Stone Walls

We’re here in Chicago (Skokie, actually) for our TEAMerica church planters conference.  TEAMerica is the church planting arm of the BGC that emphasizes and commissions church plants and planters.  Lesley and I went through a very demanding week of assessment several years ago to discern our qualifications and ability to plant a church from scratch.  [...]

American Idol – Top Ten Men

TIN MEN
Well, tonight, we’ll see which guys have the heart for this.  We’re getting to that point where there are usually some choke-jobs in the vocals as guys just don’t quite have the fortitude to stand up to the pressure.  I won’t miss the guys that left last week, and there are still a few [...]

Bill Perkins is Coming!

Next Sunday – Bill Perkins will be the guest speaker at The Grove.  Who is Bill Perkins?  Here are some highlights:

Bill Perkins is an entertaining speaker and insightful author. He has written numerous books, appeared on nationally broadcast television and radio shows and addressed audiences across the United States and Canada.
For six years Bill wrote [...]

Free Conference

Well, somebody give me 10 lashes with a wet noodle.  I completely whiffed on this one, but there are still a few pitches left that you can all swing at. 
I found out earlier today that there is a tremendous conference for pastors and church leaders that is being hosted at Mars Hill Church in Seattle.  [...]

Google-sized B.I.G.

OK, we’ve been talking about going B.I.G. this year.  We want to put ourselves out there for the cause of Christ and see what he will do with it.  That’s part of the reason I started this blog.  I’ve been astonished to have over 2300 hits and reach 5 continents through this effort in six [...]

Sunday Night Lights

I’ve been calling these Sunday recaps “Sunday Night Reflections”, but these thought usually represent the highlights of my Sunday and what I’m looking forward to.  So….I’m changing the name.  
Today’s Highlights

We wrapped up a series today at The Grove called “In The Fire”.  It was based on Daniel 3 and the incredible story of Shadrach, Meshach, and [...]

The Main Thing

I came across this really insightful post on Daryl Strickland’s blog and thought it would be really helpful:
You will face many obstacles to being all you can be in life things like; laziness, busyness, discouragment and probably one of the BIGGEST is DISTRACTION.
Your success in life, in ministry, in business hinges primarily on how focused [...]

Satan Offers Financial Tips

ATTENTION – This blog has a new home address. All the material below is on the new site plus other material of interest as well. Come on over for a visit. CLICK HERE!
You just gotta love a church that will not only be brave enough to go outside the box, but that will, on occasion, [...]

We Win!

 
My oldest son, Zach, has played in a basketball league throughout the winter sponsored by the Christian Center in Peoria.  Those guys do a great service to the community by the way.  Anyway, their team has limped through the season going 3-7.  But in this league, everyone makes the tournament at the end of the [...]

American Idol – The First Cut is the Deepest

Couldn’t be here last night to enjoy my regular dose of AI and make my observations of the mostly mediocre efforts of the gals.  But, I’ve got the time to watch tonight before I take my first-born son to play in the first round of his b-ball tournament.  So without further adieu, here we go.
 GROUP [...]