It's hard to know where to begin whenI think about how Empower has impacted me over these past few months...because there is so much! About a year ago, even a little before that, I felt God tugging at my heart to lead me in a new direction. I was retired at that point so I had a little more flexibility in my schedule and I just had a desire to learn and grow and serve God...

Throughout Scripture we see that God answers the prayers of His people. Sometimes He says yes. An example of this is when He granted Solomon with the wisdom he was praying for to rule his kingdom (1Kings 3:9). Sometimes the answer is a definitive no, like when God said no to David's plan to build a temple (2 Samuel 7). Sometimes God wants us to wait. He may definitively te...

The below is an excerpt taken from a longer post on desiringgod.org. --- Saint Paddy's Day is for the pagans. You might say it that way, and then carefully wash your Christian hands of all the carousing and empty revelry that makes all things Irish into an excuse for a godless spring party. But you might say the same thing, and mean it not as a call to circle the wago...

I love a hot cup of tea. Each morning, especially on a work day, I begin with a cup of black tea, preferably English breakfast. It doesn't feel right to start with the zing of Earl Gray or the unusual seasoning of Orange Pekoe. Only English breakfast will do I had a tea awakening in the late nineties. Fresh out of college and newly baptized, my friends and I would meet af...

Recently I wrote of my own past struggles with self-condemnation during my 30 years as a follower of Christ. In this piece I address an unfortunate "side-effect" of this problem: the condemnation of others. One of the many drawbacks of a self-condemnatory spirit masquerading as the voice of God in a believer's life is its power to tempt us to condemn others as well. I bel...

A personal note: Our pastor's new series entitled "No Condemnation, the Ridiculous Reality Found Only in Jesus" has a special resonance in my heart. The tendency to self-condemn has dogged me, to one degree or another, for basically my entire Christian life. In recent years, though, it has become far, far less of a problem for me. The theme of the following essay explains ...

The following are the first 5 out of 7 prayers Pastor Chris is encouraging us to pray as we head into the Fall season. These are prayers meant to anchor our hearts to what is most important, to discern who and what should get our time, and to decide how to engage with each other as well as the world around us. PRAYER #1 Lord, restore my AWE of you! (Proverbs 9:10) ...

I'm home watching hallmark movies and there it is once again. It's crystal clear. Everyone can see it but the main character - it's LOVE. Yes, "true love" stares her in the face in its most perfect form. It's considerate, helpful, patient, loyal, slow to anger and all around gracious. True love is standing there waiting for this longing-for-love individual to open her ...

Jesus told us that "the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath" (Mark 2:27). Present-day Christ-followers debate about whether observing a regular sabbath day is still mandated for New Testament believers. I take a particular and fairly strong stance on this question, but whatever position you might hold most would agree that taking a day each week and laying it...

For most kids, when they are at school, their mornings begin with them standing, hand over heart, to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.This is a key patriotic exercise that we require daily from our children as an oath of allegiance to the U.S. flag and what it stands for. Since quarantine started, every morning we receive a call from my son's school with the principa...