Scottie
In February of 2004, while living in PA, I made a trip out to Bloomington, MN to be the speaker at a combined youth group ski trip. At the time of the ski trip, I was under all kinds of personal mental anguish. Back in PA, I had a contract sitting on my desk that needed to be signed in a week or I was out of a job in three months. My dilemma was I sensed God was asking me to begin working for Consumed Ministries full-time. The problem with that scenario is Consumed had about this much money —- $0. After...
Read MoreMinnesota Winters…
I found this on another blog. Since this is my third winter in MN, I am beginning to understand this kind of mindset. Winter in Minnesota… 60 above zero: Floridians turn on the heat. People in Minnesota plant gardens. 50 above zero: Californians shiver uncontrollably. People in Duluth sunbathe. 40 above zero: Italian & English cars won’t start. People in Minnesota drive with the windows down. 32 above zero: Distilled water freezes. The water in Bemidji gets thicker. 20 above zero: Floridians don...
Read MoreFully Alive
I have always felt a bit funny giving Fully Alive to people I meet. It is incredibly awkward to say, “Would you like to read the book I wrote?” It feels so pious, proud, etc. Last night, however, the opportunity presented itself and I couldn’t resist… I stopped by the bank to use the ATM. Unfortunately for me the bank I chose did not have a drive-thru machine (it was 12 degrees last night!). As I was getting my cash out of the ATM, a guy I was having casual chit chat with shocked me...
Read MoreDr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the...
Read MoreIBC
In High School I played on an AAU Basketball Team for three years. We played in a lot of tournaments in Columbus, Toledo, Cleveland, and Cincinnati. At the end of our final summer playing together we had a team banquet. At that banquet, my coach Marvin King, said something to us that I will never forget…“Don’t ever forget where you came from.” Now most likely he was speaking directly to the other guys in the room since every one of them went on to play Division I basketball but me, but...
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