It has been quite a long time since I have had a yard that included a fruit tree. At our new home in Auburn, we actually have a fig tree. To be honest with you I did not know much about figs before moving in, when I thought about figs the first thing that came…

For many years I can remember hearing people say, “The three things you should never talk about is Sex, Politics, and Religion”. However, from what I have seen over the last couple of decades I think this has caused more harm than good. Let me explain further, first, I believe it teaches our children that…

One thing that I enjoyed growing up is roller coasters…which is odd because I am kind of fearful of being on high unstable heights such as being on the roof of a house or a tall ladder. Yet, I think the reality of being locked in and seeing others go on the ride before me…

This morning I read a tweet that stood out to me from former NFL player and now pastor Dr. Derwin L. Gray who said, “People will leave a church over politics before they will politics for a church. 1.5 hours on Sunday vs. 20 hours a week feeding on cable news and its political partisans…

The importance of Mental Health was once again brought to the forefront by U.S. Olympic Gymnast Simone Biles when she decided not to take part in the U.S. Team Final due to mental health issues. Simone has pushed through many difficulties and challenges in her life and has won 4 gold medals, 1 silver medal,…

One privilege I enjoyed when I lived in Ohio was having someone come once and sometimes twice a month to help us clean our home. With me working full-time as a pastor and Lindsey working part time 12 hour shifts (and some weeks fulltime) and having two young kids in the house it could quite…

I believe that most people tend to gravitate towards that which they are the most familiar and most comfortable with, and the Church is no stranger to this. Even for myself when I go to restaurants that I have been to before I naturally tend to stick with the two or three things that I…

The other day I saw a funny meme that said, “I want to lose weight, but I don’t want to fall for one of those ‘exercise and eat-right’ scams.” As a husky man myself that quote was both funny and hurt a little bit because from experience I know I often look for the easier…