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how to develop a biblical worldview in your kids [using secular media]

how to develop a biblical worldview in your kids [using secular media]

It’s Saturday morning, and I’m taking care of the kids. Not just my nine year-old son and nine month-old daughter, but two of my nephews had just spent the night too. They all just finished breakfast and the boys were looking for something to do. “Hey Uncle Dan. Can Samuel watch Scooby Doo 2?” Hmmm… [...]


thoughts on @barackobama at the 2012 national prayer breakfast

thoughts on @barackobama at the 2012 national prayer breakfast

For the record, I hate talking about politics. Specifically, I hate how divided people become when talking about politicians and how they deal with the issues. I know that ‘hate’ is a pretty strong word, and I rarely use it around here. But I feel like it’s important for people to understand that by sharing [...]


8 books @bibledude readers are reading right now

8 books @bibledude readers are reading right now

During the month when my book finally came out in a print version, I’m not surprised that it was the best-seller in this month’s list of stuff that our readers are picking up. But one thing I think is nice to see in this month’s list is a focus on three key themes… Missions and [...]


book review: the resignation of eve

book review: the resignation of eve

Other women love their churches and their people, but they know they aren’t being given the opportunity to think, strategize, innovate, and create new ways of doing church that both men and women find appealing. Often when they have expressed their desire for more influence, they were blocked, stonewalled, or stalled. These women have acquiesced [...]


where did the transcendence go?

 where did the transcendence go?

On Thursday nights, our core team gathers to eat and plan and pray and dream about launching a second campus of our congregation. It’s the one meeting of my week that I’m not responsible for—the one church meeting that I can just attend. And I get to attend as the Sunday morning worship leader for this [...]


which tree are you eating from?

which tree are you eating from?

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” – Genesis 2:16-17 (ESV) Then the angel showed me [...]


chasing them away

chasing them away

Reading blogs gives me a chance to step into the lives of others. I often come across many Christians who bash gathering in church for a variety of reasons. Some of those reasons are painfully legitimate and some are simply unwilling to stay and make a difference because they come to be served, instead of [...]


purple jacket lady

purple jacket lady

I was at the drug store yesterday, in line for a prescription, and a woman in a purple jacket melted down…. just… went to pieces right there in the prescription line. “I can’t DO THIS ANYMORE!” She screamed at the stunned cashier, who blinked quickly while everyone stood there staring, watching Purple Jacket Lady hurtle [...]


why i wear black to church

why i wear black to church

Ours is a t-shirt and flip-flops sort of church, so I can get away with wearing just about anything that falls into the “modest” category. Plus, I’m a “musician” (said in hushed tones with hand covering mouth). So, black it is. And black it’s been for nearly three months: My favorite pair of skinny jeans. [...]


addiction to ministry [part two]

addiction to ministry [part two]

“We need to get together sometime.” I said this to my friend as I had just finished unloading my stress on her willing shoulders. It’s because of my previous post that I realized ministry had become an unhealthy habit; too much ministry anyway. I had forgotten what it’s like to simply have coffee with a [...]


addiction to ministry [part one]

addiction to ministry [part one]

What is wrong with me? I came to church with stress hanging on me like an oversized jacket. My heart had focused on  people instead of God’s provisions. Ministry failed to excite me. And then it hit me… Like quick sand, the more I struggled the faster the mire sucked me under. Soon, I didn’t [...]


the joys and challenges of working with refugees, part two

the joys and challenges of working with refugees, part two

Over the past year, as I’ve had a crash course in refugee resettlement, I’ve learned so much. I am grateful every day for the stories I’ve heard and the facts I’ve gleaned about this vulnerable, misunderstood, and often forgotten population. I’ve learned: That only one percent of the 14 million-plus refugees in the world will ever be [...]


the trophy wall [a testimony of God's healing]

the trophy wall [a testimony of God's healing]

Jehovah Rapha. Among many other things, God reveals and refers to Himself as the Lord our Healer. So Moses cried out in prayer to God. God pointed him to a stick of wood. Moses threw it into the water and the water turned sweet. That’s the place where God set up rules and procedures; that’s where he started testing [...]


now go sit with someone…

now go sit with someone...

On Guilt: “It is about as hard to absolve yourself of your own guilt as it is to sit in your own lap. Wrongdoing sparks guilt sparks wrongdoing ad nauseam, and we all try to disguise the grim process from both ourselves and everybody else. In order to break the circuit we need friends before [...]


my child sponsorship story: samuel saul of haiti

my child sponsorship story: samuel saul of haiti

We finally did it! Our family just sponsored a child, and we couldn’t be more excited! It’s something that we’ve wanted to do for a long time. The only reason we haven’t done it sooner is because we just wanted to be very prayerful and intentional about who we sponsored. We’re in this for the [...]


the joys and challenges of working with refugees, part one

the joys and challenges of working with refugees, part one

As an eleven year-old dreamer in Dumas, a small town in the Texas panhandle, I attended mission classes at our local Baptist church and wondered if God would call me to be a missionary to Africa. The thought thrilled and terrified me at the same time. But I simply prayed, “God, use me as you see best. Wherever [...]


the rise of the “so whats”

the rise of the "so whats"

I read an article in USA Today that talked about the rise of the ‘So Whats.’ What’s that? It’s people who do not claim to be a people of faith or staunch atheists; instead, they are a growing group who say, “So what?” As one person interviewed said, “(Growing up) I was saturated with both [...]


aren’t all souls equal?

aren’t all souls equal?

Read John 13 “To the wondering patriarch He now says in effect, ‘It’s all right, Abraham. I never intended that you should actually slay the lad. I only wanted to remove him from the temple of your heart that I might reign unchallenged there. I wanted to correct the perversion that existed in your love.’” [...]


artful markings

artful markings

We all have mundane moments. You know, the ones that are boring and barely worth noting. Like the drab experience of checking out at the grocery store… Or the hazy everydayness of making the morning coffee… Or the commute home… Then we have moments of grand gesture. Like wearing dark oversized robes and a square [...]


the #haiti diaries 2012 [a @helpendpoverty trip]

the #haiti diaries 2012 [a @helpendpoverty trip]

Since my last mission trip to Haiti, I couldn’t wait to get back. That was August 2010, just eight months after the earthquakes that shattered an already struggling nation. I’ve even made it down to the other side of the island, but my heart ached to be just across the border with the people I’ve [...]


18 books that @bibledude readers are reading

18 books that @bibledude readers are reading

We like to read around here. AND… I’m kind of a geek for reports. I gain a great deal of understanding about what makes this place tick when I look at things like search engine keyword reports that tell me how people get here. One of the reports that I’ve looked at recently is my [...]


they came bearing gifts [a #loveblitz report]

they came bearing gifts [a #loveblitz report]

We gathered in the church parking lot. Everyone came bearing gifts. Everyone came to bless another in need. Everyone came because we wanted to show the kind of Love that Jesus taught would set us apart. During a time when we remember the birth of Christ and the visit of the wise men bearing gifts [...]


a look back: the top 11 from 2011

a look back: the top 11 from 2011

It’s been an incredible year! We officially moved to a multi-blogger format. We passed over 1,000 posts and half a million published words. And we’ve experienced continued, steady growth (over 70% per year for each of the last three years). We’ve even released the first book in the BibleDude Series… The Unlikley Missionary: From Pew-Warmer [...]


because He came, we have life [@bibledude advent series]

because He came, we have life [@bibledude advent series]

READ 1 John 5:11-12 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. John 8:12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. [...]

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