Weekly Thoughts From Outside the Boat

Hey guys,  This week’s  Thought  comes from Psalm 17:4. There, David says, “I have followed your commands, which keeps me from following cruel and evil people.”  He repeats the word  follow  there which is why it stood out as I read. I began to wonder,  what does “follow” mean in our society today ? I’m guessing you immediately thought of social media, right? Who are we following? How many followers do we have? Clicking on a button to see the highlights of somebody's best day

Hey guys, I hope you're having a great week. This week’s  Thought  comes from Matthew 8:24, “ Suddenly  a  fierce  storm struck the lake with waves breaking  into  the boat, but Jesus was  sleeping .” This is within the story of Jesus and His disciples getting caught in a storm on the Sea of Galilee. I can't tell you how many times I've read or taught this passage, or heard it taught. I've never, until this morning, understood or really paid attention to the juxtaposition of

Hey guys,  I hope you’re having a great week. This week’s Thought comes from Matthew 7:20. “Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.” This passage is on the tail end of the Sermon on the Mount. I began to think of all the different applications to this verse. I think about our culture as a whole, how divided we are, how people say one thing and do another. Then, I thought about our church culture and the different interac

Hey guys, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. This week’s  Thought  comes from Matthew 5:37, “Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t’. Anything beyond this is from the evil one.” This mandate from Jesus comes from His Sermon on the Mount. This truth is so simple and yet so critically important to our relationships, whether those are relationships in the church, in our culture, in ministry, in our families, or in our marriages. It is so vitally important to “let yo

Hey guys, I hope you're having a great week. It's a big week. It's a week to be thankful, and as you spend time with family and friends this weekend, I hope you take some time to really think about the things that you have to be thankful for. Certainly, there are things we struggle with and things we wish were different, but I challenge you to just take a few minutes and write down the things for which you have to be thankful. I bet that as you begin to write those down, you'