Evil has no point, no purpose other than to steal, kill, and destroy. Evil does not take into account, age, gender, race, country, religion, non-religion, or time. It doesn’t stop, it just keeps coming. But, how long oh Lord must we wait? How Long? Millions of people are still enslaved, forced to work long hours, … Continue reading How Long – A Lament
Author’s note: This is part three and final blog of a series, Barriers to Short-term Missions. You can read part 1 - Biases and 2 - Assumptions. I was recently sitting with a ministry leader who hosts short-term mission teams and as we were talking about the challenges of groups he looked at me with … Continue reading The Three Biggest Barriers to Effective Missions and Service #3 – Motivations
Author’s note: this is part two in a series called: The Three Biggest Barriers to Short-Term Mission. Last week we discussed the first one - Bias. You can read about that one here. A few weeks ago we took the time to look at the first barrier to reciprocal missions, our biases. We defined bias … Continue reading The Three Biggest Barriers to Effective Missions and Service #2 – Assumptions
Author note: This is part 1 of a three-part blog on the barriers to missions and service. Subscribe to be sure you get part 2 and 3. Recently we rented a house on the coast for our annual Surf and Serve trip. Eight men traveled from across the country to enjoy surfing, community and serving … Continue reading The Three Biggest Barriers to Effective Missions & Service – #1 Biases
What’s your favorite pie? Mine is chocolate pie. I typically don’t like pie, but chocolate silk pie I will eat all day. Growing up in a mid-west farming church that loved potlucks there was always pie a the end of the line. What was funny is that people typically didn’t go back to the table … Continue reading There is a hole in the roof!
It was one of the greatest races of my life. I didn’t win, but we won. It was the college conference championship for our cross country team. It had poured rain the day before so the course was a slippery mess and muddy. The gun sounded to start the race and we sprinted towards the … Continue reading More Important than Service?
Everyone at some point has experienced loneliness in one form or another. Whether it is a sense of loneliness in a crowded room or a loneliness of friendship and community. There are times where we can feel lonely in certain points of our lives and even in deep in our hearts. Many times, this loneliness … Continue reading The Lonely Places
I don’t like country music. (I’m sure I just lost half of everyone reading this blog.) I grew up around grandparents that loved country music. John Denver, Dolly Parton, Jimmie Rogers, and Loretta Lynn (among others) was playing in the car every time we went somewhere or on vacation to visit my relatives in West … Continue reading I Don’t Like Country Music! (What Moves You?)
Short-term mission trips can be one of the biggest life-changing moments in our lives. Going to another city, another country to learn, serve, and grow is a privilege some of us have in this world that few others do. As Americans, most of us have been blessed with so much and it is good to … Continue reading Don’t Go on a Short-Term Mission Trip Unless You are Willing to do These 4 Things.
There they were, minding their own business, mending nets with their dad. They had been a fisherman for as long as they could remember. They had learned their trade and was doing pretty well for fisherman during their day. They had a good life. It was simple, they knew what to expect for the most … Continue reading Waiting for What?
Phil Steiner 