Rescued by Jesus. Rebuilt by the Spirit. Responding to God's grace.
Is taking care of your family idolatrous or biblical? <<Previous episode As I was processing what the roundabout meant for me—was God calling me to exit one specific role at one specific church, or was He calling me to exit full time ministry completely?—an encounter with some old friends rattled me. They had been married […]
Ministry work requires financial accountability and good stewardship of resources. But how far is too far? << Previous episode The disaster relief and recovery network we served with in Japan would often receive a ton of donated items for our volunteer bases to distribute to tsunami survivors along the coast. Items included everything from socks […]
<< Previous episode God can use what you already have. Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. (Exod. 4:2 NIV) Moses had a staff. David had a slingshot (1 Sam. 17:40). A little boy had five small barley loaves and two small fish (Jn. 6:9). What […]
The journey towards humility can be excruciating. << Previous Episode Many martial-arts films feature a student seeking to learn from a master, who won’t teach anything until the potential student first demonstrates humility, patience, and obedience; only then will the master work to develop the student’s full potential. Think Daniel-san waxing Mr. Miyagi’s cars, or […]
Hearing God is like GPS: when you don’t get any instructions to turn left or right, you just keep moving forward. << Previous episode Tony and I spent the rest of that summer working on the screenplay that we’d been hired to write. I still wondered how this would jibe with my calling to ministry. […]
It’s not what you think. << Previous Episode Tony and I arrived in Bangkok a little over one week after my mind-blowing “jackpot” answer to prayer. A movie producer had sent us there to do some research for a script that he had commissioned us to write. You’d think I’d be excited to be working […]
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means “God is with us”). Matthew 1:23 NIV I took a break from blogging for several weeks last December. One of the reasons was the San Bernardino attack of December 2, 2015. I didn’t feel that posting about […]
<< Previous Episode Were these voices from God, my imagination, or something more sinister? The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” (1 Sam. 3:10 NIV) Things were looking up. Soo and I finally became husband and wife, two-and-a-half years […]
