Main Point and Overview:     Everyone is “chasing after” something.  Whether it’s power or prosperity or pleasure or prominence, the human heart is never quite satisfied even when “achieving” these pursuits. It seems like there is always something “bigger and better” next to pursue. What if we saw the meaning of life in a different light? This Easter season we might need to chart a new course. The...  Read More

Last month Emmanuel rolled out “Operation 3:16”. We were challenged to commit to prayer every day at 3:16pm in preparation for Easter; praying for unsaved friends, family members, or coworkers and committing to inviting others to church.  Just curious, how did that go? Did you attack this with a sense of urgency, boldness and hopefulness? Or maybe you threw in the towel thinking that there is no h...  Read More

Many years ago, the Marine Corps had an advertising campaign with the tag line “Pain is weakness leaving the body.” It represents the Marine ethos. Pain is part of the process of becoming stronger, resilient, and effective. I was an Air Force guy, and as a branch of service we were always made fun of by our sister services as not being as physically fit. We were, in a jokingly way, referred to as ...  Read More

I don’t know about you, but I often find myself “people watching” when out in public. You never know what you will see so it's never the same. Just like snowflakes, we are all different. How we hold things, to standing, to interactions all vastly different. We all know we live in a very dark world and there is evil all around us. The mainstream media push the negative stories as normal and then wh...  Read More

As far as I can remember, I have always LOVED the spotlight. If there was a stage, I was on it. If there was a literal spotlight, I wanted to be in it. If I wasn’t singing, I was acting, and as I grew older and got into ministry, I started teaching children all the way to college-age students. I thrived in the spotlight, but over the last 6-7 years I haven’t stepped a foot onto a stage. My head go...  Read More

Many of us, myself included, just returned from a Spring Break vacation. Fun, restful, playful, and refreshing time away. Somewhere warm, good food to eat, no people to interact with, nowhere to be, and no deadlines to meet… but that vacation eventually comes to an end. Something my wife and I do inadvertently towards the end of a vacation, is start talking about the next vacation. We enjoy the on...  Read More