Classic re-post from 2002
“You need to get more exercise,” they said. But when you weigh as much as I did that’s not as easy as it sounds. And on a perfectly innocent-looking day a few years ago it landed me in trouble.
I had talked my then thirteen year old son Kyle into a bike ride with me. We were biking the Kokosing Gap Trail in Mt. Vernon, Ohio. It was a beautiful path along a river built on an old railroad right of way. Most of …

Daniel (third son and sixth child) took off a couple weeks to join us for vacation and travel with me to speak at Camp Barakel. This morning he loaded his car to head back to Grace Bible College in Grand Rapids for his second year in college. He is preparing for the ministry. He will play soccer again this year and he is planning to serve a ministry internship at a church his grandfather founded almost 50 years ago.
It is impossible for me to express the joy he brings …

On June 25th (2011) Lois and Hope and I met Heidi and Austin in New Buffalo, Michgian for the afternoon. It was a beautiful day. We walked the beach and up to a dune. Standing there, overlooking Lake Michigan, Heidi smiled at Austin and then said to us; “Mom and Dad, I think this is a good time to tell you… we are going to have a baby!” We celebrated by having dinner at the Stray Dog.
Last week I got permission to talk about it publicly. I’ve always dreamed about …

Because we are so familiar with the Bible, it is sometimes tempting not to read it again. Never yield to that temptation. The Bible is a living book and it is always fresh. It is new with promises and warnings and instructions every day—custom-made for only-God-knows-what we will face. When you open your Bible with an expectant heart sometimes a phrase will just leap into your life.
That happened to me one morning when I was reading one of the most familiar passages of the New Testament. John 14:3… “…I …

This morning I came upon this thoughtful article about young people who are raised in the church, leaving the church during their post-high school years. It’s worth your time.
Somehow I have a feeling that young people are not leaving the church because we didn’t have enough rules. They are not leaving the church because we didn’t try to schedule enough “fun.” That is all much of youth ministry has been for the last 30 years. It’s been the Christian “Party Plan.” Now thousands don’t take the church or the …

This is our oldest daughter Holly singing a tribute for her mother. Thought you would like to hear it. You can listen here.

A Classic Re-posted from 2003
The note from my campus mailbox made my heart pound. It was summons to the office of the Dean of Men. “Please report to Dean Pride’s office at once.” Dean Pride was nothing more than the college disciplinarian and the college I attended took discipline very seriously indeed. The smallest infraction could send you packing home to momma and cost you a semester of academic blood, sweat and tears. Visions of shame and disgrace, failure, ruin and poverty assaulted my mind.

Three or four times a year we try to do a “Preaching Roundtable.” Kyle (our first-born son) and I and whoever of his brothers is available at the time will meet in a small town about half-way between Riverview, Michigan and Granger, Indiana for coffee, conversation and study. Together we will work on sermon material and ideas. We will meet early and spend the morning studying and talking, then we will grab a fast-food lunch and head back to our homes and families and churches.
The last time we met …

A Classic Re-post from 2002
The happiest moment of my week is when the last strains of the organ prelude die away and I stand up to welcome the people to church and I look down to my left and see my family all lined up on the pew in their Sunday best. That is a beautiful sight.
We live in a parsonage a few blocks from the church now, but in our former church we lived about twenty miles away. We always went to church in two cars so …

A Classic Re-posted from 2003
Homemade whole wheat bread is real bread, store bought white bread is not. Real bread is my preference but it was not my experience growing up. I was raised on white bread that we bought five loaves for a dollar at the day-old bread store. We always had plenty of it because we kept dozens of loaves in the freezer. I’m sure I have eaten thousands of Velveeta cheese and Miricle-Whip sandwiches on white bread in my life-time.
Store-bought white bread made great dough-balls for food fights …