Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend. Over the weekend, the most famous pitchman in America passed away. Billy Mays was the king of infomercials, having made a name for himself by passionately extolling the virtues of numerous household products. Before any of us knew Billy’s name we knew him by the products he represented. We would often refer to him as the Oxi-Clean guy or the Mighty Putty guy. We knew Billy, not for who he was, but instead what he represented. Billy knew not only ... Read Full Story

The religious leaders attempt to entrap Jesus with a series of questions. Read Full Story

Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend. This morning as my wife and I were out for our morning walk, we found ourselves talking about praise. Praise is such a critical component in our relationship to God, because it acknowledges who He is. For example: Revelation 4:8 (NAS And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS A... Read Full Story

Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend. A few weeks back I had the opportunity to visit the Kitale Museum in Kitale, Kenya. The Kitale Museum has exhibits that teach about the cultural heritage and natural eco-system of this region of Kenya. The true blessing of this visit to the museum came from the instruction of my tour guide, Andrew. Andrew allowed me not just to see the exhibits and learn, but he provided me with understanding as well. For example as we toured the mud tribal huts,... Read Full Story

Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend. In our home we have 2 cats, “Max and Smokey” and a German Shepherd named “Seth.” One of the daily happenings in our house revolves around these 3 animals. At least once every day we will observe Seth chasing one of the two cats around the house. Seth pursues them from room to room until he finally gets them cornered. Once he has them cornered he sniffs, licks and playfully nips at them, but truly he isn’t sure why he chased them in the first plac... Read Full Story

Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend. The past two evenings I watched the first two games of the Stanley Cup finals. One of the unique features of ice hockey is the power play. A power play occurs when the member of one team commits a penalty. When a penalty is committed, the officials levy a 2 minute or 5 minute penalty against the offending team. During this time, the penalized team is required to play with fewer players on the ice than their opponent. During the power play, the pe... Read Full Story

Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend. This weekend I had the opportunity to spend some time in the pool with my daughter. She is still in the process of learning how to swim and has become pretty proficient with a life jacket on. This weekend I determined that I needed to work with her on floating without a life jacket. I began by holding on to her hands and instructing her on how to lay out in the water, how to hold her breath and how to lift her head when she needed to breathe. Aft... Read Full Story

The pharisees attempted to trap Jesus with a question about divorce. Read Full Story

Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend. This morning I find myself in the final hours of preparation before I leave on a mission trip to Africa. Even though there is a flurry of preparatory activity, my preparations have actually been ongoing for a few months now. It is the preparations for the journey that make the journey possible. Joshua 1:11 (NAS “Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, saying, ‘ Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you are to... Read Full Story

Good morning! This edition of the Monday Morning Encouragement is coming to you a few days late, but I’m sure you might find this just as encouraging on a Wednesday morning. Over the past few days I have been finishing out a series of prayer retreats that I started last year. The purpose of this retreat was to spend an extended amount of time in silence and solitude in the presence of God. As I entered into this time, my mind was preoccupied with the many things that are on the horizon. Ther... Read Full Story