Category Archives: Uncategorized

Paul on Mars Hill (an artist’s rendition on left) reasoned with seekers from the Hebrew Scriptures.  Did he interpret them accurately?  Absolutely.  Our task as believers is to accurately interpret the text.  It’s amazing to me to read historical documents where biblical scholars have used the Scriptures to justify such atrocities as "holy" wars (TheContinueContinue reading “A high View of Women and a high view of Scripture are nonnegotiables”

Our staff here at the Vineyard in Champaign-Urbana, IL, is now participating in our third Vineyard Bible Institute course since last fall.  Dr. Derek Morphew from Cape Town, South Africa, has written much of the VBI curricula, including The Kingdom of God IV, the course now being offered.Dianne Leman, our co-senior pastor here, is theContinueContinue reading “The presence of the kingdom initiates repentance”

Ron Sider is most famous for his book called Rich Christians in an age of Hunger.  When I read it 25 years ago, it deeply affected how I approach my lifestyle and finances.  To this day, I owe Sider a debt of gratitude.Now Sider, a staunch evangelical, has come out wondering if the evangelicals inContinueContinue reading “Surely we Kingdom people should be different”

I think a lot of men, women too honestly, often feel like this poor, lonely tree.  Not many of us would say we have truly close friends.  Some guy in our church recently expected me to be his close friend, although he never made that clear to me.  Frankly, we are not that close, althoughContinueContinue reading “How many friends do you really have?”

Deron Williams has provided me with lots of entertainment during this college basketball season.  After Illinois lost in the championship game to the University of North Carolina Monday evening, Williams was a good sport and shook the hands with the Tar Heel champs from North Carolina.It was a great year for the 37 and 2ContinueContinue reading “Illinois bows to North Carolina in the National Championship game”

Does anything surprise you in the sexual arena?  Given what you see and hear on a daily basis on television or on the Internet, I doubt much surprises you, sad to say.I sure think we need to be praying for each other, especially we men who are leaders in churches.  I’m currently counseling a pastorContinueContinue reading “Increasingly confused and troubled in a Sex-saturated society”

 Several have asked about the Vineyard young adult (GodSearch) spring break work trip to Reynosa, Mexico.  I headed the trip, and that’s me on the left holding a young Mexican girl after the church service on Palm Sunday in Reynosa, Mexico, our first day in Mexico.Our Vineyard young adult pastor (Tony Ranvestel) and I tookContinueContinue reading “Very Successful GodSearch Springbreak missions trip to Reynosa, Mexico”

A lot of life is managing your disappointments.  Sometimes I call the ministry "Disappointment Management."  I remember one time I preached what I thought was a pretty decent sermon, only to have a woman stop me on her way out and say, "Didn’t have much for us today, did you?"In this life you will haveContinueContinue reading “Managing your Disappointments”