This week, Turkey began an invasion of a Kurdish-controlled region in Northern Syria. For some time, Living Word has been supporting a very good work among the Kurds in Sulaymaniyah, in Northern Iraq. For several years a ministry to women, children, and their families has been growing. We have supported two Family Centers that are […]
And They Must Matter to Us [Note: We hope you can join us this Sunday, April 7, at 6:00 pm at Living Word for our Mission Café as we discuss the challenges and opportunities of the Middle East. I will be facilitating, and we will hear from two people, Jeff Phillips and Ed McManness, who […]
As one of the middle school directors, I work closely with 7th and 8th graders. I have been so overwhelmed with God’s goodness this year and would like to share some highlights of our most recent mission trip with middle school students. We couldn’t have done it without your support and generosity! Guatemala Mission Trip […]
I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Todd Spahr and Brian Lauer, both of whom just returned from Vidor, Texas. They were with one of the first teams sent down to help people recover from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey last fall. Todd leads one of our growth groups, and Brian is a […]
I think many of you remember it was my good friend Brian Newman who spiritually poked, prodded, and pushed me to pay attention to the leading of God about becoming the next lead pastor of Living Word. Way back when Pastor Steve was just beginning the transition process for succession, Brian Newman reflected with me […]
In August 2017, Hurricane Harvey became the costliest storm to ever hit the U.S. mainland. Living Word has been involved in hurricane and disaster relief in the past, so we knew we were going to be involved helping out this time as well. We also knew that there is always an immediate and usually […]
Christmas showed us, God is not an isolationist! Right now I am reading my way through four books by my favorite rabbi, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks (check him out here). I am reading several of the books intermittently. The one I am reading a chapter daily from is To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility. Rabbi […]
And wondering out loud, just who is my neighbor? I have been blogging quite a bit in recent weeks about love, in part because I am going to preach on love as part of our Christmas series. This post is also stimulated by all the work in the last month in connecting with global and […]
I am sure you are, like me, horrified at what Hurricane Harvey has done to Houston. Without sounding trite, it seems to be a flood of biblical proportions for that section of the country. I have been moved deeply as I see the pictures of suffering. A number of people have asked if we are […]
There are five or six blogs that I consistently read. There are another half dozen that I skim and peruse occasionally. One of the regulars is written by James Emery White, lead pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church, a megachurch in Charlotte, North Carolina. Here is a link to one of his recent posts: Sears and the Church. […]