Posts with the category “discipleship”

If you’re a follower of Jesus, then you need to know that you have an enemy. His name is Satan and he has other spiritual forces under his control (Eph 6:12) that all have the main purpose of destroyi...  Read More

Recently, I shared a message on fasting at Connection Church (you can watch it here). I have a love/hate relationship with fasting. Not only because I hate being far from food, and love being close to...  Read More

When you wake up in the morning, what is the first thing you do? For many of us, we grab our phones. According to a study done by Tony Reinke for his book, 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You, 54% of p...  Read More

It’s the end of the year. For most of us, it’s a time to dream, plan, and refocus our lives toward something new. We begin setting goals, making resolutions and asking the question, “What will I do in...  Read More

The other day I heard about an innovative approach to taking care of your Christmas tree from a guy on the radio. They asked him what his secret was to making his tree last and he shared a piece of un...  Read More

Do you find yourself ignoring God sometimes?When I was younger, I had a deficit when it came to my hearing. This was only according to my mom because whenever I had a hearing test at school, I passed ...  Read More

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14Adding just one more peculiar occurrence to ...  Read More

My wife took my 2- year old daughter to the craft store recently. As they walked through the aisles, my daughter began to express her wonderment with oohs and ahhs. She was captivated by the colorful ...  Read More

A couple of weeks ago, Thrive Youth Ministry spent an evening at a corn maze. Getting lost in a corn maze is one thing. Getting lost in a corn maze, in the dark, with 45 middle school and high school ...  Read More

All of us have people in our lives who don’t know Jesus yet. God strategically places his people in relationships with those who have yet to turn their lives over to Christ.  You might be tempted to t...  Read More

“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, ...  Read More

I was around 11 years old when I met Rick. He was the guest speaker at Baptist Park, the camp where I spent my summers. Throughout my 12 years there – as a camper and a counselor – Rick was often the ...  Read More

A couple of Sundays ago we had a guest speaker at Connection Church named Jim Comenzo. He is a marriage and family therapist who spoke about mental health hygiene and its importance in our Christian w...  Read More

Have you ever been given bad advice? Better yet, have you ever clicked on one of those advertisements for “good” advice?1 Weird Trick to Cut Belly Fat in Half7 Things God Hates… the Fifth One will Blo...  Read More

At many parties in southeastern Pennsylvania, you might find a unique item on the buffet line. It will be housed in a box with the name Corropolese on it and you’ll be tempted to call it pizza. But, t...  Read More

If you’re following our church-wide Bible reading plan this year, you should be somewhere in the middle of the minor prophets. Maybe you’re a few days ahead which is great, or maybe you’re a few or mo...  Read More

This Summer I had the great opportunity and privilege to go on a 10-week sabbatical. For 70 glorious days, I was freed up from my responsibilities as the Lead Pastor of Connection Church to spend time...  Read More

There will be good news on November 4th. You won’t hear it from your favorite media outlet or on your social media feed. Here it is: Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (1 Timothy 6:15). No m...  Read More

A few months ago (pre-COVID), I was doing some grocery shopping with my two little guys (ages 3 and 5). If you’ve ever been shopping with small children before, you understand the difficult task I had...  Read More

My kids love Lucky Charms cereal and they get to have it on the occasional Saturday morning. But they have no idea how much more enjoyable cereal was when I was younger. What was in the cereal box was...  Read More

“It’s not what you said, it’s how you said it.” This phrase has come up so often in my life that it’s almost become a mantra. Maybe you can relate. It’s not that I’m an intentionally mean person; it’s...  Read More

From the time I was a little kid in Sunday School, I loved Bible stories. I grew up hearing about Adam and Eve, Samson and Delilah, David and Goliath, and of course, Jesus… usually all on a flannelgra...  Read More

Last week, I was on vacation at the beach enjoying one of my favorite activities. As I was riding my bike along the nice flat roads watching the beautiful scenery pass by, I thought to myself, this is...  Read More

If you read the entire Bible in a year, you would find that some books are straightforward while others can be downright confusing. For modern readers, the book of Revelation often stands out as the m...  Read More

I love a good game of Would You Rather? It’s really simple to play… in fact, let’s play now! Choose your preference:Would you rather… have more time or more money?Would you rather… explore space or th...  Read More

Have you ever seen the Instagram account called subparparks? A graphic designer began reading 1-star Yelp reviews about national parks and decided to illustrate them. My favorite is the one about the ...  Read More

I love Sunday mornings! For as long as I can remember, I was excited about being at church. When I was a kid, I would even walk to church – snow, rain or shine – even though my family didn’t attend. I...  Read More

This has been an exceptionally odd year. There’s no denying it. We’ve all had to adjust our way of life to get through these past few months. From quarantine to schools being canceled, to trips being ...  Read More

When the story of life receives an enormous plot twist, it’s only natural to want a word from the author. The headlines of this year have driven most of us to our knees, seeking God’s answers to our c...  Read More

If you ever step foot into a bookstore again, you will notice all of the different sections. One of the larger shelves of books is simply labeled “Self-Help.” Copies of books in this section are selli...  Read More

One of my dearest friends is the queen of active listening. It’s one of the attributes I most appreciate about her. She has a heart that seeks to understand each person with whom she talks. And if you...  Read More

Years ago, I worked at a place where I was deeply hurt. I’ll spare you the sorted details; I’ll just say that I was physically, spiritually, and emotionally drained when I finally transitioned. What h...  Read More

“In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire.” James 3:5As I write this, our nation blazes with a fire of reckless words.Wor...  Read More

This past Tuesday, if you scrolled through your social media feed, I’m sure you saw blacked-out squares and rectangles being posted by people all across the country for #blackouttuesday. The purpose o...  Read More

The book of Esther is full of excitement and drama but if you read it closely, you’ll see one big omission. God is never mentioned in the entire book. I’ve always thought this was odd but recently I l...  Read More

Have you ever thought about what it would look like if sin never entered the world? What it would be like to not know greed, loneliness, anxiety, depression, and pain?What would it be like to love to ...  Read More

Life has a way of throwing us curve balls that we are rarely well prepared for. I can break down my life into moments when things did not go my way, and I was forced to change course against my will. ...  Read More

Why do you go to church on Sunday mornings? Do you go to see your friends? Do you go because you know it’s the right thing for your family? Do you go because the preacher is just so funny and relatabl...  Read More

I probably say the phrase, “Be still!” twenty times a day. My youngest son, Lucas, never stops moving or squirming. He loves to climb and run and jump – he’s like a little lovable tornado.Lately, I fe...  Read More