Category Archives: Thoughts and Devotions

A collection of articles, thoughts and sometimes short stories I continue to update and work through to remind me that God is at work in my life and yours. I pray as you read them that you are encouraged and challenged.

Thoughts and Devotions

Our lives are worth more than the job

1 Comment

Our lives will only be grounded and focused when we realize that our full being should be centered around something greater than ourselves.

For me, the answer is clear. I am Christian. I believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins, rose from the grave, offers forgiveness and grace to all, provides encouragement through His people and seeks to have fellowship with all that will call His name.

Some may say, it’s dangerous or even a little foolish to put our “faith” out there for all to see. After all, in our desire to be “tolerant” and “accepting”, we have to be careful not to offend anyone or to share to much of our “personal life”. But when I consider what information I want people to know about me and hopefully what shapes my character, my faith in God should not be something I only show people on Sunday morning.

I gave my life to the Lord when I was 15. Prior to that I had attended church off and on and even played drums in the church when I was 11. But it wasn’t until I was 15 and I met a youth leader by the name of Kelly Landenburger that I started to understand what it meant to follow God. It was through his example of a godly man and his willingness to invest in a skateboard riding teenager that begun my walk with God. It was him who encouraged me to go to college and there I met some amazing people who helped me understand that God can work through the most broken of vessels.

I wish I could say it has been life of bliss and harmony, but to be honest it has been tough. I have watched relationships fail, continued to struggle with outwardly sin, and have hurt more people than I care to admit. But through it all, God has remained faithful to me. He has blessed me with five wonderful children and a wife who somehow sees the best in me.

My story has had many chapters over the past years. Some better than others! Although I have struggled at times to see how God could use a guy like me, I have been blessed by what He has allowed me to be apart of. I don’t know where I would be without having my faith in God. But in the end it doesn’t matter because He is and always will be with me.

I pray as you look through these elements of who I am that you look at you who are and reflect on what plans God may have for you.

Thoughts and Devotions

The Privilege of Giving

Leave a comment

This morning, like most mornings lately, I woke up to a thought, an impression, a prompting of the Spirit. Usually these mornings are about work or something I have to accomplish that day but today was a bit different. Today I woke up and rather than lying in my bed, scrolling through Facebook or some other random time waster, I decided to do a little contemplating and write a post in my old WordPress site.

The past few months, I have been wanting to get back to a place where I can express some creativity and and more importantly, publish some ideas I can reflect on later, So I thought this morning I would get out of bed and actually sit down in my office and write my thoughts down before I got my day going and lost the opportunity.

As some of that may read this, mainly just my friends and and contacts on Facebook and LinkedIn, (I’m really not all that well known) you may not be aware that I am a local worship director at a small church in Cuyahoga Falls Ohio, Northampton Bible Church. I have served here for about 5 years and prior to that have been in several churches over the past 20 or so years. Fortunately, my vocation and career is in Information Technology and so for most of my time serving in leadership at the local church level, I have been blessed and “privileged” to able to volunteer my time and have not asked for a stipend or salary. I don’t say that for a pat on the back or some sort of sideways means to to puff up myself, but rather to say that I come get to see this idea of “giving as a privilege” lived out weekly.

In today’s pursuit of the “side hustle”, the thought of giving up of ones times or money to a cause or community, with no return or “passive income” seems to be something that many do not pursue as a priority. I am not saying don’t pursue the YouTube Channel or Amazon seller account, but there is something fundamental to our soul and well being, to give without the expectation of getting. To be part of something bigger than ourselves and to not view giving as a “requirement or obligation”. Giving has a unique way to stir us into seeing the world a little brighter. It could be our time. It could be our money. It could be service. Whether we donate to a local charity, a cure for a disease, volunteering at local food bank or shelter or something that hits home for a lot of my personal contacts, tithing or giving to the church, the thought of giving as a “privilege” is something which could strengthen our communities, our churches and allow us to see beyond the current “doom and gloom” of our current situations.

There is something that happens in us when we give. When we recognize the needs of others or support causes which are not ourselves. We have an opportunity to participate in the building of our communities and making life just a little better for those around us.

My hope is that this “thought, impression, prompting of the Spirit“, will stir you to act in in your local circle of influence. There is an abundance of need in the world and those of us that have been blessed with the talents and resources to meet that need, “get to” not ” are obligated to” give and support those that do not have the same opportunities.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” – Matthew 25:34-40

Thoughts and Devotions

Take The Time Back

Leave a comment

So it has been nearly five years since I have taken any time to write a post, share a thought or contemplate on some obscure random thing I saw. In that time I have changed jobs three times only to come back to the company that I had been at for 20 years, made the painful decision to find another place of worship, watched my two oldest children graduate college and high school and countless other real life events. It’s not that I have not shared these events in other ways. I mean I am on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (and attempting Snapchat unsuccessfully), I am an eighties child so I still use email and I still make attempts at sitting down and having a conversation around the dinner table.

But lately I have been contemplating how much things have changed in just a few short years. I used to have more meaningful conversations. I used to spend time on more things than just surviving. My days have always been busy but over the past few years it seems I have let myself become overwhelmed, overworked and always searching for the next thing to feed my appetite for what I am not sure. Living in Europe for the two years, allowed me some form of disconnectedness and honestly I have been trying to figure out how to get back to that.

Not to say that life has not been “interestingly”, it really has. But when your Facebook feed now consists of memes about our president, some new recipe for beef brisket and a handful videos, reposts and obscure news about some event on the other side of the world it gets to be difficult to sift through the madness. I have bought into the fakery and a secretly selfish ambition to be heard or noticed. I have placed value in how many likes or comments I get on posts. I have written and posted gifs which may have hurt people and have hid behind the mantra of , “I am just keeping it real”. I really have not done any of this intentionally, but as common decency and values have been replaced with bullying and an “anything goes” mentality, I have allowed myself to get sucked in on too many occasions and have had to ask for forgiveness often.  I know I am not alone in this, but as for me, I am measured by a different metric. I align myself with Christ and so therefore I must always examine my words, actions and behaviors with what I believe the Bible presents.

So where is the hope that we can truly change this course we are on? Maybe its political? Maybe one day those that govern can eventually see past their own agendas and selfish ambitions and lead with integrity and love for those they represent. Maybe it’s self? Maybe our answers are within in us to find? Maybe we just need to continue to explore the realms of our human nature. I mean that has worked so far right?

Friends, as my brother in Christ says constantly in his social feeds, “we must love one another”. We must seek to serve instead of being served. We need to put down our phones and get back to being in each others lives. We need to stop trying to display our mastery of words on social media to escalate and present a cause and start praying for one another or in some cases simply refrain from joining in the bloodbath.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”