Intentional Encouragement

     This Thursday, I'll finish my first year of maintaining this blog.  I’ll admit that I started a blog a few years back and posted to it…about 8 times.  Something about it just didn’t stick.  Last year, as I headed into the fall, I felt like it was something I wanted to try again.  I love to write.  I find it one of my greatest joys in life to encourage people.  I’d like to expand my ministry as I continue along in my journey of service for God.  So; here I have been for a year now, trying to accomplish that.  The “audience” for my blog has grown over the course of the year, but I still don’t have a huge list of “followers.”  People have read my blog more than 2800 times this year.  If you compare that with well known bloggers, it’s a pretty tiny number.  But I appreciate all who do read and follow, and some have expressed appreciation for one post or another that challenged or encouraged them.  I’m really glad for that.      My blog has also allowed me to work toward a coup

     My wife and I spent an hour and a half with our special needs son's teacher yesterday reviewing his Individual Educational Plan; interacting about what we are observing in his progress and what we anticipate for his future.  It is an annual review that reminds us that we (with the assistance of his school) are preparing him to live as independently as possible...some day.      Each year, when we go, we review his "outside of school" situation and let his teacher know his circumstances in our own home, in our church life and in the life of his siblings.  This year we reported that two of the latter now live on their own.  The third is in his third year of university studies and, other than school breaks and next summer, won't likely be living at home for any more long-term stays.  Our "nest" is virtually empty.      That brings me to my thoughts today.  Life moves on.  That's a little more bluntly put than I would like, but it is our reality, isn&#

     I remember a commercial for a high end car a few years ago that had a unique headlight system.  The fixtures that held the lamps sensed when the wheels were turning and would pan a little bit in that direction.  The great attraction, so it seemed, was that you could see a little further around the curve than normal headlights would allow.  This would, in theory, make it safer to navigate the car, since you could see what is ahead a little sooner, and have a little more time to react to what was around that bend in the road.      Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could have something like that in our spiritual lives?  Wouldn't you love being able to "see around the curves" a little bit; anticipating what God would do in you and through you in the years to come?      When it comes to churches (and even in corporate life), we call it vision-casting.  We seek to prayerfully discern what God wants us to do and what direction we should pursue.  We step out on faith and

     I preached from Philippians 3 this past Sunday on pressing forward toward the goal of Christ and the ultimate prize of Heaven.  In the process, I came across a statement by Dr. James Boice, describing believers who spend their time always talking about how things "used to be."  He called them "leeks and garlic Christians."  It's easy to pin that moniker on people that are coming to your mind right now, but I am challenged as I sit here at this moment to be sure I am not part of that group.  I'd like to suggest you do the same.      The reference comes from Numbers.  The Israelites are complaining (again) to Moses about their diet and other circumstances that aren't up to specifications.  They are eating manna until they are sick of it.  Manna for breakfast, lunch and dinner would get old; let's be honest.  But their complaint included this longing glance back at Egypt.  "We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumber