I’ve been accepted as a contributor to Strive for Maturity, a blog ministry dedicated to helping Christian men become better men. I’m excited about this opportunity, and look forward to the community there. My first article, “She’s Still Your Bride” was published today. I hope you stop by and read it – comment too! Here’s the link: http://striveformaturity.com/shes-still-your-bride/ and here’s an excerpt: I had this incredible professor in high school. He was the professor of Physics and Higher Mathematics. Dr. Hosterman was his name. Before becoming a teacher, he was an army physicist and aircraft pilot who flew observation flights during the nuclear experiments at the atolls in the pacific. He developed cancer as a result of that work. He daily struggled with intense pain, downing and chewing-up a half bottle of aspirin at a time. He was somewhat kooky and had some fascinating stories to tell. But, at...
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My ethnic heritage is pretty diverse. On my dad’s side, there’s a smorgasbord of cultural identities: German, Irish, French, Native American (so I’m told). On my mother’s side, there’s Japanese. Given my particular mix, it’s no wonder that I esteem honor so greatly. I value my name. If someone speaks my name, I want their mental image to be one of an honorable person. This sounds pretty good on the surface. But, it can be pretty warped. As I was growing up, I endured a lot of dishonor with my family name by no fault of my own. I won’t go into details, because they don’t matter, except that it drove me to feel like I had to rescue my name. I determined that I was going to live an honorable life. It was an obsession to lift my name in stature and respect. I made deliberate choices in...
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I love movies, especially war dramas. One of my favorites is “Master and Commander” with Russell Crowe. One of the most eerie scenes I’ve ever viewed was in this movie. It wasn’t eerie-scary, but eerie-strange. They had been pursuing a privateer ships that was wreaking havoc on English merchant ships. The action and battle have been pretty intense up to this point. All of a sudden we are greeted with this strangely calm sea. In the middle of the ocean, the water is absolutely still -strangely still. The ship is not moving at all. Now wind, no current – still. The stillness is taxing on them. It irritates them. They are agitated. They struggle to remain sane. They begin to look for something to blame for the eerie stillness. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you...
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My earliest memories of my dad are fishing trips. He loved to fish, and that love certainly rubbed off on me. On one occasion, somewhere along some Alabama river, I got bored with watching the bobber and decided that  I was going to go dragonfly hunting. My dad made a really cool rubber-band gun that was perfect for such a job. I happily chased them down, never hitting a single dragonfly. Suddenly I found myself out of rubber-bands. As I tromped around the brush, hands on hips, pouty lips fully extended, I noticed one of my rubber bands, hanging from a leaf on one of the branches overhanging the river bank. The bank was a steep drop-off about four feet above the heavy, lumbering current. I determined to get it. I grabbed a small twig with one hand and stretched out over the water with the other hand stretching...
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I remember the early day of Thrive Church. There was this crazy excitement going on in people. I’ve often tried to understand why we get excited about things. I’ve come to think that perhaps our excitement is a product of our expectations having found new life in hope. The funny thing about expectations is that they can give us hope, or defeat hope. You’ve heard people, after something bad happens, say things like “well, what did you expect?” That is expectation mired in hopelessness. In the early days, our expectations were aflame in hope. Some saw a chance for renewal – a legacy that could be redeemed. Some saw a chance to experience new life – a dormant faith rejuvenated. Some saw an opportunity for impact – feelings of futility conquered. Some saw purpose – a wandering soul set on a mission. Notice how each expectation of hope was...
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