“The hunger of my soul for many a long day has been that I might be able to so present that high true note of God, that the souls of men would rise up in God to that place of power, purity, and strength where the presence and character and works of Christ are evidenced in and through them. There can be no distinction between the exercise of the real power of God as seen in Jesus and its reproduction in a Christian soul. There is a purity, the purity of heaven, so high, so holy, so pure, so sweet that it makes the life of the possessor so radiant with the glory and praise of God.”

- John G. Lake

An Open Letter to Fathers on Your Day

Congratulations Fathers! Here’s to you! I’m so excited that we have a day honoring you. Today, I join in with the millions of others in our country and I honor you as well.

Thank you for your courage. You make tough decisions which I do not envy. You work hard to provide for your family. Many of you have had to stare unemployment in the face and determine not to lose your purpose, identity, motivation, and drive for life. I honor you. You go bravely where no man in your life has gone before. And bravery, in my mind, is not taking action because there is no fear in you, but taking action in spite of fear. Fathers, you are amazing. You have one of the most influential positions on this planet – regardless of race, nationality, or culture. (If you are a mother reading this, please do not feel I am overlooking your incredible role. This is just a letter to fathers today.)

Fathers, you are some of the most sought after people in our day. I don’t know that you even begin to realize how important you are. It is because of how important you are that I wanted to write this letter, to ask you a couple favors. There are many requests that could be made of fathers, but today I just want to focus on two.

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Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: A Revivalist is Remembered

I just finished reading his letter to the pastors and church leaders in Birmingham, AL (found here). It was a longer read than I expected it to be, for sure. But, I couldn’t stop reading it. It is so well written and much of what he says still resonates strongly today in issues our culture is facing. Below, I put some quotes that really stood out to me with some thoughts following each. Later on, I noted some of the thoughts that weren’t “quotable,” per say, but were powerful thoughts nonetheless.  Continue reading…

2013: A Look Back – Part 1

On this day in 2013 I never would have pictured myself where I am today. We were buying our home, we both had steady jobs, and we planned on starting our family soon. It all changed in a few short weeks, however. But first, a little backdrop…

Over the past several months (June through December 2012), I had been wrestling with the direction life was going. I really felt like there was “more” to be had, but I wasn’t sure what that “more” was. God had been knocking on the door of my heart to deal with some things that I was unwilling to deal with. I thought they were childish and to focus on them felt immature, selfish, and irritating because I believed I should be beyond all of those issues already. I really believed that 2013 should be a year of big changes, but I saw no hope for any change to take place. The biggest issue at stake was that Cami and I were on very different pages. I really believed that we needed to uproot and do something drastic.
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