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And then He said her name

She was weeping. Crying. Confused. Her mind raced and her side ached. This was the second time she had come to the tomb this morning - albeit fast this time. Peter and John were up ahead. She hadn’t been able to keep up - so she had stopped in the garden to catch her breath, and instead of doing that she began to cry.  There were SO many questions. Who would do this? What did they want with Him? Why…

It feels like drowning

It feels like drowning. The regret, and the shame. The idea that he had looked Him in the face and promised Him that he wasn’t going anywhere - and then when the rubber hit the road, he literally chickened out. His thoughts raced and overwhelmed him as he remembered every painstaking detail;  Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house, and Peter was following at a distance. And when they had kindled a…

Opening Day

Today was opening day. A new beginning. If you haven’t met me in person, or perhaps the last time we spoke was when I was 16, you might not know this, but I am OBSESSED with sports. I spend a lot of my free time watching, playing and investing in sports and sports related activities. Baseball is high on that list. Today was the day that the 2020 season was set to kick off, with my beloved Milwaukee Brewers facing…

Reflections at 38

Today is my 38th birthday. As is the case with most people I would assume, there are days that I feel 18, and days that I feel 58. Most of the days I feel 58 are Monday’s, after I play basketball for 2 hours on Sunday nights… but I bring up my birthday for a few reasons.  First, it’s probably been my favorite day of the year for my entire life. Believe it or not, I like attention, and celebrating…

The ever-changing church

When I was 14, usher wasn’t the name of a famous R&B artist, it was the job title of someone who walked people to their seats at an event and/or greeted people with bulletins (programs) and passed offering plates at churches to help collect the weekly donations. It was a job reserved for adults who knew what they were doing, and could be trusted with the money and responsible for all the things that came with the job. For MANY…

Back to basics

Basics are always important. No matter what arena of life you’re in, they lay the foundation for everything everything that you’re going to try and accomplish moving forward. Every soldier starts in basic training. Chefs all learn how to set an oven temp and melt butter in a pan. You have to know your letters before you can learn to read, write and spell. No matter what you’re doing, learning the basics is the proper place to start.  Christianity is…

Community comes calling

I used to watch this show called “How I met your mother.” It was pretty funny honestly. The finale was kind of a bummer if I’m being honest, but otherwise I thought it was worth setting the DVR for every week. The show was FULL of running jokes that would pop up throughout the seasons, calling back to previous episodes and situations, reminding viewers of something hilarious that had happened, and that this was one of their favorite shows for…

Intentional Church

Hudson Wisconsin didn’t need another church. There were already 15 of them in April of 2013 - and many of them were functioning well and growing. But what Hudson was looking for, perhaps even asking for - was our church. Let me explain a little bit more… I grew up in Hudson. Some people would call me a lifer. A guy I went to high school with recently called us “townies.” I guess I would just say I never left.…

The fear of the Lord

It’s something I’ll never forget. The only time I have ever seen my step-dad actually angry. Like raised his voice, and most likely his blood pressure angry. Like stopped me dead in my tracks and made me reconsider all of my life’s goals and dreams angry. Like, I’ve known the man going on 31 years and it’s never going to happen again I am sure, angry. And let’s just say it wasn’t caused by something you’d expect.  My brother and…

Better together

It was one of the scariest things I have ever done. I gathered a room full of people who I had led for two years, people I felt probably looked up to me, people who trusted me and thought of me as someone to share their struggles with - and now I was about to share my struggle with them. What would it cost me? Their trust? Their friendship? Their respect? My job? After all, this same issue had cost…