Spiritual Formation

Do you remember that moment when God spoke to you? You felt His presence like never before. He called you; as if He spoke your name with a megaphone! For some, that is how God worked in our lives. He knocked on that door of our hearts, ready to change our lives forever! That was absolutely true for me. In my case, I was a teenager. I remember back to that moment like it just happened. I was attending summer camp sponsored by our church. One day, during prayer, I felt that “calling.;…

As I walked along the Atlantic surf on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, my question was simple. What do you got for me Lord? I’ve done this on many occasions and eagerly expected an answer. He did not disappoint. If you think committing your life to following Christ is easy and mostly without angst, you’d be wrong. So many questions are left unanswered. Or so it seems. This was a question that I desperately needed to have Jesus answer. In 2019 God asked me to…

I love birds. Every kind of bird. But especially birds of prey—the big powerful birds. And no one is greater than the Eagle, my favorite. When I see a bald eagle, I always stop and give God praise that he has made this beautiful and symbolic bird. And of course, He brought that particular eagle to me, as an assurance of all he is to me. A God kiss . . . A fable called “The Story of an Eaglet” is a great lesson on identity. It goes like this: An eagle'…

Last month, our dear friends invited us to join them during their vacation at a house they rented on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was awesome. The weather was mixed, but the company was amazing. I had vacationed there as a kid and young adult for countless years. I also invested considerably in real estate up and down the OBX in the mid-to-late ’80s. It was a crazy time in real estate, but it was capped off by a recession brought on by a savings and loan…

John 3:17 comes right after one of the most famous verses in the Bible, and it continues to clarify the manner in which Jesus brings us eternal life. The great gift of God through Jesus comes to all who believe in Jesus as the way to salvation. John tells us that Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the world because of its sin, but rather to save the world through His life, death, and resurrection. It can be easy to feel condemned or guilty because we don’t…

One of the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed was during the time I was working at a rescue mission. An event was planned at our city's convention center, which brought in some top-tier international speakers from the Christian community. As I was sitting in our customary Monday morning leadership team meeting, one of the speakers dropped by our mission and made a donation. This person ran a ministry in the poorest country in the world where they fed 50,000…

When you think of humility, what comes to mind? In our world, humility is not something often celebrated. We would rather be seen as powerful, influential, and competent. If humility is weakness, pride is strength. But is it, really? Pride can feel good, but it can hold us back from who God made us to be. It makes us think that if we try hard enough, we can become good enough. If we’re doing great, pride makes our confidence soar. But if we’re going through a…

Last year was a terrible summer for roses in our area. It started in early spring with an aphid infestation the likes of which I had never seen before. After I eradicated that problem which took weeks, fungus set in. This was an even more difficult foe that I fought for the rest of the summer. My roses would set buds but never bloom fully as they were encased in disease. This year, I started early so I did not repeat the previous year's drama. Everything looked great…

Last year was a terrible summer for roses in our area. It started in early spring with an aphid infestation the likes of which I had never seen before. After I eradicated that problem which took weeks, fungus set in. This was an even more difficult foe that I fought for the rest of the summer. My roses would set buds but never bloom fully as they were encased in disease. This year, I started early so I did not repeat the previous year's drama. Everything looked great…