I’d like to introduce you to about 100 friends of mine. They visit Samaritan’s Heart Mission Church each week. They are as diverse a group of friends as you would ever encounter. They are from varying racial and ethnic backgrounds, different geographic backgrounds and all......
08 February, 2026
I heard this poem recently in my Bible in a year program and I absolutely love it: “Two natures beat within my breastThe one is foul, the one is blessedThe one I love, the one I hate.The one I feed will dominate.” -Anonymous (Shared by......
01 February, 2026
In the past two years, the unhoused community has become a significant presence at Samaritan’s Heart Mission Church. We open our doors on Sunday afternoon to individuals who don’t have a warm place to go during the cold weather months. As I write this, we......
25 January, 2026
I was late out of the house for a breakfast meeting this week. It was just a few minutes, no big deal. Then it happened. I’m at a four-way stop. A young lady to my left goes straight. I made a left behind her and......
18 January, 2026
“Heroes get remembered, but legends never die,” The ghost of Babe Ruth in the 1993 movie “ The Sandlot.” It’s true that many sports heroes seem to live on forever: Ruth, Lombardi, DiMaggio, to name just a few. It’s also true that a lot of......
11 January, 2026
I always get a kick out of those pictures that appear to be of different things, depending upon the angle at which you view them. It might be a young woman from one perspective, or a very old woman from another. Or maybe a horse......
04 January, 2026
I heard something recently on a Christian radio station that made me cringe…until I digested what the host had said. He mentioned that his pastor shared that Jesus isn’t really the reason for the season. You are. My initial thought was, oh boy, the last......
28 December, 2025
Here is the Final Jeopardy Clue from the episode of “Jeopardy” that aired on December 12: A 1964 review of this TV special, still played today, mentions “trials as an outcast” & “the songs of Johnny Marks.” Ramona and I were out for dinner, and......
21 December, 2025
I (and others) have said it many times before: Satan’s most brilliant and deadly tactic has been to convince so many people that he’s not real. I preach often about spiritual warfare, but who is going to fight what they believe is an imaginary enemy?......
14 December, 2025
“I Met Jesus in a Parking Lot” is a song by the contemporary Christian group Cochren & Company. It’s the story of how frontman Michael Cochren came to Christ. I wasn’t saved in a parking lot, but I did have an encounter with Jesus recently......
07 December, 2025
Many of us are still recovering from the annual overeating fest known as Thanksgiving. Others spent Thursday alone, hungry, or desperate, or possibly all three. All of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior are called upon to be in a......
30 November, 2025
Here’s a little exercise for you: do a Google search for “what does it mean to meditate on God.” You will get thousands of results for “meditating on God’s Word.” Yes, it’s important that we not only read, study, or even memorize God’s Word; it......
23 November, 2025
My friend Ron had a very brief stint as an amateur boxer. He loves to tell the story of a fight where his opponent, to say the least, was getting the better of him. Ron felt as though punches were coming at him from every......
17 November, 2025
In a recent Instagram video, Zach Windahl, the author of “The Bible, Simplified,” made a point that many modern believers might find jarring. He said: “I hate it when people say, ‘Jesus loves you just as you are,’ because He doesn’t. If that were the......
09 November, 2025
There is a single verse of the Bible that has generated immeasurable debate over the past 2,000 years: “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to......
02 November, 2025
Seventy years ago, this past June 8, a routine baseball move was made. No one realized it then, and few know about it now, but it turned out to be a decision that would dramatically impact baseball for decades. The Brooklyn Dodgers optioned a left-handed......
26 October, 2025
The past two weeks, we have been looking at the temptation of Jesus in Luke 4:1-13, as utilized by author Peter Scazzero in his book “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality.” Scazzero sees “three false identities or masks that Satan offers each one of us.” I never identified......
19 October, 2025
Last week in Fresh Start, I told you about a book my pastoral coach has me reading: Peter Scazzero’s “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality.” In the temptation of Jesus in Luke 4:1-13, Scazzero sees “three false identities or masks that Satan offers each one of us.” They......
12 October, 2025
Allen, my pastoral coach, (and he’s an awesome coach!) often suggests books for me to read. The most recent one: Peter Scazzero’s “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality” has already rocked my world. In the temptation of Jesus in Luke 4:1-13, Scazzero sees “three false identities or masks......
05 October, 2025
When I was growing up, there was a kid my age who came from a devout Baptist family. I once heard an adult observe how good the kids were in that family and how they were faithfully in church. The kid my age often spoke......
28 September, 2025