A Year of Questions, Part 3: “So What Do You Do?”

The best job is the one you enjoy doing day after day after day. Right?

How many people out there have a job they dread? They might be making lots of money, but they might be happier doing something else that pays less.

Then there are the jobs that are fun for awhile and then they become mundane and undesirable. When I fly, I almost always sit in the back. I am never in a hurry to deplane, so I have no problem sitting farther back, and I also have a better chance of getting an empty seat beside me (and thus more space). After we land, I look out the window as the baggage handlers put our luggage on carts and take them away. I have thought to myself, “I think I would like doing that job…for a few days. Then I’d be tired of it.” Read Full Post

A Year of Questions, Part 2: “How Long Will You Be There?”

Their stoic faces glistened with tears as the shock began to take root in their minds. Most people never saw it coming, and several tried to convince themselves they were only having a bad dream.But this was not a cruel figment of one’s imagination- it was

But this was not a cruel figment of one’s imagination- it was reality, a reality that is experienced by churches around world, perhaps more regularly than it should. Read Full Post

A Year of Questions, Part 1: “How Did You End Up at Lighthouse?”

The longer you’re alive, the faster time seems to go by, and the last 365 days in my life have been no exception.

On October 8, 2016, I officially moved from Mason City, Iowa, up to Cottage Grove, Minnesota. Only a few short hours later, I taught junior church for the first time at Lighthouse Baptist Church. Thus began my new ministry as the assistant pastor at Lighthouse Baptist in Cottage Grove. Read Full Post

Brazil, Day 19: Preparation for Sacred Music Week

I woke up at 5:15 to watch the sunrise, but there were no clouds in the sky to make for a beautiful sunrise, so I just went back to bed. At 6:40 I woke up again to go running. This time I went up and down the seminary campus steps several times.

For breakfast we had scrambled eggs with ham, toast, orange pineapple juice, and papaya. Stephen, Sarah, Olivia, Danae, Jennifer, and I had a meeting at 8:00 in the chapel to start cleaning the campus in preparation for the music week, so we headed to yonder chapel immediately after eating. Read Full Post

Brazil, Day 12: Several Thoughts on Missions

I woke up and almost considered skipping a second straight day of exercise. I did not want to get up, and I had an almost unnoticeable headache that lingered from the night before. But I finally got up and ran a kilometer before doing some hill runs, tackling the hill on the seminary’s road eight times with minimal rest in between each one. Read Full Post