Tag: sin
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Death of a Seed
I remember his smile best. Tai had this quiet humility about him…it was his smile that said, “God changed me, Jesus is my everything and I want the world to know it.” Tai was part of a team of local leaders I had been coaching for years. He wasn’t always a faithful church planter but…
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Things I Wish I’d Known: Reflections on 10 Years of Overseas Cross-Cultural Ministry
It’s a new year and naturally, it’s time for me to reflect and look back on all the good things God has done. Since the moment I came to faith as a teenager, I’ve been involved in cross-cultural ministry, leadership, and church planting – that was over 20 years ago! It’s only the last 10…
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What Dreams May Come: Pornography and its Effect on the Mission Field
(Special thanks to Inheritance Magazine for originally publishing this story. Much gratitude for telling stories worth telling.) I HAD A CRAZY, vivid dream during my first year on the mission field in Southeast Asia. In it, I was surrounded by attractive women lavishing me with attention. It was a feast of carnal entertainment, and I…
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3 Reasons Why Suffering is Essential in God’s Kingdom
From the safety of our homes in the US, being persecuted for our faith sounds like something that only happens in outlandish countries or ancient biblical stories. To be interrogated, threatened, beaten and jailed for our faith in Jesus is just something that doesn’t typically happen in America. When suffering does occur in other places…
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4 Christian Responses to the LGBT Community
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 states this week leading to a mixture of responses and heated discussions – my wife and I included. As missionaries on the other side of the planet we can’t help but think of the missiological implications, “How will this affect the faith…
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Re-prioritizing Easter: 3 Ways to Share the Gospel and Collect Eggs
About 30 eggs filled with my wife’s “healthiest candies” lay hidden in the small patch of grass in our front yard. After a short reading of the Easter story in Luke 24 my three kids ransacked the green grass filling their baskets with the treasured eggs. I snapped a few really cute photos of the…
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3 Reasons Why Social Justice Will Not Change the World
For those of us who followed the news in 2014 it was a depressing year. Images of violence, racism, government coups, injustice and world-wide evil have wracked our brains and broken our hearts. As we look at our lost nations, communities and target people groups we have to ask ourselves an important question. What is…
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True Struggles of Missional Workers
My wife and I have served overseas for almost 7 years now. Towards the beginning I remember a horribly vivid dream I once had. In it I was approached by a beautiful woman. As she got uncomfortably closer her entire faced transformed into a hideous snake like demon. She gnashed her teeth at me and…
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When Failing Feels Like Crap
We spend a lot of time cleaning up crap. You know…the mess we make as a result of our own selfish decisions. It doesn’t matter if we are leaders, missionaries, or pastors, we all fall to pride, lust, anger, self-righteousness, worry and self. In those times that we fail to triumph over sin we feel…
The Asian Rough Rider 