Sometimes God does not meet our expectations. Maybe it’s a broken relationship, a lost job, a debilitating sickness, an overwhelming sense of anxiety, or a global pandemic that’s now at our doorsteps. If God loves us, God knows our situations, and God is the most powerful being in the universe, then surely God will know to respond- with the right outcome lining up with how we each expect Him to respond.
Discipleship
Seven lessons from the San Antonio Spurs
Reposted from northcountrycpn.com.
I may live in the frozen tundra of Vermont where hockey rules and locals hope to see their children one day compete for the Stanley Cup, but I still enjoy watching the NBA playoffs. This year I especially enjoyed watching the San Antonio Spurs systematically dismantle the Miami Heat. After watching the final game, I jotted down seven lessons learned from watching the Spurs and especially Coach Greg Popovich (which just might also apply to church-planting). Continue reading
Prepping for marriage: 3 observations
Often when we look at the world around us, we can see much that is going wrong. Sometimes God gives us glimpses of what He’s doing, of what is right, and it serves as a breath of fresh air. Watching two close of my friends joined together in marriage this past Sunday was just that. Continue reading
Asking for sincere faith
For the past week two words have continuously pulsed through my mind: sincere faith. This phrase 
was planted as I read the apostle Paul’s encouraging and challenging words to his young understudy Timothy. They were watered by a sermon from Dr. Danny Wood on having faith to persevere through tough times. Their beat continues as I walk the streets of Burlington. God please give me sincere faith. Continue reading
3 subtly significant leadership principles
This past week God has repeatedly hammered three principles from scripture into my heart and mind. As I continue to reflect on these principles, I’m beginning to realize they significantly impact my capacity to recognize what God is saying and doing- especially His activity in people’s lives. Continue reading
Great resources on Missional Communities
As you may realize our Gospel Communities with Burlington City Church are essentially the same thing as what many churches now call missional communities. As we journey, we continue to discover excellent resources from the growing missional community movement Continue reading
discovering our story in God’s story
Today I was reflecting on how our personal stories fit in God’s bigger story a.k.a the Biblical meta-narrative. I came across this quote from H. Stephen Shoemaker, the author of Godstories:
Our lives must find their place in some greater story or they will find their place in some lesser story.
This led me to two questions:
- Do most followers of Jesus really know God’s bigger story from scripture?
- Do we see how our individual stories belong in the context of His story?
Belated Baptism Pics
I’ve finally posted some pics of Rick’s baptism on Easter Sunday. Rick is a Army veteran and resident of Burlington’s Old North End who became a follower of Jesus earlier this year. We’re excited about what God is doing in Rick’s life and believe his story is the beginning of many other stories.
Running into the fire
While skimming articles, pictures, and videos of the horrific Boston Marathon bombing, I keep noticing how some people were 
running towards the bomb blasts to help while everyone else was running away. I wonder- what makes some people run in when everyone else is fleeing? Many people stood out as heroes- the Boston police, first responders, even a former Patriot’s football player- but one especially caught my attention. You may have seen the pics of the big guy in the cowboy hat named Carlos Arredando. Continue reading
Questions that matter most
Since I began my first ministry leadership position over twenty years ago, the metrics for success have seemed to shift somewhat from church to church. How many people are on the church membership role? How many people did we baptize? How many people attended the weekly worship service? How many people did we connect with through an outreach event? How many people were assimilated into small groups? In every case we were measuring numbers. Don’t misunderstand me: numbers matter because they represent real people with real names who really matter to God. The bigger issue revolves around what do these numbers mean? What are we really measuring? Continue reading
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