked a simple question for clarification. My friend said, "It's...
Reflections
God power: Speaking of miracles
There is a story in the Bible that grabs my attention and stimulates my imagination every time I come across it. You can find it in the Book of Daniel. We named our current worship series after the prophet that headlines in this book. We call it the Daniel Plan. This...
Friends: Others will know
Most of you know that until a couple of years ago, I was a runner. Shortly after I moved to Flint, I joined up with a group of people that call themselves the Flint Area Year Round Running/Walking Groups. You can google them. You can join their Facebook Group. You can...
Holy goals: Pathway to better health
Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever said to yourself, “This time is going to be different!” Sound familiar? Whether it is this time or this year, I believe that we have all tried to inspire ourselves with this resolution. “This time…” the outcome will be...
True worship: Let God transform you
Holiday celebrations are behind us. Another decade is behind us. Years from now, when our children are much older, they may look back at the last decade with nostalgic recollection. This happens to all of us to one extent or another. We reframe and rewrite our history...
All in: A new decade begins
This Sunday is our kick-off for the Daniel Plan, and it is the last Sunday of the decade. In a few days, we will begin 2020. A new year and a new decade. What are your hopes for the next ten years? You all are at the top of my list. My hope is that everyone in our...
Emerge: The power of beauty emerging
There are times when it can take days before a single verse of scripture rises above the rest to lodge in my spirit for a coming Sunday’s message. I use a process of prayer, reading scripture, and reflection and this process became the emerging metaphor for this week....
Legacy: What is your purpose?
Legacy is for old people. This is what I thought when I was a young adult. It was not that I wasn’t ambitious. Quite the opposite. And my ambition determined the legacy that I was building. It always does. Your legacy is what people say about you when you are not...
Tipping point: What does it take?
This series was inspired by a poetic statement, an article about balance, and Psalm 144. These inspirations were made more potent by research that I was doing for ushering in the New Year. Traditionally, people will attend church on Christmas Eve, even if a church is...
Abundant Living: Replacing diets with abundance
I really don’t like diets. You would be amazed at how many diets I have been on. And most of my experiences proved successful. On the other hand, I’ve quit doing a lot of things that I knew were not good for me — lots of times. It’s time for another diet, but I...